When I set out for Lancaster, I set out with no expectations. I’ve learnt that having expectations don’t help. Either the subject meets those expectations and you’re satisfied, or it doesn’t and you’re disappointed. The negative outweighs the positive, and past experience has taught me that there are more chances of being disappointed. So when I set out on that 10-something hour journey across two continents, I was more concerned with making sure my seats on the flights were not middle seats than the new place I was going to step into.⌘

My father and I flew Emirates, since we didn’t want to change airports at London to catch our connecting. The journey was more or less pleasant, with in-flight movies making sure the time passed quickly. I barely got any sleep that day, since I woke up at 6 AM IST and slept at 11 PM BST. We got a room in a small Bed & Breakfast in Morecambe (called Glenthorne) since my father needed a place to stay for just a few days while he helped me settle in. I moved in to the halls of residence the next day to begin getting used to taking care of myself again as soon as possible. Being at home for more than half a year doesn’t help that at all.⌘

More pictures of Lancaster University at the Lancaster University pool on Flickr.⌘

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The very first thing that struck me was that the people here are actually nice. It might have something to do with the fact that Lancaster is more of a village-town and the university campus is three and a half miles away from the city; the place hasn’t been urbanised. Or it may just be that living in India has lowered my standards of judging people. I have said more “thank you”s here in the past 5 days that I have in the past 3 years. It’s really just the smallest things — from holding the door open to suggesting alternatives to some thing. There is a hint of patience in people here, which really helps when you’re in an entirely new place where things are done almost entirely differently to how you’ve been used your whole life. I might even go as far as to say that this place might make me a tad nicer as a person if I’m not careful.⌘

The place itself is absolutely beautiful. I was used to the green from being in Manipal for so long, but this is what it must truly feel like to be around nature. It rains quite a bit¹, so everything looks fresh almost all the time. It’s just the correct amount of cold this time of year, so a simple combination of jacket and jeans does the trick for the day (lecture theatres are warm enough to not need the jacket). It’s a beautiful assortment of blue, grey and green that makes me want to be outside more than in my room. Of course, I’d spent time outside if I had something to do (which I shall from tomorrow, as my classes start then), but the lack of traffic and bustle of people is very inviting.⌘

I had a chance to travel to and from Preston and Morecambe in the little time that I’ve been here, and the drives were quite relaxing. We usually say that overpopulation is the bane of a country, but you don’t realise exactly how bad it is until you see the alternative. Except the occasional traffic jam because a road is being repaired or you’re bang in the middle of the office rush hour, you can just fly here. Speed limits are 50 mph on the regular roads and 70 mph on the motorway. Those translate roughly to 70 kmph and 90 kmph — speeds almost unheard of in India. Here, cars feel like cars. Of course, I don’t need to get into the massive boost in the quality of cars I see here too. Although I did see the WagonR, Fusion (called something else here) and my father pointed out a Swift as well.⌘

I haven’t yet gotten around to getting a hang of the public transport system (which is mainly the bus), but I hope to do it soon enough so that I can use it effectively when I need to. I can’t be using a cab to go everywhere — they’re ridiculously expensive.⌘

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Like I said before, I’m staying in the halls of residence. I picked my room on the outskirts of the university campus, because it’s just quieter here and has less people-traffic. It does mean I need to leave for lectures about 10 minutes early since they’re a little far away, but that’s a very small payoff for keeping my sanity. In fact, I’m in the last building of my accommodation area, which is called the County College (I’m still coming to terms with the terminology used here, e.g. the difference between the university and college), and on the topmost floor. I don’t think I could be more isolated. All of that, and the fact that my room was a pleasant surprise (to say the least) means that I should have a very comfortable first year. I knew it would be better than what I was used to, but I didn’t expect to be this good. It’s almost like I’m in a constant tussle between spending time out and in my room, because they’re both so inviting. Once the little bit of construction going on around my building gets over, it’ll be a gem of a place to stay.⌘

I haven’t yet met any of my professors, since classes haven’t begun yet, but I again keep no expectations. My friends here have told me that the curriculum is easier than what I’ve been used to in India, so that’s a good thing. I just hope to be able to find my lecture theatres in time, since the maps aren’t really that helpful; with the construction going on there are detours all over the place that keep throwing me off. Hopefully I’ll get used to it soon enough.⌘

Going back over everything for a proof-read, it’s interesting to observe that I have nothing significantly bad to say about Lancaster and the university. Not yet at least. That’s what happens when one approaches something without expectations. There’s no disappointment, or it’s absolutely minimal. But I don’t think this place could have disappointed me even if I had expected anything from it. There are many things to like about Lancaster, and I’ve just touched a few of them that were glaringly obvious. It’ll be nice to come back to this in a year’s time and see if and how my view changes.⌘