This is my first post and, although I want to, probably I won't make it as special as I want it to be. So, ... no need of any awkward introduction. All you need to know is that my name is Vladimir, I am 19 years old, studying Economics and Management at Aston University and it is now the end of my first year. The first thing I want to share with you is my journey to the UK.

Anyone who has ever travelled on their own can probably understand me and it is most important that you avoid my mistakes!

It all started at the airport. It was 5 in the morning and I had just said Goodbye to my parents. I was sitting with my friends waiting for the 'all passengers for London, ...' What would a normal person do, hug, kiss, shed a tear... me, I was crying my eyes out and looking at it now, it must have been amazingly entertaining for the surrounding population. This continued at the security check, the pasport check, the boaring and the plane. Probably most of the people thought I had just found out I was dying tomorrow. At some point I said to myself, just deal with it, and that is when London came.

The huge wave of wondering population hit me like a metal bat. Of course, I managed to get lost in the Airport, on my way to the Train and then in the massive Victoria Station. So, after getting ripped off (I bought a £70 open, first class ticket, by accident of course) I was sitting on my little round table in my comfortable first class seat, enjoying the free treats I was offered.

By the time I reached Birmingham I would have been calmer, had I not discovered free coffee. And here is TIP No 1 For future students: When you go out of the Train Station and ask a policewoman where Aston University is and she says 'I have never heard of it', do not panic.

TIP No2: Do not get in a black cab, it will rip you wallet off and then ask for your credit card After I got ripped off by a very rude taxi driver I had almost reached my final destination - 'Dalton Tower' Well, there was no such, I found only an 'ALTON' Tower (later I was informed that the 'D' is missing from the sign)

'The Bee Hive' as I shall now call it was a small utopia of unending activities. People going an and off the lift, people getting to know each other and having an annoying chatt in the middle of the hall, getting the keys for their rooms, carrying huge boxes of pans and dishes and of course the gigantic suitcases. I was walking through the corridor slowly in a perplexed and childlike manner (probably pissing everyone else off, who actually knew what they were doing) Everything else happened in a split of a second, I got my key, had a fast chat about London with the staff, got into the lift, and before you know it met my flatmates. But more on them later, because what was about to happen is the most beloved moment of university for all students - Fresher's Week!