Manny 1st Day Pics!

"My Lord that's a gigantic case!"

I made it!!!

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m an English major, or if it’s because I am (do I have to say “was”?) a Tridelt, - we love some good slang- but one of my fav. things about Manchest-a so far are the new words and abbreviations i keep hearing. “Quite” is used ALL the time and I love it. The title of this post is what our RA guy said to me at 7am when I came walking up the cobblestone street to our dorm dragging my bright red luggage. Hilarious. Just listening and people watching is the most amazing thing ever to do here. I never realized just how much of a prude I am, but walking down Oxford Street, it’s become typical to almost catch a view of someone’s privates. Everyone is so free here, and fashion is most def. a huge outlet for self-expression. I want to do a post just on street fashion as soon as I get the time. It’s funny how my posts keep coming back to fashion? Weird. Anyway, our dorm is rather old, but quaint in a cute way, minus the bathrooms, and everyone has been super nice. I had my first TopShop experience today (again with the clothes, yikes I may have a problem) and it was awesome! I bought 8 pairs of earrings for 2pounds and the shop girl goes, “Oh, I just bought the same pair for me mum!” I kid you not. Told you the words are amazing, I especially like hearing the word “dodgy” while walking down the street. Tomorrow starts class, so I have to go to sleep! The rain has started, quite lovely to sleep to, cheers!

So Why Am I So Worried About "Fitting In"?...

because I don't look like this:

<<<<<<< enter very emo-grunge-hipster-eclectic-British people here in your mind because I can't get the link to work> (or go to search Manchester looks in google to see the blog I so badly wanted to show you) >>>>>>>

or have much of anything to help me look like these people, which is apparantly the "norm". I have heard from random people that Manchester is electic and so not like the US, and while I spent roughly 8 hours yesterday in my room, STILL staring at my closet, I came to the realization that I need to do some major rethinking of how I put my wardrobe together. No, I don't really care if I stand out as the obvious American because once I open my mouth and my Missouri dialect comes out my cover will be blown, it's just that a lot of my clothes are uber American. I would rather feel emerged in their culture, not stick out. I'm trying to remember that Brits don't wear shorts, which is fine because I hate shorts anyway, but I hope they appreciate a good legging because I'm bringing 5 pairs. Anyway, I have so much still to get done today before I head to StL tomorrow for my flight on Saturday, I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on where my fashion choices are at now (while I seem to be unable to move my mind past packing at this point), and where they may be when I get back in a month. Who knows? It will be an interesting experiment.

I don’t have a countdown, but I have a lot of clothes. Is that bad?

I am sitting on my twin-sized bed in my home in Ktown staring at the piles of stuff around me. Moving everything I had collected as a packrat in CoMO over a four year span was not easy. Harder still is finding a place for it all back at home. My parent’s basement now looks like a compartmental dissection of all the apartments I have lived in while in college. I am forcing myself to organize the masses and find places for all my clothes in my closet; the problem is no closet is ever big enough. But actually, my biggest obstacle right now is packing for England. I have NO CLUE what kind of clothes to bring. Help? I am a notorious over-packer and the multitudes of choices of outfits for outings, events, clubs, hiking, exploring, train-riding, and all the other random things I will be partaking in are making my head spin. It’s not like I’m picky or anything… But if anyone knows what an acceptable outfit would be to go out in Manchester, please let me know. (apparently my biggest qualms about studying abroad are how I will look and where to party, I promise I am not that shallow, I just want to get the most out of this trip ☺ ) I just keep asking myself questions I don’t know the answers to: Will I get cold? Just HOW rainy is it really? Weather.com isn’t as helpful as it seems. How many pairs of heels should I bring? What do I wear to a poetry reading? I hate jeans; can I wear a skirt on our Lake District hike? Will I have room for a blankie?! (I am a little scared of the “dorm sheets”). I know I am totally rambling, but this is how my brain is functioning as my departure time creeps closer. I also know I have been a bad blogger – I personally get annoyed when I try to follow blogs that are never upadated in a timely manner, so sorry (that is if anyone actually reads this besides Katie Car, love ya sis). I have been avoiding a post because, honestly, I am scared of England right now. Every now and then I get that shiver of excitement and anticipation, and I truly am stoked to go. It’s just that in my mind I keep comparing packing, flying and arriving in England to my first solo abroad experience in Costa Rica the summer after my freshmen year and it scares me. Going to Central America knowing no one made me feel very alone at times during the month I was there and I am a little terrified of jetting off again to a foreign country to a group of strangers. Granted, Manchester is going to be a complete 180 from my 3rd world Costa Rican jungle abode doing tropical bird conservation, humanitarian work with an indigenous tribe and working on an iguana farm experience, but I am still a little scared. Costa Rica taught me a lot about myself and I know I will be fine; the anticipation for the unknown is really the worst part. I haven’t been counting down the days and my flight Saturday has really snuck up on me, but I am confident I will get to Manchester, love my classes, let my inner-explorer out and make new friends (positive thinking in action). I have so many blessings to be thankful for and many new adventures to look forward to, I just have to decide what to bring first. Beware of daily posts from here on out….. I’m going back to sorting outfits….