Kinder Egg and Bowling — Saturday 24 September

The most exciting thing that happened to me this morning was sleeping.
The most exciting thing before 14:00 was opening up my Kinder Egg.
Photos!

The Egg itself. Actually just half the egg, because I was so excited that I had eaten half of the other half before I remembered that I wanted pictures.

See? Exciting! It glows!

Aww. Doesn't actually glow. But it still looks delicious.

That yellow thing was inside. That's where the toys go!

Er. Wadded up paper was not quite the toys I was expecting.

Instructions – I appear to have scored a balloon/ball thing.

After unfolding the larger wad of red paper, I inflated a...
Well...
Fish.
Thing.

I think the idea is to bat it around.

Now I have a weird little paper balloon that I can't do anything with. It would go up on my ceiling if it was less shoddy.
I also did laundry in the little laundry room all the way across Clanny, next to reception. There are three parking lots inside Clanny, which is like a gated community with no pool. Block 1 is in the farthest parking lot from reception, which is in block 11. Also, there is a code to get into the laundry room, which I suppose is useful for keeping out malicious laundry thieves like students who don't have the code. I now have the code, happily. I also have clean, if damp, laundry. It's still across Clanny in the dryer.
We're going "ten-pin bowling" this afternoon, and I kind of hope that it's pretty much the same as bowling in the Tri Cities. Apparently there are other kinds of bowling; who knew?
Unfortunately, I can't get the code to work. I'll have to try it out again sometime when there's no one around.
Bowling was fun. It was exactly like bowling in the Tri Cities. We played three games, and I only lost miserably on the last one. I blame my fingernail, which was busy being ripped off by the holes in the bowling balls.
Here's how it ended up:

The nail is gone! 

I have provided my other thumbnail as contrast:

That's how much nail I had before bowling.

 I would count today as a success. We had mexican night afterwards, and I need to get ahold of some better beans for next time. Pintos smashed up and heated with a bit of salt do not do the trick. Maybe black beans, with some salt and red spices...

Orientation Day 4 — Thursday 22 September

This morning, I slept in forever! Around noon, I organised my clothes and stuff, then headed over to Forster Building to get my modules sorted. By the time I got there, the advisors had all gone out for lunch, so I decided to follow suit. I also wanted to register for the Student Union's Connect programme, which plans trips and events, so I headed over to the Gateway and stood in line three times to register my mobile number with the university and get my meal stipend cheque (it turns out that I can't actually set up an account with the bank because I'm not here long enough, so I need to take the cheque back and get someone up high to sign off on the bank cashing it for me. At least it will be easier to ration...). Afterwards, I had a cheese and onion pasty, and it was the most delicious thing ever. It is also the only vegetarian thing in the pasty/pie category, so I count my blessings. I don't trust "cheese savoury" sandwiches, because they look like coleslaw, and I wasn't in the mood for egg salad or even tomato and cheese (which they have!).
After my lunch, I went back and climbed three flights of stairs twice to find the place where I could get my modules sorted. I had a great view from the room I waited in, but I wasn't alone so no pictures were taken. Sorry.
I ended up meeting with the guy who ran the meeting yesterday, and it turned out that my biochem class was completely available and in the right semester and everything! I also picked History of England, 1500-1750 and English Literature 1700-1789.
After that got worked out, I took another weight off my chest by finding a walking route from the campus to Clanny. I also got stopped by Aldi to get some cheese and "laundry gel" (laundry detergent comes in "laundry gel", "laundry powder", "laundry tablets", and "laundry gel packets" while dish soap is "washing up liquid") at Aldi, a plant at a florist's shop, and tea and not-pocky at a supermarket (which means little tiny grocery store here).

Plant! It's a Sinningia Gloxina, from Brazil.

It was nice to see a familiar face in the supermarket.

It's not-Pocky!

But before that, I saw this.

When I got back to Clanny, the fire alarms were being tested, so a deafening siren blasted through the whole flat every thirty seconds or so for about an hour. It was miserable, and I ended up putting in earplugs because my ears hurt.
I went to Asda (because Adam was going, and I need dishes), and ended up with 4/£1 nectarines, a plate, a bowl, a small square mug that came with a small square saucer for my plant. I also bought a Kinder egg in the checkout line because I've never had one, and I think they're illegal in the US. Pictures to follow.

I plan on turning in early because we have to be at the Gateway at 08:30 for the coach to York. This time, I've got dramamine in my purse, to be shared freely until it runs out.