So familiar yet so foreign

And so the journey begins....

I'll spare the travel details... and I arrived at my halls of residence around 18:00 on Wed the 16 of Sept.  I was greeted by students who were wear bright green t-shirts that say "May I help you?"  The very first question was would you like some tea or coffee?  To which I replied, no thank you, could I get some water?  They grabbed a cup and went in search of cold water....
 I had three students and some official looking man help me with my bags and my box that came by post up to my room.  I'm on the 12th floor of 15.  There are 7 people in my flat.  I have met 3 of them so far.  The rest will be in this weekend.  So far there are 2 girls from China and 1 girl from Indonesia.  None of them are much for conversation.  The flat is a long corridor with the room doors down the right side, except for room 1 it is just to the left of the kitchen. The kitchen is at the end of the hall and also to the right. I'm in room 7 the closest to the flat door and the furthest from the kitchen.  
Our building is located in the city center, so the grocery store is two blocks away. It's a 30 min walk to my campus (Avenues) and about a 10 to 15 min bus ride.  
I have decided that English drivers are half crazy.  Roads are narrow and windy and the intersections are well, just strange.  
So Wednesday evening after I was shown to my room, two of the student helpers, Becky and Sam, answered a ton of questions for me.  Like good Englishmen we discussed the weather, the size of the town and other various things. They offered to take me to the grocery store later if I wanted.  So I unpacked my clothes, opened my box containing bedding, towels and kitchen essentials, and decided I really needed food since I had not eaten since about 11:00 and it was now 21:00.  So I wandered back to the reception area and Becky and her boyfriend (never got his name) went with me to the store.  
The best way to describe the store is like a mini Walmart.  (including the roll back price signs...)  They had clothing, electronics, household goods, and food, but much more limited selection and size of store.  So the size of a normal grocery store in the US, but with all the other stuff in there as well. 
I was pretty brain dead and they were good to ask me what I wanted, then showed me where to find it.  I figured something fast for dinner, breakfast food for the morning, then I would get other food stuffs the next day.  I wish I could remember the names of some of the things in the frozen dinner section.  I had to ask what it was...cuz I had never heard of some of it.  Those things sat next to brands and things I recognize (weight watchers, Quaker, Nature Valley).  However it is all in kg.  Now the milk is sold in pints and quarts, however UK gallons and US gallons are not equal.  One US gallon is 1.2 UK gallons... Just because it can be I guess...  They helped carry my stuff back, and helped me with the microwave, then left me to figure the rest on my own.  
All of the outlets have a switch to turn the power on to them.  The stove has a switch as well and when you turn on the stove it turns on the hood fan as well.  
Now I don't know if it is a British thing or a residences halls thing, but when you cook we are told to open the windows as well so that the heat from cooking doesn't set off the fire alarm.  In the case that the fire alarm goes off , you are to stop whatever you are doing and if you are cooking and there is a fire, you are not to do anything except leave.. so everyone evacuates the building and goes to the meeting point and waits to be told they can reenter the building (I'm reminded of fire drills at the high school)  I was informed by Becky and Sam that during the first week or so that the alarm will go off several times since there are students who have never cooked for themselves...  So I look forward to that with baited breath.  
Now over the course of the last two days I have learned some interesting things about British Culture.  A few I will share.  I have come to realize that I am very British, I guess that heritage is stronger than I realize.  To start a conversation with a stranger - talk about the weather.  Especially if it is raining (which is a good part of the time) and I guess they are good about moaning about it....  When you get off of the bus, thank the driver.  When you need to get through a crowed place always say excuse me and if you bump some one say sorry.  If they are complaining you always respond with I'm sorry (which I do anyway) and then offer tea.  Tea fixes everything....so I'm told.  They are very sarcastic and the humor very dry.  (again my heritage comes through).  The interesting cultural thing is that Sunday is roast day.  Right?!  Like I've always done and my mother and her mother.... I guess we brought the tradition from England.  They roast  beef or lamb, or chicken. Slow cooked in a big pot with lots of vegetables and it is the noon meal.  So now you know where we got that tradition. 
I'll post a couple of pictures.  I hope to take more here soon when I'm not so tired and lost.  Next week we have inductions into the faculties and information on our program of study and the graduate school.  I'll give you the vocab for school then as well, since it is all very different from US Universities.  

view from my room

Lover's Lane path between Highfield Campus and the Avenue Campus

typical housing

typical residential street