A Year to the Day

One year ago today I was driving through rural North Carolina and Virginia to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.. I was incredibly nervous and had barely eaten for several days, partially due to anxiety and partially due to cutting my hand open while packing the car. I was about to embark on the longest plane ride of my life and my first trip out of the United States.

What followed were four months in the UK, four months that almost seem like a dream when I think back on them now. I am very glad that I wrote this blog, even though it was a serious pain at times to crank out three 1,000 word posts a week. The words I spent so much time writing allow me to once again relive those days and make the memories more substantial in my mind.

I have had so many experiences since I wrote those words. In the past year I have gone from being a junior to an early graduating senior. I joined a service sorority and spent last weekend with them at the coast. This summer I had my first real job. Now I can legally drink alcohol in the United States. 

Many things changed for me while some stayed the same, like our friendship with our English friends Beth. Amy, Libby, Caitlin and I sent candy and postcards to Beth last semester. This summer we all received packages of “sweets” in return. 

Maoams, Cadbury chocolate and tea cakes. All lovely reminders of our time abroad. She is hoping to take a grand tour of the United States in a few years and hopefully we will see her then.  

---------- 0 ----------

After reading a few of my posts, there are a few questions I might be able to answer/ new experiences to relate:

Caitlin, Libby and I still have not had a full Lord of the Rings marathon to educate Amy. We have only made it through The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.

I still have not managed to read The Hobbit or get any farther in the Harry Potter series than book 5 even though I told myself I would read them when I got back from England. 

Libby found mold in our dorm room for this year and we were afraid of a K1 repeat but thankfully it got fixed quickly. 

Observations About School and University

In honor of finishing my first of two exams just a bit ago, I thought I would write a quick post about what I have learned about the British school system. Some of it might not be totally accurate, or it might only apply to some places/schools in the UK.

• School refers to anything lower than university. University is referred to as university or uni. If you talk about something you did at school, the British person will assume it happened in high school, or perhaps earlier.

• It is quite common for children to attend boarding schools. They might board even if there homes are not that far away. 

• Both public and private schools have uniforms.

• You can leave school when you are sixteen, but it normally is not seen as "dropping out." It does not have the same stigma as in the USA.

• Their last two years of high school is devoted to taking A-levels in several subjects. The scores on the A-levels will affect which universities they will be accepted to.  

• At university you can a course, not a major, and they typically take three years to complete.

• All you study at university is your course (major). There are no general education requirements.

• Once you have enrolled in a course and started studying, you can not change courses. To change a course you must drop out, and then wait a year to apply for another course. So, if you end up half way through your course and discover that you actually hate that subject, then you either have to just finish and earn a degree you don't want, or leave school and the previous years were wasted.

• It is very common to take at least one or two gap years before starting university. Students take that time to discover what they really want to study since once they start they cannot change.

• As a result of gap years, the average Fresher (name for a first year student) is older than freshmen in the USA.

• Very few students bring their laptops to class. Legal pads are very popular for note-taking.

• Most professors insist that you call them by their first name.

• At the end of the semester you do not review for the test, you revise.

• Classes, at least at Oxford-Brookes University, only meet one day a week for two hours. The two hours are usually split into lecture and seminar.

You Have To Live Here to Notice

There are many differences between the United States and the United Kingdom that are obvious and well known. Americans drive on the right, Europe on the left. The American subway is the English tube or underground. The United States has a president and the United Kingdom has a prime minister and a queen.

However, many of the differences are much more subtle and you probably would not notice many of them on just a short trip. You only notice these things when you live within the culture, like during study abroad. The following are some of the small differences I have discovered in the last few months.

• Regular white printing paper does not measure 8.5" x 11". Instead, the UK and most of Europe use A4 paper which measures 8.3" x 11.7"

• Sinks often have two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold. There is no way to combine the two to simply get warm water

• Power outlets have switches to turn them off and on.

• Pedestrians do not have the right of way in the UK. If you are crossing the street without a walk signal, cars will not slow down to let you cross.

• Instead of a solid or a gel, UK deodorant comes in either liquid roll-on or spray form.

• Blackcurrant, gooseberry, and rhubarb at quite common flavors in things like candy and yogurt.

• Students rarely use their computers to take notes in class. Notebooks, especially legal pads, are much more common.

