First Day

First day in North Bay...and what a day it's been!! :-) Before I talk about it though, I think I'll go back and write a bit about my arrival, my first impressions, and my new lodging.

So here goes...

I left London with my parents on Sunday around 11 am. All in all, it took us 7 hours to get here!! That's mainly due to the many stops that we took (Costco, gas, Tim Hortons) because normally, it should "only" take 6 hours. :-) The drive up here was very scenic, and for the most part even fun (okay, fun is not something that I usually associate with my parents, but this time they really rocked!). :-)

Once at Marlene's (my landlady), I was shown to my room. Was it what I had expected it to be? Well, that's hard to say now, because having seen it already, I no longer remember what my expectation actually was. But let me describe: Marlene, a single, divorced woman of about 55, lives in a 2 story cottage-looking house in a pretty cottage-looking area. The house is situated on a tiny, dead-end street in the northern outskirt of the city. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere...but close to campus, which is a big plus. The street itself has only 3 houses on it is surrounded by a forest/bush. It's feels a bit like living out in the wilderness. :-) Right on that first day, I was warned to put all "edible garbage" into the locked-up trash container to keep...*gasp*...BEARS (!) away. That's scary.. Marlene's reminder that bears usually hibernate in the wintertime was only a small comfort.

The room itself is alright -- about 12x12 feet and furnished. The furniture is antique and it has that "old" smell to it, which is why I decided not to organise my clothes in the drawers, opting instead to keep them in my suitcase (I figure that walking around campus smelling like old 'moth-bally' furniture will probably not score me many friends). What surprised me a little was that the room was FULL of photographs of Marlene's children -- her daughter, her son, her son-in-law.. You know, I think that if I was renting out a room to a student (or anyone, for that matter), I'd be kind enough to remove all traces of my personal photographs from his/her room so that he/she can add some personal intimacy to their new space, and not feel like they're intruding on someone else's private terrain. Because after all, I'm paying her my hard-earned money for that room, and so I think it's common sense that I want to feel more-or-less at home in it. Having her daughter's wedding photo on my counter does not exactly make me feel very "welcome". Not wanting to hurt my landlady's feelings, I casually moved all the photographs to the far-end corner of the room (instead of stashing them away). This must have gotten the point across to her, because she then hid them in a drawer. I was very glad. :-)

Overall, the room is full of kitchy, flea market-style things like stuffed animals, old-fashioned brushes & mirrors, antique porcelain figurines, etc. Not really in my taste, but I can live with it I guess. The other slightly bothersome thing about that room is is that my windows do not have curtains. Although Marlene tried to assure me that nobody comes there to peek, I feel uncomfortable with bare windows in a foresty, wild area. So I've already decided to cover them up with a large sheet & empty pillow-case in the evenings.

My bathroom is very nice and clean, and my kitchen is still under construction, although it should be ready to use in about 2 weeks (so I'm told). Overall impression of the house -- Good. Overall impression of the landlady -- picky & controlling (especially when it comes to my living space -- she has already told me how much she dislikes an "unmade bed" and disorder...personally, I feel that since I'm paying her, I should have a right to a messy room because after all, it's my private space now, isn't it?...not that I want a messy room, but still.). Somehow I sense that she's not as kind-hearted as she seems on the surface...and I'm very sorry to write that. Of course, having just met her, I could be totally wrong. This is just my first impression. I very much hope I'm wrong! I will spend a total of 18 weeks living in her house so it would help if we could get along and not get on each other's nerves. :-)

Contrary to Bell's promise, I did not get my phone activated today. I was very disappointed.. *sniff* I called their Customer Service from a pay phone and was told that someone may stop by the house tomorrow and have a look at the system...but only if they are still having difficulty activating the phone from their networks. I hope all goes smoothly because I really want to talk to Holger, my family, and my friends.. I'm already missing everyone and it's only been a DAY!!

And as to my first day of Orientation at Nipissing...ahh, let me just say that it was a looong day with lots of running around, line-ups and boring assemblies. I think I'll leave the details for another time. I'm very tired now and I think I'll head home soon.

I'm sorry that this entry has a somewhat negative feel to it. Hopefully I'll have some brighter news to report tomorrow. :-)