So here I am. Yesterday I got up at 5 am (Norwegian time), took a shower and headed to the airport at about 5:30. My parents picked me up to take me there, and my boyfriend came with us to see me off. We had a sad goodbye, I went through security and got on the plane just before 7:30.  Plane took off on time, arrived ahead of schedule, but was delayed when it reached Heathrow because its “parking space” was occupied. I got my luggage quick enough and made my way in to London by express train.

Then I got lost at Paddington, but did find my way to Euston station in the end, where I procured a rail card and a ticket to Walsall. The train to Birmingham was quicker than I’d feared, and the train to Walsall left shortly after, so I arrived here at about 2 pm.

When I’d got my room key and been showed to my accommodation (Mathias from NISS was an angel and helped me carry my very heavy luggage up the stairs), I had a brief panic attack, took a shower and went out to the kitchen to meet my flatmates.

I’ve been very lucky. They’re all friendly people, and two of them are music students, albeit first years. I tried to eat something (which failed miserably), and we went out to a club in Wolverhampton where I drank ridiculously cheap Stella Artois (no way I’d ever find it in a pub in Norway for less than the equivalent of £4 or £5). I’ve never been clubbing before. It was fun, though. I hung out with the girls from my hall for a while, dancing, and then I found Mathias, Espen and a guy called Glen, who’s also from NISS and who studies sound engineering. We sat down in a quieter room, an imitation of a French Budoir or something, where they played mostly jazz tunes, drum and bass and other pleasant music, and less loudly.

It was here that I met new friends (not counting Abi from my hall, whom I already get along with really well and who’s really friendly and who gave me toilet paper when I’d forgotten to buy some). I got into a conversation with a guy called Louis, who turned out to be both a goth and a commie. He introduced me to a bunch of his friends, the most immediately fun of whom was this guy named Paul who had the most fantastic all over the place fuzzy styled hair. I had a great time talking to all of them, and my spirits lifted slightly in finding that there are people here who are, you know, my kind of people, as well.

I’m really, really homesick, and it’s unlikely to get any better for a while, but I think I’ll manage. At least now I’ve met some people and I know what I’m getting into. I’ve signed up for modules, completed my enrollment, just need my student card now… Gonna talk to Espen and Mathias about it as I’m not entirely certain how to get it, but I suppose it’ll all sort out. I am, at the very least, now officially a student at the University of Wolverhampton. I live here now. This is to be my home. And as soon as I get round to hanging up a few posters and making this room more my own, I might just feel it, too.

Still scared.