Arriving in the UK for an MA with minimal SNAFUs

As far as my list of things never to do again is concerned, the rail trip from Reading to Norwich now has pride of place, where it will stay until I do something else equally poorly thought out. Rail travel in England generally is pleasant - as long as you avoid dealing with any of the officials - but dragging a 30 kg suitcase and a stuffed hiking backpack through the tube during rush hour is nothing short of hellish, especially if you've been recently under the weather and can't actually lift said suitcase.

Not so new on that list of things is living in student housing. There are twelve of us to a kitchen, and the smell is already somewhat reminiscent of New York's Chinatown in high summer. The bathroom floor is dotted with tubs of soaking laundry, and the floors are stickier than the Union bar at closing time. And classes haven't even started.

There are about thirty other prose people in the program - the UEA's Masters of Creative Writing - and those I've met so far are wonderfully affable. The first day or so was spent primarily on congratulating each other on having gotten in and swapping stories of naysaying advisors and family members who still think this writing thing is "just a phase," after which we began to communally abuse our livers and wonder how the program will go. It's a relief to find that I am not the youngest, least experienced, or most horrified by the reputation I will be expected to live up to, but what is more of a relief is how easy my course mates are to talk to. We always get back to writing, or reading, or writing and reading one way or another, and for the first time in my life, at least, it seems that I can talk about what I enjoy most without watching for that glazed look or being advised to write romance. Even if I learn nothing from the professors - and from reading Henry Sutton's work, I should at the very least learn how to pitch pornography as high literature - being surrounded by people that speak my language will be worth putting off life for a year. And apparently, there's also free food involved.