• "You're mind is like a sewer" UK = "You're mind is in the gutter" US

• Many toilets have a button on top that you press to flush instead of a handle

• In the UK, cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fruit. The equivalent of American apple cider is cloudy apple juice.

• In the UK, a subway is a walkway underground. It often leads from the stairs from street level to the Tube (US equivalent of the subway).

A British Professor

It might seem a little strange to be writing a post about a person, and a teacher at that, but Peter Forsaith was big part my life while in Oxford. I hope that by writing this post I will be able to better remember him ten, twenty, thirty years down the road.

Photo by Sarah

During our time in Oxford, Dr. Peter Forsaith has been our liaison with Oxford Brookes University and our professor. When we stepped off the bus from Heathrow Airport he was there to greet us and help us with our luggage. He is an incredibly nice person who is always willing to answer our questions or refer us to someone who can.

He was our guide during the British Heritage trips we took in September to London, Stonehenge, Bath, Highclere Castle, Ironbridge and Salisbury. Throughout these trips he related historical facts to us about all of the places we were visiting. He also had the difficult task of keeping our group of 25 people together. He did this by holding his trusty yellow umbrella up high as a beacon for us to follow when moving from place to place. It was especially useful when we found ourselves in large crowds.

We have seen him nearly every week since we arrived since all people in my program were required to attend his class British Heritage and Culture. In that class he taught us about many British things: architecture, historical events, food, government and political parties, etc.

At our last class meeting this past Wednesday he brought wine, juice, and homemade mince pies for us to eat as a last mini-party as a group. There was no need for him to do this, but that is just the kind person that he is. It is so sad to think that I will probably never see him again, and if I do for some reason, we will not remember us, as is the way with teachers who have so many students over the years. There just isn't enough room in the mind to remember everyone.
In the four months that we have known him, we have found that Peter (British professors insist on being called by their first names) is quite the character, full of seeming contradictions that combined to make an intelligent and sweet man.

Some days he wore a lavender sweater vest with a pink collared shirt, others he wore his leather jacket and pants (when he had been riding his motorcycle). Our last day of class he even combined the two styles together by wearing his leather jacket with pale pink trousers. He thinks Harry Potter is rubbish and the Lord of the Rings is great. He is an atheist that studies Methodist history. He loves learning about architecture and collecting antique silver spoons.

This is a great example of how people come and go in our lives. The Oxford chapter of my life is ending soon, but I know that when a dust it off in the coming years to reminisce, Dr. Peter Forsaith will be a starring character in those memories.

There and Back Again...or Maybe Just 1/3 of the Way

Practically since we got to Oxford, Caitlin, Libby and I have talked about going to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when it came out in December. We ended up buying tickets online about two weeks ago and last night was the night. Amy has never read or even seen The Lord of the Rings (we have promised her a marathon when we get back to the US), and did not really understand our excitement, but she was a good sport and went along anyway.

Our first Tolkien reference of the day came in the form of a link posted by Libby on Facebook, The 13 Dwarves of The Hobbit, Ranked by Hotness. I am not sure how you could even go about ranking them, you can barely their faces under all of that hair. Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I all agreed that Number 2, Kili, was the most attractive. I have a bit of a problem getting past Number 1, Fili's braided mustache. The whole idea behind the article was strange, but very amusing for us.

-------- 0 --------  

We went to dinner at a pub called The Eagle and Child. We have been meaning to go there for some time but last night was the perfect time to go. Why? Because this particular pub was a regular haunt for J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and other writers of the time. The group called themselves the Inklings.

I was afraid that the pub would be very crowded with people who had the same idea as us: go to eat at Tolkien's hangout and then go to see The Hobbit, so we went early at 5:30pm. There ended up being many free tables and a very short line to put in orders at the bar.

The Eagle and Child, sometimes called The Bird and the Baby by locals, is long and narrow with many  sitting alcoves. The table were made of dark wood with half of the seating being squat wooden stools and the other half green padded benches. It was cozy and inviting. I can see why someone would want to spend a lot of time there.

Caitlin, Libby and I all ended up ordering the same meal of chicken and mushroom pie and a Rekorderlig cider. This was the first time I have ever ordered an alcoholic drink before. So far on this trip I have just tasted things the others have bought. I ended up getting the Strawberry and Lime flavor. These ciders are palatable to me because they barely taste like alcohol (only 4.0%), are fruit flavored, and fizzy.

