Brighton: Here I am!

Brighton Pier

My first impression of Brighton is that I am going to love living here!  They say first impressions are often deceiving but in this case I’m pretty sure my first impression is spot on.

Getting to Brighton from Vancouver was surprisingly easy. 

My friend/coworker Aly helped me finish packing and cleaning up before driving me to the airport.  Then before I knew it I had dropped off my bags and was through security.  When that happens it always makes me wonder why I bother to turn up hours in advance.  I got myself a fruit smoothie, found a plug by a comfy chair, put my feet up and watched an episode of The Carrie Diaries – a new show which is a prequel to Sex and the City, it’s decently girly and enjoyable for now.

The flight was slightly delayed which was somewhat annoying since I had been so early.  Although when boarded I was quite impressed with just how big the plane was.  There were two levels and the first class/business class areas I walked by looked deliciously comfortable.  I was only like a little jealous when I squished into my window seat and the person in front of me decided to fully recline their seat leaving me with practically no space.  Despite that I managed to sleep for roughly 4 of the 9 hours of flying time and watched the newest film version of Anna Karenina.

Once I got off the plane in Heathrow I went to the washroom to put my contacts in and freshen up.  Thus allowing me to feel a little more alive by the time I got to customs.  The customs officer was the first British person I spoke to and for the most part I totally understood his mumbling British accent.  Well except when he asked me how I was planning to support myself while I was here and I thought he said spoil myself.  Yeah that was kind of awkward.

After customs I got to baggage claim to see my backpack just coming out.  By the time I got my backpack on a cart my suitcase had arrived and I was on my way.  Finding my way to the coach buses - like the PCL or Greyhound - was fairly straightforward.   I had purchased a ticket online the day before and had given myself plenty of time so I ended up waiting for about half an hour.  The coach was delightfully spacious after the cramped plane.

I switched buses at the Gatwick airport and arrived in Brighton by about 5:30pm.  My friend and fellow uOttawa exchange student, Nicole met me at the coach station, which was basically a parking lot.  Nicole spent the Fall semester here in Brighton and graciously offered to help me catch a bus to my residence and show me around the city.  She also gave me a bunch of stuff since she is leaving today.

Coincidentally we met the other two uOttawa girls here on exchange, Melissa and Justine, on the bus coming back from getting groceries.  They arrived early Friday morning and I was impressed they had already moved in and found the grocery store on their own.

The residence I’m staying in here is called Paddock Field.  It is apparently one of the nicest halls of residence but it is a little ways outside of the city center.  It is right next to the sports complex and playing fields and nearby there are some nice looking hills that have trails where you can go hiking.  I’m looking forward to checking those out in the coming week or so.

I ended up on the same floor as Melissa and Justine is staying the hall just next door.  My room is pretty decent.  I have my own ensuite and a nice view.  My only complaint is the bed is kind of tiny and the heating turns off after 2 hours so if you leave for the day your room will be freezing when you get back.

When we first arrived at my hall we met two British guys, Nick and Neil, who are friends with Nicole and a French girl, Virginie.  It was great to meet people right away.  It left no room for feeling alone, which is quite typical when moving to a new place.

Since I had no food yet we – the four Canadians – went into town for dinner/drinks.  Nicole showed us how to take the train, which is faster than the bus but can be more expensive.  After trying a couple pubs, that were full due to it being a Friday night, we ended up at the Pump House - a quaint little pub.  The food was delicious and the two girls from Quebec tried a ginger beer called Crabbys.  Melissa let me have a sip of hers.  It was quite good.

We got back to halls around 11pm and at that point I was pretty exhausted, which was good since we had plans to meet up mid-morning so Nicole could give us a tour of Brighton.

First thing we did on our tour was go to a phone store.  I brought my iPhone with me so all I needed was a SIM card but the two other needed to by phones.  For £20 I got unlimited data for 6 months.  I thought this also included texting and calls but I think I was mistaken because my phone says I have no credit.  They said it may take up to 24hours for credit to show up but texting still isn’t working.  On the bright side I still have internet so I can Facebook chat, Skype and use a chatting app called WhatsApp.

If you want to text with me for free on WhatsApp send me a message or email and I’ll send you my British cell number.

Our tour from there on out basically consisted of us wandering around the city going to various stores people needed to go to and places Nicole thought we should see.  It was beautiful weather given it is winter, sunny and not super cold.  It was nice to walk around getting a feel for the city.

The few snapshots I took will give you a sense of our tour..

We met up with Nicole’s friends Sophie and Florentina for lunch around 2pm.  They were lovely.  They are both Dutch and are studying here for the year.

After lunch Justine, Melissa and I parted ways with Nicole as she had a goodbye dinner with a friend.  By the time I got back to halls I was pretty wiped so I had a brief nap and then spent my evening unpacking and Skyping with my parents and my Aunt Babs.

Around 10pm a party started up in the communal kitchen of my flat.  I really enjoyed meeting the other people in my flat and those from upstairs and the hall next door.  My hall and the one next door are mainly International students but there are some Brits as well.  I had a really good time getting to know everyone.

The part I didn’t really enjoy is when around 2:30am or so when I finally decided to retire for the night the party continued.  My room is directly beside the kitchen and the noise prevented me from falling asleep.  The last time I remember checking my clock was at 4:50am and the party hadn’t died down yet.  Needless to say I was pretty tired when I got up at 11am to go for groceries with Melissa and Justine.

We went to a store called Sainsbury’s.  The store was rather large and had quite a selection.  I was pleased to find an ample amount of gluten free products.  I’m not Celiac but I have a sensitivity to wheat so it’s nice to have other options.  Gluten-free products may be slightly more expensive but they are healthier for me.  I’ve decided that while I’m in Brighton and not travelling elsewhere I’m going to try and eat reasonably healthy.

The real challenge with grocery shopping was trying to avoid refrigerated items.  The fridge space in our kitchen is abysmal.  There are two small fridges and two small freezers to be divided between 8 people.  I would’ve liked one mini fridge and mini freezer each or at least ½ of both, not ¼.  It’s ridiculous.  Looks like I’ll be getting groceries every other day..  But hey that could be a good thing.

My afternoon/evening since returning from the store has been pretty low-key.  Put away my purchases, made a sandwich, read a book for a while, finished unpacking, made tacos for Melissa and I, and then sat down and wrote this blog post.

I think I need to learn how to write shorter posts because I’m just realizing how long this is.  Oh well. A lot has happened in the last 72 hours.  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my arrival despite the length J