I have been in the country for a little of a week and I’m already starting to write the date the universal way, or as the English call it: the Right Way. (And the right way here is always the left, which I find - well, a bit silly. The correctness is in its usage of term.) I still, however, can’t remember to say “queue” or “lift” or “prawn”. I get a lot of looks when I say “God bless you”, too.

Alexis and I spent three days in London for international orientation, saw the sights, ate dinner and drank wine with Lindsey at a Thai restaurant called @Siam, and spent too much money on coffee at the Starbucks on Oxford Street so we could steal the WiFi, drank at Shakespeare’s Head near Carnaby Street, and saw a really amazing production of The 39 Steps in Piccadilly Circus in the West End.

And then we took a train. Two hours north. Into the cold. And rain, and wind, and into the country. And it is beautiful, no doubt, but very different from London. Lancaster University is massive, too. Nearly 12,000 students. Very different than home, and I’m having a hard time adjusting.

I’m hoping things will settle soon.