Last Tuesday, a week ago, I was very excited to leave for a five month adventure in Hull, Yorkshire. I travelled from Rotterdam to Hull Harbour on a night ferry, which was a very comfortable journey. I even got serenaded to by waiters who looked quite unhappy to be there, while having to make awkward eye contact with them.

After arriving at the Harbour, Pleun and I got a bus that could directly deposit us at Hull Station. We were lucky enough to get a good luck at the local architecture, which was very British and quite beautiful (in some places).

On arriving in The Lawns in Cottingham, which is to be my place of accommodation for the months, I found out that it's set in a really pretty park, which I expect to look quite lush in the spring/summer. There's a big building that's the Centre and has a dining hall (with free evening meals), a sport facility, a reception desk and a few places for us to hang out.

Blocks of buildings are scattered around the park, I'm in the Morgan A hall. There's a good mix of nationalities in here, from French to American to German, French and Danish. The first Friday, we were invited to a Karaoke night hosted at The Lawns Centre, where I met a lot of other exchange students and may have embarrassed myself with my singing ability. I also went to a board games event and a Harry Potter quiz hosted in one of the University buildings.

We've had so many opportunities for me that it felt, up until today, more like a break than a study experience. Last Saturday, for example, I went on a partly subsidised trip to York to see the Ice Trail. York is definitely a must see!

One of the things that strikes me is that while we, as foreigners, all love Hull, the true Yorkies hate it with a passion. When I ask them why though, they can't explain and just shrug. They are convinced I'm going to hate it by the end of my time here.

I was supposed to start classes last week, but unfortunately that wasn't possible for many exchange students due to a scheduling error. I was finally able to go to my first two lectures today: Visionaries and Rebels, romantic poets from Blake to Tennyson and An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition. While I was worried that Second Language Acquisition might be a bit too easy because I've been studying it for 2,5 years already, this lecturer really has a passion for teaching. He made it a fun and interactive lesson and it's interesting to see some different perspectives. The lecture on romantic poets was widely different. While it was extremely interesting and I've learnt a lot about Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, the professor was almost rambling (in a good way?) and I had to type like mad to be able to get some notes out of the class.

I'm excited for the rest of the week!