Hey Tommaso,
Wonderful, I guess I'll see you around campus at some point! Wow, those sound like some heavy classes! A few of my friends would love them! They're both science majors, one at Stanford and one at the University of Washington. Anyway, so MSc is a Masters in Science, correct? I always get a bit confused with the degree abbreviations.
Wow! We were right around that temperature about a week ago where I live, it was crazy! The entire West Coast of the US was under one big heat wave and there were wildfires all over the place. It's now cold and rainy again. But that's good that you're at least prepared for the weather even if it isn't the most wonderful. I would love to visit Italy one day. A friend of mine was an exchange student there a few years ago, and I have met two girls who have come to the US as exchange students from various places in Italy. I can't tell you where though because they never told me the name of the cities that they came from. Just that it was or wasn't near Rome. One thing I've noticed is that whenever I meet someone from abroad (except in class), they automatically assume that I don't know geography very well. Apparently most people they talk to in the US have no idea where they are talking about even if it's a capitol or major city, which is so sad. What a perfect place to live though, close to everything! It reminds me a bit of New Zealand, the idea of varying landscape.
Better positive than negative! I'm the same, or try to be.
That's wonderful news! I'm glad that you are happy where you're staying. Now Lupton is Self-Catered, correct? I guess kitchen quality would be extra important in that case. I'm in catered my first year; I was going to do self, but the idea of not having to worry about 2/3 of my meals was enticing for my parents so we went with that. Plus, it's on campus. I've had to commute to school for two years and I hated it! Granted this is a 20 minute walk to Leeds we're talking about; my last commute was a 45 minute drive. So have you started getting stuff for your room? It's a shared room, correct? I can't remember which halls are mostly shared and which are mostly single.
I completely agree! A few months ago, it didn't look like I would be able to go to Leeds the easy way (aka directly), so I was going to study abroad from a school I had already been accepted to in the US. They seemed to focuse on keeping the group together and comfortable amongst fellow Americans though. It irritated me to no end! There was no immersion planned! It was all travel as a group, see things together, experience things together. That's not at all what going abroad is all about. My friend who went to Italy was able to become nearly fluent in Italian in just a school year by immersing herself in the culture. Now, she's teaching English to an Italian man in town who owns a restaurant and wants to be able to interact with people. So good for you for making the most of your time!
Sorry that I write so much...I tend to over do it, or so I've been told.
~Jen