Good Morning America!

It's 7am here and i've just woken up to my first full day in the States! Yesterday went so smoothly as the second we went through into the departures lounge in Heathrow we instantly spotted the other British girls heading off to Wilmington and within 10 minutes we were laughing and joking as if we'd known each other for years! The flight it's self, although long at 9 and a half hours, was very pleasant and before I knew it we were in Atlanta whizzing  through border control (not getting arrested, as I was convinced I would be, for smuggling Marmite across the border) and boarding a tiny connecting flight to Wilmington.

Upon arrival at Wilmington we stepped outside to be greeted by a gush of hot air and a bubbly, enthusiastic girl called Daisy who whisked us into her big (every thing is big!) people carrier and drove us to the University. I don't know quite what me and the others were expecting the University to be like but we were all gasping as we went through the grand entrance welcoming to The University of North Carolina at Wilmington. It is absolutely enormous, for those reading who know what Roehampton is like, the library here alone is bigger than Digby Stuart! It is like a town with extremely large roads with elaborate crossings. We were driving for a good 10 minutes before we pulled up outside the International House.

The instant we walked in we realised that we were among the last to arrive as we were suddenly in a large "getting to know you" meeting and jet-lagged, scruffy and most probably smelly I found I was introducing myself as Laura from London. Me and Livi were two of around 12 on this large floor that homes around 50 students who were international, the rest seemed to be all American guys, seriously you can not imagine how American the looked, all stereotypical in baggy shorts and baseball caps. Soon after I scurried off, desperate for a shower and most of all, sleep. Once finally in my room, which is a large space with two high up beds, two wardrobes and two desks, I met my room mate Alison, who, incidentally has just woken up bleerey eyed to my tapping away on the computer. Alison is French, speaks perfect English and is absolutely lovely!

I'll keep you updated on what the next few days bring but I can imagine it's going to be busy but don't worry if I am hard to contact. I am so happy to be here and extremely excited!!