Don't worry about finding academic parents - there are always loads of third years just waiting to pounce on the new freshers - myself included
And there's no ritual humiliation unless you have a mean parent - the worst that'll probably happen is you'll get too drunk and embarrass yourself without your parents' help
Personally i wouldn't reccommend doing three languages as even one can be a lot of work compared to other subjects, but then if you do really enjoy languages then you'll probably find the work worth it.
Don't worry about reading lists - you don't need them until the first class and even then you don't have go out out and buy stuff straight away.
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[s]
A Question
A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.
---Robert Frost[/s]
"This is my story. It'll go the way I want, or I'll end it here"
--Final Fantasy X