First Day in Cardiff

Got here finally at about 10pm last night local time. Had a really nice cabbie on the way in (always talk to cabbies if you can). Skyped with Zora and tried to sleep, but was kept awake by hall noise and the general ache this is my body after the over 24 hours on planes and in airports. I ended up falling asleep just before roomservice knocked on my door. I fell back asleep after breakfast. Eventually got up and showered (the shower refused to turn off but got stuck on cold so I spent 30 minutes in freezing water trying to punch the dial in to the off position).

Getting a phone was a nightmare since the first place I went to wasted my time with a trainee, and couldn't get their system to accept an American address and credit card, not to mention I had to wait 3 days for the phone to become active. The second place I went took a little more song and dance but was more straightforward (read few options when paying with cash and just a little not legit but the phone works so so). Got stuck with a Blackberry sadly, which I'm thinking of taking back since it doesn't pick up the net very well. I'm hoping it can tap in to campus wireless somehow once I'm closer, although Cardiff's is an urban campus so I expect wireless will either stink or not be very global.

My dorm is about 20 minutes walk from campus, maybe a bit more depending on where you're going and the traffic. It is in a lower rent part of the city, a bit more crowded and dingy. Lots of roadside trash etc. Little mini mart close by, as well as the dorms where Zora is living. Probably within 15 minutes or so. My room is actually pretty nice. I have a desk, bed and table, a small wardrobe and some other shelves. The bathroom is tiny but has a normal shower, toilet, and such. I think all my stuff will fit fine, and I'm not worried about that too much. Haven't tried the internet or the bed out yet.

My roomates are a different story. Those that were home either couldn't hear me over their music, or didn't want to come to the door. The dishes needed to be done, but so did ours at Newell usually so not too big a deal there. Fridge was stocked, fair amount of longbow and men's magazine clippings on the wall. At this point I just really want to meet them all and see how the people and the apartment match up. It's probably all in fun so I'm not ratting anyone to the Inquisition yet (nor ever really, I'm not a narc, unless it gets to remind me more of Stillman). I just want things to get started so the mind melting experience of orientation can be over and I can start to find a groove and deal with any adversity that pops up. As of now, I'm exhausted and sore and headed to bed.