-------- 0 --------

We got to the cinema about fifteen minutes early to collect our tickets and find our seats. I don't know if this the same in all British cinemas or just the one we went to, but we had assigned seats. That is just strange to me. In the US, it is generally "first come, first served" so you want to be there a little early. We were a bit annoyed to find that our spots were in the very top row of the stadium seating. I swear that the diagram online when we chose our seats showed at least two or three rows behind us.

I was amazed by how many seats, maybe about 1/3, were empty when the lights dimmed at 7:00pm. It was supposed to be a full theatre. And then a learned why so many people were not there yet...there are fifteen minutes of commercials before even the previews start. Obviously they all knew that and most all of the seats were filled by the time the previews started.

Most of the movie previews looked good (Les Miserables, Life of Pi) while others looked like they would probably be pretty bad (i.e. Pacific Rim which looks like an amalgamation of Clash of the Titans, Transformers and the trend for apocalypse movies).

The movie itself was very exciting with lots of humor, action, and a few very touching moments. I have read and seen all three of the Lord of the Rings, but I have never read The Hobbit, so the plot line was a surprise to me. All I knew about it was that the aim of the quest was to kill a dragon, and somehow Bilbo finds the ring of power somewhere along the way.

The picture quality was absolutely amazing and it did great credit to the expansive shots of beautiful scenery. I loved all the details of the costumes and hair ornaments (dwarves have a lot of hair to keep up with).

The movie was over at 10:15pm, just around the time we were expecting. We walked to the bus stop just in time to see the U1 pull away. The next bus would not come for another thirty minutes so we decided to walk. It was actually relatively nice outside. The day's constant deluge had finally stopped and it was slightly warmer than it had been lately (40s as opposed to 30s). Four months ago the thirty minute walk from the City Centre to our dorm would have killed me. Now, it is just a nice stroll.

On our walk back Caitlin and Libby (both have read The Hobbit) discussed what would be in the next movie since this first one ended about half-way through the book. It seemed like there should only be one more movie, but when we got back to the room and checked, there are actually three movies in the series. At this rate there will never be a new season of Sherlock with the main actors all busy with other projects (the actor who plays Bilbo also plays Dr. Watson, and the voice of the dragon is done by the actor who plays Sherlock). 

From K1 to F14

To read about Flat K1, go here.

Way back in October, we (the entire group from High Point University) were told that we would be moving flats from Block K to Block F. Mold had been found in the structure of the building, probably caused by the extremely wet summer where everything was damp for months. Some people, including my flatmate Libby, had found mold in their bedrooms and reported it, leading to the discovery of the massive problem.

Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I actually found out about moving on a Monday while in the Dublin Airport waiting for our flight back to England. I had used the airport wifi to check my email on my iPod and saw that we would be moving. We were all really frustrated about this because we were finally all settled in, only to have to pack everything up and move it across Clive Booth Student Village to Block F. Staff members of the University were assigned to help us move our things on Wednesday, but many people had class that day or they just wanted to get out of their moldy rooms, so almost our entire group moved on Tuesday night, in the dark.

My basic strategy was to load up my suitcase with as much stuff as possible, not neatly, just quickly. All of my clothes stayed on their hangers and I just rolled all of my bedding up into a giant sausage so it would be easier to carry. It probably took me about three trips to move my entire room. Each trip I loaded myself down with my rolling suitcase and at least two bags stuffed full which were then emptied out onto my desk and bed for next trip. I think we managed to move our entire kitchen in one trip (pans,  plates, cutlery, perishable and nonperishable food) with three people carrying things.

Our new flat was such a mess after moving in with things just strewn everywhere. I am pretty sure it took longer to organize everything than it did to actually move. We were all exhausted by the time everything was relatively put away, but then we had to relearn were everything was stored in the kitchen.

Moving was really a pain, but we did end up with a better flat. Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I were assigned Flat F14 to share with the Warden (similar to a Resident Assistant). The Warden, Emily, basically has a flat within a flat. She uses our front door but within her room she has her own bathroom and kitchen so we rarely see her.

