Hey Ken, welcome to mcmaster. Don't worry once you get here you will have no trouble finding friends and food...
It just takes time getting used to being responsible for waking up in the morning and going to class but if you can take some initiative you will be well off at mac. For the whole brain mush part, don't worry about it. Many people feel the same way about first year but the courses here make sure that everyone is caught up and on the same level before getting to the dirtier stuff. Also there are so many help centers and such that you can always attend for extra help as well as office hours from T.A.s and Profs.
Also, I am writing a series of articles sharing my personal experience at mac which talks about a lot of different topics such as moving in and frosh week. So if you want to check it out here is the link ->
http://socyberty.com/education/simpl...r-first-years/ I hope it helps answer a lot of your questions and if you have any suggestions of concerns please let me know and I will add it to the next article. Enjoy.