It is 9:20AM in England, meaning it’s probably about 4:20AM to most of you. Today will be sunny with highs around 21 degrees C (almost 70 degrees F) I am slowly getting used to using Celcius and 24-hour time. I’m also slowly getting my barrings around Guildford. For the past 3 days I’ve simply set out and explored little chunks of the town.
First off, I’m staying at the YMCA, and there’s a cute little river that runs along the side of the building. It’s easy to overlook, but so nice when you actually notice it! The Y is located on Bridge street, only a 4 minute walk to the town centre. I’ve booked a week’s stay, which costs £207 and includes breakfast every morning and dinner Monday through Friday. The clientele is very….varied. There are a few people in their mid twenties like myself, a handful of older couples just passing through on holiday, and a smallish group of… teenagers. The Y is usually pretty quiet, but when this group comes roaring in, it’s very obvious that they’re not as calm as the rest of us… On the whole, staying at the Y is nice, centrally located, and a good price for
move into campus accommodation. It’ll be nice to
make friends with the “MUSOs” and other masters students.
On saturday I walked to the town centre, on North Street and High Street. TONS of shopping and food! What more could a girl ask for?? It’s a nice place to hang out, with cobbled streets and lots of little alleyways with more stores and coffee shops. Behind High Street is Guildford Castle, which is BEAUTIFUL!! I know nothing about it yet, other than it used to be a castle? More info on that soon.
On Sunday and Monday I ventured over to the University of Surrey campus (commonly referred to as UniSurrey or UniS). Until 2 days ago, I only knew UniSurrey from its website and googlemaps. And even then, google maps doesn’t really get around the campus too much. Well, let me tell you, IT’S GORGEOUS! The dorms are modern but still with a hint of English Country, and the academic buildings are just nice and… mild. (Pleasant? Demure? I know that doesnt sound like a positive, but really, I’ve seen some pretty garish looking academic buildings.)
It was a little tough to navigate at first, because there is still a lot of pre-semester construction and I may or may not have taken the most convoluted way through the campus…But I finally found the music building, which everyone calls the PATS building (Performing Arts and Technology Studio). It’s a smallish building with only 2 floors (I think). The first floor has 2 studios (presumably rehearsal rooms that can be converted into whatever is needed), a massive floor-to-ceiling mirrored dance studio, some recording and editing rooms, and about 10 practice rooms. On the second floor I found all the offices of the music 
faculty. I didn’t find any classrooms… but I think they were in the academic building next door labeled “Facultyof Arts and Humanities.” We shall soon find out!
Besides the PATS building, I tried poking around the rest of campus, but most of it was closed due to the Bank Holiday weekend. However, what I did find was endless amounts of nature and outdoor space to enjoy! Oh thank god! Those of you that were around Crane my senior year will remember the endless hours I spent hanging out on The Hill on sunny days. (Don’t worry parents, I always went to class.)
Well check out my new front-of-music-building hangout:
pretty sweet, huh?
In addition, there are GAZILLIONS of awesome places to sit outside and just enjoy the greeenery. Here’s the pond at the end of the main road, and the cool stuff around it:
so beautiful!
so happy!
I’ve already sat out here for a few hours and read my book. I have a feeling this will be a common occurrence.
Anyway, tomorrow I'll show you some pictures of the High Street, and Guildford Castle! Enjoy!
~Sie
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