Mundane Stuff

First of all, the top is a photo of the sweet Euro Pumas I bought the other day. I figured I needed a pair of Euro shoes to fit in on a regular basis. Secondly, there's a more complete view of the "business" side of my room. The other side is just a bed. Thirdly, that's my cell phone. Mundane stuff, but whatever. The university "orientation" is over. Basically, it really did nothing. We went on this really lame campus tour, and the tour guide actually exclaimed that she had never been to a certain part of campus before (no joke). We bolted. It was international student week here, which gave a good overview as to the make up of the international community. It sort of feels like 95% of foreign students are Asian, be it Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani. In general, there are more Muslims here, or at least in terms of percentage of the general population. Obviously since there are so many Asian students, but both in the city and around England, the Muslim community is a lot more visible than it is in America. Very few Americans in general are at the university. There are a good amount of Europeans as well. I met a German guy the other day, and apparently there are quite a few French. We all had a pretty funny encounter with an Iranian member of the international students bureau. We were taking a bus back from a club (more later), and when he learned we were American, he was like, "You should be scared of me, I'm Iranian." Then he stuck his hand out, and made a motion with his thumb like he was pressing a button, saying, "You know what they say about Iranians and buses." Pretty funny.

All the free time did give us a chance to explore downtown Nottingham somewhat, which was good. We all have bus passes now, which allow us to ride the buses and tram unlimited for free, which is nice. One thing that is striking about England is the extensive walking culture. A lot of downtown is closed to traffic, and there always seem to be a million people out and about. There are stores and services everywhere, all easily accessible by foot. Because of this, you can tell why Europeans are in general, more fit than Americans. I haven't been here 2 weeks, and already I can see myself slimming down, which I think is because of the walking culture.

On Thursday night, the international student bureau held a club night downtown, at a place called Oceana. It held something like 2500 people, had 5 themed rooms, and all in all seemed pretty intense. Along with a couple members of the Luther group, it was my first ever visit to a "club." Pure craziness. I honestly couldn't hear anything after we left, the techno was pumping so loud. It seemed like there were 2500 people on the dance floor alone. Add in these huge glass chandeliers, resplendent with both neon and strobe lights, low slung ceilings, and mirrored walls, and you might get a sense of the ridiculousness of the place. It definitely was fun, but being a club novice, I really had no idea what I was doing. I have to say, I much prefer the swing dance facilities I frequent in the Cities (i.e. the Tapestry) to Oceana, but I would go again. I have a feeling we'll go back. Hopefully we'll all know what we're doing then. But in summary, it was ridiculous.

University registration is next week, so we'll see how classes pan out, as well as extracurricular activities, such as band and my quest to play softball. I hear registration over here is crazy, so hopefully it will all pan out well. Tomorrow night we're going to see some play called "The History Boys" at the theater in town. The theater here seems pretty prominent, in December, the big touring version of "Chicago" is playing. I fully intend to go. Or maybe I'll go see it in the West End. Who knows. Anyways, that's what's up.