Block F is newly renovated with larger bedrooms and living room/kitchen than in Flat K1. Each of the bedrooms have their own a sink, plus there are two showers in separate rooms (though we only use one because the other tends to smell really bad). The showers are also much roomier that the coffin shower we were using before. The curtains are also much nicer here. They are cream with a red square pattern as opposed to the Southwestern 80s motel ones in K1.

I am in bedroom B which looks out onto the courtyard to the other side of Block F. Not a pretty sight, just concrete and a plain brick building. The room has a bed, desk, built in wardrobe, three shelves and pin boards. The only difference besides the size is the sink with its mirror and shelf, and the towel rack next to the sink. There is plenty of storage room for me, probably since most of my things fit inside one large suitcase. It is quite plain with off-white walls. The only really decoration is my postcard wall which shows most of the places I have traveled so far. I have my necklaces hanging up on the pin board over the bed.

The kitchen and living room is much larger. There is actually room for a separate sitting area as opposed the chairs lined up again the wall next to the door like in K1. The floor is new, but not the cabinets, which each open in opposite directions without any consistency. We also now have two fridges and two freezers. One fridge holds most of the food and the other just has drinks. The stove has a broiler on top of the oven, which I have learned to use to toast bread...and quesadillas...and frittata. I really like the broiler.

Right now we have it decorated a bit for Christmas. We bought a red and green table cloth and stickers to put on the windows. We originally wanted to try to make a mantel display with stockings above the radiator to simulate the fireplace, but it would be a lot of effort to put up decorations that we would have to take down in less than two weeks.

View from our kitchen door.    

Since we got to F14 we have had problems with some of our heating which all comes from radiators. Mine and Caitlin's radiators have never worked since we moved in, though we we put in a work order form some maintenance men just came a looked at them and nothing was ever done. We did not pursue it further since both of our rooms are next to bedrooms (Caitlin's is next to Amy's and mine is next to Libby's) which have working radiators so the heat seeps through the walls. My room tends to get extra hot because I have the hallway radiator on the other side of one wall and Libby's radiator on the other.

About a week ago it became a problem once more when Amy's radiator and the kitchen radiator both stopped working. This also meant that Caitlin's room was also freezing. While we were in Barcelona for the weekend the university staff brought mini radiators into Caitlin's and Amy's bedrooms until the heating could be fixed. 

Cue bunches of guys walking around our flat for two days while we are trying to study for final exams. The heat in the bedrooms finally started working last night, but the kitchen is still freezing cold. This is a disappointment since I enjoy sitting at the kitchen table doing work. Cooking anything is a pain until the stove has heated one section of the room up a little bit. Eating dinner is also amusing (though not really in a good way) as the food is cold almost directly after taking it out of the oven, and we have to be bundled up in sweaters and blankets to sit at the dining table to eat the food.

It will probably get fixed right before we leave for the United States as that just seems to be our luck.

Update Dec. 14 
Yesterday we moved the mini heaters out of Caitlin and Amy's bedrooms into the kitchen. After several hours, the heat moved up from freezing to bearable. This morning it was actually toasty in the kitchen and the radiator has begun working. I guess I was just being to pessimistic the other day about it not working again until it was time for us to leave      

A Reflection

Friends, family, and co-workers of my Nana, as this blog was originally created for my Travel Writing class, some posts are required assignments. This Reflection post is one of those. This is not the end of my blog posts about my study abroad experience, so check back in a bit to learn about my trips to the English countryside and to Barcelona, Spain.

-------- 0 --------

Today, I am 97 days into my semester abroad in Oxford. It is so hard to believe that I will be boarding a flight back to the United States in less than two weeks, ten days to be exact. When I arrived in September, four months seemed like such a long time, but it has flown by so fast.  

Living abroad had been such a great experience. There has been highs, and there has been lows, but I have learned so much about myself and the world in only four months.

I feel more like an independent adult. My semester abroad coincided with the start of my Junior year of college. It was disconcerting to think that I only had two full years before graduation and I would be thrust out into the "real world." Before leaving for college I had never spent more than two weeks away from home (a summer camp experience I never had a desire to repeat). Then, living in a dormitory is not the same as living on your own in an apartment. My time abroad has been my first real chance to live like an adult. I go to the grocery store, cook meals, clean, and make sure I get to places on time. I now know that I can function away from my parents, and outside the conveniences of High Point University (i.e. free laundry and printing, meal plan). This four month trip across the ocean has given me the confidence to consider looking for summer internships that would require me to live away from home.

