university of surrey

Welcome from 'Steve the Stag'!

I made it to the University the day after I arrived (I stayed at a friend's house for the night) and quickly set about making it feel like home. We spent the day shopping in town and at IKEA and managed to get just about everything I needed. The rest of the week I had activities both for my program and as an international student which was a great opportunity to meet the other students. By Thursday I had phone numbers of a handful of students and we have hung out pretty much constantly the last two weeks. It has been great to have someone to get together with!

My program (Intercultural Communications with International Business) is similar in terms of courses with another program, Communications and Marketing and so they've put us together for the required course and many of us chose the same optional course. This means I get to attend class, study and hang out with the same group of people for the next year! What's really great is that my program and Comm./Marketing are made up mostly of international students. About a third are from China and Thailand, a couple from the UK, me and one other American, and then handfuls from Germany, Italy and Spain. I also met a girl the other day from Bolivia and another from Albania! Such varied backgrounds and yet we all ended up here at the same time. It's awesome!

Course wise I have a lot of free time to do the reading and assignments but I'm hoping to find a job so I can be more productive. We have class all day Monday and one class each Tuesday and Friday afternoon. The readings not been too much and I've actually gone ahead and started two (out of three) papers that are due in November. I finished the research and am working on outlining and organizing my notes - maybe I'll get them done early!

So far everything has just been a blast and I am enjoying it. I love my accommodations, my courses, my teachers (who are also mostly internationals!) and my classmates. I have some activities coming up that I'm excited to experience and I'll try to document the more interesting ones :)

Enjoying the scenery at Guildford Castle

reykjavik

I know I promised semi-regular posts but I got caught up the activities of my new university! So this is a little bit late as I went to Iceland nearly two weeks ago. This is going to be mostly an itinerary and photos with a few suggestions for those who might be heading there themselves!

From the airport I chose to take the FlyBus which offers free wi-fi for the duration of the trip into Reykjavik which is about 45-50 minutes. Definitely worth it to me! I opted not to pay extra for the "hotel transfer" as it looked really close on the map. It ended up being about a 20 minute walk because I kept stopping to take pictures of the Northern Lights!!! Yes, they were really strong that night and I am honestly so glad I chose to walk instead of take a bus - I wouldn't have seen them otherwise! Also, the city is really safe. I was walking to my hostel at 1:30am and apart from a few teenagers and couples heading home, there was no one about.

Looking out to Mt. Esja

Once I got some sleep I woke up to a overcast and chilly day. After I checked out of my hostel, I first went down to the shore where you can see Mt Esja across the water. I spotted an Asian tourist and through hand gestures convinced her to take my picture and then I took some for her. When the rain let up a rainbow appeared over the Sun Voyager sculpture and Harpa (the concert hall) and then I made my way over to the old harbor and then up to Hallgrimskirkja for those beautiful views over the city.

the Sun Voyager

Harper - where the windows represent fish scales (as told on the tour)

When planning my trip I heard about "City Walk" tours that are run by three graduate history students who offer free tours. They ask for donations at the end but it's not required as they invite you to pay what you think the tour was worth. DO IT! Definitely worth it as our tour guide for the day told us interesting facts about Iceland and Reykjavik and also gave us a list of his recommendations for tourists.

The Prime Minister's office with absolutely no security.
The place with the most security in Iceland?
The American Embassy!

When the tour finished I went to try one of the famous hot dogs (Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur) which are good if you like hot dogs. Try it with all the toppings! Then I picked up some souvenirs and then headed back to the bus station for my trip back to the airport. A very short but worthwhile visit to this beautiful and friendly island! Next time I'll have to get out of the city and visit the volcanoes, thermal pools and do some hiking!

Until next time!
Did you know? Iceland has 332,000 people and
200,000 of them live in Reykjavik!

one week

It is strange to think the time has finally come for me to leave. The last few months seemed to pass by so slowly, even working two jobs and getting together my visa and other documents. I am excited to head across the pond for this next adventure and look forward to sharing it with you!
This last week I'll be packing up, planning my short layover in Reykjavik and deciding what I need to do first when I finally arrive. So far everything has worked out smoothly and hopefully it will continue to do so! If you have any suggestions for things to do on a Sunday morning in Reykjavik, let me know! I'd love some more ideas.
Until next week!