My first week at the University of Mississippi, more commonly known as Ole Miss was an absolute whirlwind! I spent the first few days in a daze of slight homesickness, excitement and amazement! As expected saying goodbye was never going to be easy, but after a few days Ole Miss already feels like home. After a long and tiring trip we made it to Memphis where we spent our first night in a hotel. On Tuesday we were collected by a shuttle bus and brought to University Trails which was to be our new home for the next four months. It has to be said that in comparison to halls, these rooms were lovely, with double beds and slide wardrobes, and after a trip to Walmart they soon felt like home.
The next few days flew by as we attended orientation talks, completed all the different tasks we had to do, and ran around campus trying to get registered. Thankfully we were constantly being helped by numerous American students, and staff who were willing to show us around campus or even drive us to places we needed to be. The term “Southern Hospitality” is unbelievably true, as I have never experienced such kindness from strangers. It makes me realise how much more we could do at home to help Erasmus and International students settle in, and I will definitely never forget how kind people were to me over here and how they helped me settle in.
As well as making many American friends, the first week has also been full of international bonding activities, and I have met people from all over the world. I am living with two girls from Norway and a girl from Korea, and I have also became close friends with people from australia and many other countries. It is amazing how many places and cultures are represented here, and I feel that I will learn a lot from each of my new friends as I study over here.
Lastly, despite being in the supposedly small town of Oxford, I couldn’t help but notice how big everything is! The University is about 10 times the size of Stranmillis, with a massive building for every subject you could think of, a life size football stadium, and baseball stadium, and even a nursery on Campus. The student’s Union also contains about 10 different fast food options, so it is guaranteed that I’ll never go hungry! I was also absolutely amazed the first time I was in Walmart, as it too was massive, and sold just about everything you could think of, and in about five more different flavours than you could get at home. It seem’s people were right when they said you could get anything you wanted in America, as I decided whether to buy peanut butter cheerios, caramel ones or the regular ones which I know I like!
The first week really has been an experience, and already I’m in love with the gorgeous town of Oxford, the American way of life, and I have made friends who I know I will remain friends with for a long time. Now all thats left is to start classes next week, which should be interesting.
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