The "American" girl...

Well I'm settled into my new home, enjoying the company of my roommates! We've had a group of other male students from Dubai visiting for the weekend from another town, where they go to college, so we've gone out the last two nights. It's very interesting, they're not allowed to drink, due to being Muslim, but they love to dance. They're really the life of the party and know more American hip-hop/R & B music than I ever will!

Friday, I journeyed up to the university in order to meet with Dr. Bennett. I also met two other members of the department (there are only ten of them in the whole Criminology department). We had a nice long chat about the projects currently going on at the university and the things I might decide I'd like to work on. They are arranging for me to have my own office/work space, with a computer and such, and I can apparently attend any lectures/classes that peak my interest. It all sounds extremely interesting and I'm looking forward to starting my work there in a couple of weeks. This photo to the left is an aerial view of the campus. The criminology department is located near the top of the photo, along the main road through campus. It's a nice walk from my house, but not too bad.

Today, I'm in the process of getting organized for my travels. Tomorrow I leave for Newcastle, the first stop on my journey of many! I'm looking forward to seeing the sights and travelling by train through the country. The transportation isn't quite as scary and difficult to figure out as I had imagined, so that's nice!

I'm finding the culture here different, but not extremely so from home. I love the accents, and I can understand most everyone so far, which is a plus! The things that people say in order to address you or refer to you are quite entertaining! The guys in the pubs follow everything with "love." A charming and extremely attractive Welsh guy, whom I was chatting with outside of one of the nightclubs last night (as seen below), exclaimed, "What's a beautiful American girl doing trying to get into a crap bar like this one?" Hopefully there's more like him to be found!

Anyway, I'll post my address as soon as I have my housemate write it down for me, along with my new mobile number, which I can be reached on via Skype or calling card.

Until next time! I'll be posting hopefully along my travels!