September 2017: Sheffield beginning

My flight was taking off at something crazy like 5AM from Athens to London (hurrah for travelling on a budget!) so we had decided to have a lovely dinner out in Athens and then I was dropped off late that evening, to spend the night waiting for my flight at the airport.
Unfortunately, our accomodation had only street parking, and that evening the car was broken into, the window smashed, and Christophe's suitcase taken!! (Thank goodness for travel insurance but what a nightmare!) For once I was almost glad to leave that headache behind, though I felt awful for the others needing to deal with making a police report, getting the window fixed, and filing an insurance claim, all at 11PM at night in Greece!
Feeling rather guilty about all this, I said my farewells and then enacted my cunning plan to buy a coke from mcdonalds, and then hide out in a booth for the rest of the night, napping on the comfy cushions (it was large enough that I could actually lie down and pretend it was a bed!) Somewhere around 2AM I noticed others had followed suit and people were littered around booths, dozing away. My fears that I would be kicked out were thus allayed, and I continued snoozing.

Arriving in Sheffield (taking the train from London) was stressful, but exciting. A new adventure!

Using google maps to find my way around, I made it to my apartment, picked up my keys, and realised I needed a lot of stuff. Namely, bedding, a lamp, kitchen stuff, and all the basics that comes with moving into a flat.















Introducing Primark. Super cheap, super store, this place has everything from bedding to bathroom bits to lamps to clothes, and I was able to purchase most things here (a quick trip to Wilko's -sort of like the Warehouse - and a Tesco Extra megastore, left me with everything I needed). Feeling exhausted, but pleased with the result (note the happy poster I purchased in Greece and took with me above my bed) I bought a bottle of bubbles to celebrate and lay on the couch for the rest of the evening.

I was lucky in that my little room was almost a studio, it had its own tiny ensuite, and kitchenette with a mini fridge and sink, it was only missing cooking facilities (sadly). Therefore I only had to venture out into the rest of the flat when I needed to cook. This was just as well for me, as my flatmates were undergraduate students with whom it didn't really have anything in common, nor the time to - a year long Masters program (that really should have been 2 years to get through all the material) is no joke with the workload. Luckily I had a little desk in my room, and I pretty much lived here when in my room!

I was incredibly nervous to begin the program, meeting my professors, and fellow students, and seeing what the workload would like (and if I would even enjoy it!) Luckily, they eased us in with a field trip. I felt like I was back in highschool again! One of the best things about Sheffield is its location on the edge of the Peak District, a large national park (and the oldest in the UK!) Full of cute villages, interesting hikes and cool historical spots. Our field trip took us into the heart of the park, and was a great introduction to the area.

It was a rainy, extremely windy day (something I would become used to in England) and we stood huddled together straining to hear our professor shouting information above the wind. Magpie Mine is one of the best sites from the Industrial Revolution in the area, and is one of the best surviving examples of a lead mine in the entire UK. Thrilling stuff. 

Built sometime in the 1740s, the mine had a continuously turbulent history, due to disputes over who owned what lead vein, leading to miners lighting fires underground to smoke each other out - which is just as dangerous as it sounds - in 1833, 3 miners suffocated due to the smoke. This lead to the 'Magpie Murders' trial, (which didn't involve any magpies, and they were all acquitted, so is much less exciting than it sounds).

We also visited a much more ancient site which I can't remember anything about, but it had some snazzy stones! The trip also gave me the opportunity to get to know some of my classmates, and I soon hit it off with an American girl called Janae. It felt like I was off to a good start!