I prepared, but I had the time because I knew what was coming. I established a new social scene for myself because even though I wasn't going to make friends too quickly, I wasn't going to sit around on my own and mope. So I joined various clubs and organisations just to keep busy.
I also made sure that I wasn't going to put myself in a position where someone could cut me dead. That would have been so demeaning and bad for my self esteem. Instead I made sure that I was the one who turned away. That worked so well because, on several occasions people said to me: "Hey! It's us who are shunning you, OK?"