So that was an account of my first day in Sheffield, UK. I have now been here for just under a week and I have to say I am becoming much more comfortable in the city, which has almost all of the amenities I was used to having in NYC. The only difference was what I had thought was a lack of a shower in my dormitory so I had been taking regular baths in a tub, splashing myself with a towel and bucket filled with soapy water. It was an odd way to bathe and I often felt I did not get all the soapy water off myself when I had finished since I usually take a shower after a bath in the states, on those rare occasions when I do take baths. Today, I explored the dormitory a little more and discovered that there IS a shower right down the hall, which people have apparently been using since there are bottles of shampoo lined along the window sill. The bathtub I had been using did not look like it was being used for anything, and I suspect that it may not be a bathtub at all, but a wash basin for laundry! I'm still not certain though, because there is a toilet next to the wash basin/bath tub thingy. Anyway, no one had seen me leaving the bathtub room after having washed myself, so I have not gotten any strange looks. In fact, I have had very limited contact with the other people in the dorm which has been a disappointment, since I expected many other visiting students myself to be staying there. I had two contacts with other residents, both very similar, if not identical, in occurence and both very anti-social and involving the common room. On one occasion, I was sitting in the common room watching television and reading book simultaneously and a middle aged woman walked in. I said Hi and thought to introduce myself but she immediately asked how long I was going to be in the room. I told her I didn't know but she was welcome to come in and watch whatever she wanted on the television. She said that she would come back at 8 because she wanted to watch East End, with the presumption that I would have to leave by then. So I did. The second time, I heard someone in the common room and thought I would try again to introduce myself to whoever was in there. To my surprise it was another asian girl so I thought I had a good chance of making a friend. I opened the door and she just sat there ignoring me. Didn't even turn around. Then she did and asked me if I wanted her to leave. "No, not at all, I just didn't know there was a television in here." What I really should have said was no, I just was wondering who was watching the telly. Anyway, she then muttered something about having a television in her own room and literally ran out of the room, forgetting her drink. As she walked by I told her she forgot her drink, but she just ignored me. So I had no intention of watching television now and making it look like I kicked her out so I went back to my room. After I closed the door, she went back and got her drink. Strange... Maybe I'm not approaching this in the right way... Work has been a much more sociable experience though, which I will describe later, but I would like to have some social experiences outside of work on my own as well. I still have 3 weeks here in Sheffield so we'll see...

Sheffield, UK, the fourth largest city in England, the tourist book says, but I'm not here as a tourist. I'm at the University of Sheffield taking a four week course in Forensic Pathology, which is essentially the investigation of suspicious or unnatural deaths mostly through post mortem examinations. I arrived in London from New York last Sunday, spent the morning walking through the parts of London I did not see on my last visit, checked out the new Tate museum and then took the 2 1/2 hour train ride from London to Sheffield arriving around 4 PM. By the time I arrived I was exhausted because I did not get any sleep on the plane and the time difference deprived me of 5 hours of sleep time so I had caught a wink for the past 24 hours by the time I was trying to figure out how to get from the Sheffield train station to the hotel I had booked for one night near the university. Fortunately, I took the right bus, but got off at the wrong station and ended up walking at least half a mile with my heavy bags in tow. The hotel sat at the top of a hill, was made entirely of stone and looked like a Victorian castle. My room had a window that faced downhill so I could see the entire of Sheffield city which was quite larger than I had imagined. But I was so tired, I went to sleep before the sun went down and woke up around 5AM. At 7:30AM the porter had arranged to have breakfast ready which consisted of ham, eggs, mushrooms, toast, coffee and juice. It was a hefty meal and kept me going well through supper that day. Immediately, I went to the dormitory where a room was supposed to have been arranged for me and to me delight the room was reserved and had everything I needed, which was just a bed, sheets and pillows. In the room, there was also a closet, a desk with lamp, sitting and reclining chairs, and my own sink with a deep wash basin and mirror. And it was all provided free of charge so I was very happy about that. I tried to register with the medical school as I had been instructed but the woman who was to meet me was sick that day so I proceeded immediately to the forensic pathology department which I was surprised to learn was a 20 minute walk away from the hospital and my room. It was a pleasant day anyway, and an extremely pleasant walk, through Weston park, past several museums and old university buildings and down a very steep hill. I felt a bit like Jude the Obscure walking down the hill to my new workplace for the next 4 weeks. What adventures would lie ahead of me?