I am capable of making traveling plans, and executing them. As a child, your parents plan all of your trips, deciding how to get there, when to leave, and where you are going to stay. Now, I know how to research hostels, book plane tickets, find attractions in the destination city (preferably free ones), and how to get to those attractions. Planning is incredibly stressful, and when unforeseen events through off those plans it is even worse. It is hard, but remaining calm and optimistic that things will work out, seems to be the best way to deal with things.    

I want to do more traveling when I am back in North Carolina. This is quite a strange feeling to me because I never liked traveling that much as a child, probably since it often involved long car trips or plane ride. With my tendency towards motion sickness, I was often miserable during the traveling portion of trips. I am also a bit of a homebody. I like being in familiar places where I can relax and be comfortable. After so much traveling throughout the UK and to Ireland and Spain, I understand the appeal of seeing new places. I am realizing that I have been going to college in High Point for two years and yet I have seen very little of the city and the two other nearby cities of Greensboro and Winston-Salem. I am hoping to make a goal of taking at least one day trip a month to see more of North Carolina. These could be hiking trips in the Spring, shopping trips to the huge antique mall in Charlotte, or trips to free museum days. I am also tempted to try out a hostel in the United States. Weekend trip to Charleston anyone?      

In the future, I think I can see myself living abroad, at least for a little while. I will admit, that I chose to major in International Business mostly because it would make me a well rounded in the areas of business since it covers more subjects than just a Business Administration major. I thought that it would help me to stand out from other applicants who only studied Business Administration, while I have some language and cultural knowledge. At the time, the idea of actually traveling to other countries, to conduct business in a formal setting where manners and cultural knowledge are of utmost importance, absolutely terrified me. I am still afraid of being rude to people, but now that I have some experience living outside of the United States it does not terrify me. At times I have even found myself imagining what it would be like to live in one of the places that we visited. For some reason, Cardiff, Wales seemed to pull at me the most as a place to live. I am not sure why since it is so rainy and cold most of the time, but the city itself was very beautiful and it is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Maybe I just felt I would have a better chance to get a job there, in a place that still speaks English but still has many cultural elements for me to learn about.

Living in a city is actually quite nice. Being raised in a small town, I always thought that I never would be able to live in a city, but there is so much more to see and do. I have found I really enjoy being able to walk to places instead of driving. I always thought that people in cities did not have access to nature, but there seem to be parks everywhere. Since living in Oxford, I spend much more time outside, whether it is walking to get somewhere particular, or just to think. It is so much easier find things to go out and do with your friends, or even on your own. At home, everything is so spread out that you have to choose a destination and plan around it to hang out with friends. In a city, stores are close together so you can just wander around with your friends and find things to do as you go.

Writing blog posts was a pain at times, but I know I will appreciate it later. When I first started my blog for my Travel Writing class, I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of writing three, 1000-word posts every week. I wondered how I would ever have enough to say to complete all those posts. Knowing I would need lots to write about, I began to pay more attention to my experiences, taking note of details like smells, sounds, tastes and feelings. Once I got into a routine, writing them was easier, but sometimes I would just want to go out and actually do something instead of sitting in front of a computer documenting what had already happened. Now, I am incredibly appreciative that I wrote down so many of my experiences so that in one, ten, thirty years down the road, I can look back at the person I am now and see how much I have changed.

It will be hard to go back to the United States. It seems like I have just got my bearings in Oxford and settled in, and now it is time to leave. I will miss all of the traveling and hearing ten different languages being spoken every time I go to the grocery store. Most architecture I will see once I get back will seem plain and boring after living in a city with buildings that are hundreds of years old. It will be so strange going back to the bubble that is High Point University, where most of my time will be confined to the college campus. I have no idea how I am going to be able to function with five classes, five days a week when I have had only four classes, three days a week for an entire semester. There will definitely be an adjustment period where I have to get used to the American, or at least North Carolinian, way of life again.

I am so happy that I was brave enough to turn in my deposit for this trip on that November day, over a year ago now. I know that this amazing experience has changed me in so many ways, and opened my eyes to the great world around me. The exact ways and to what extent are still to be determined. In the years to come I will learn many new things about myself, and I am guessing that many will be traced back to these four months when I experienced so very much.