So, a month later...

First of all, I can't believe I've been in England for a whole month now. At times it feels like I've been here forever, and other times it feels like I just got here. One thing is for sure, I am definitely becoming accustomed to British life. The "weird" and unusual things that stuck out to me when I first got here are becoming much more normal now, and just a part of daily life. I'm definitely used to walking 15-20 minutes to class every day, and that same amount of time to get wherever I need to go in the city centre. It's great though, I really enjoy my nice walks to class every morning. It relaxes me. :) It's already getting to the point that it'll actually be weird going back to the US. Thankfully, I don't have to think about that for another 2 months! I love it here too much. :)

Classes are going great! It's awesome having 2 psychology classes and 2 sociology classes. They're all really interesting. It's true what they say about study abroad though, you learn a lot more outside of the classroom than you do inside. The basic academics are the same as they are back home, but the experiences outside of the classroom are ones I could never experience back home. I already talked a lot about my British Culture class and how incredible the seminars are, but seriously... they just get better and better! Our professor always makes sure to include questions that allow all of us to share how certain issues are looked at in our own countries and how that differs from Britain. I'm not only learning a lot about Britain, but about countries all around the world and especially about the U.S. I now have a much better understanding of how the United States is viewed around the world, and it is extremely interesting. Not to mention beneficial! It's great to learn to appreciate your own culture and where you come from.

Since I've been here, our ISA group has had excursions or cultural activities nearly every weekend. It's awesome to get a break from classes and go explore the area. On Saturday, we went to Bamburgh and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. I think this was my favorite excursion so far. It was so beautiful! I stood in awe most of the time, and took tons of pictures that weren't able to do it justice. It's definitely one of those places you just need to see for yourself! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:

The island

The priory

My fish & chips dinner! They definitely gave you your money's worth.

Mead, a type of Lindisfarne honey wine. It was really good!

I thought this was awesome. It marks the beginning of the Christmas story in the book of Matthew, and it was made for those who were illiterate. 

Bamburgh Castle

View from Bamburgh

The beautiful sea!

Stunning! But like I said, pictures don't even do it justice. I'm already looking forward to the day I come back over here and explore even more of the country and whatever I don't get to see this time around. It's such an amazing place! What I'd really love is to bring my family over here and show them all that I have seen and been able to experience. Maybe someday! :)

Comparing Cultures

Well today was my first day of classes, and it went amazingly well. Better than expected! I'm taking one class that's particularly fascinating called British Culture. As I expected, it's my favorite class so far (I still have 2 more to take tomorrow). It's a class strictly for international students that basically teaches us a broad overview of, as you probably can guess, British culture. There are two parts to the class: lecture and seminar. During lecture time today, we didn't really learn anything - just got assigned our seminar times. I was assigned to the seminar at 2pm, and was dreading it all day long. Turns out, British Culture seminars are probably going to be my favorite part of the entire semester, not to mention the most educational. The entire class is divided into 4 different seminar groups, so my group consists of about 12 students. There's me of course, representing from the United States, then there is 1 from France, 2 from Spain, 3 from Japan, 1 from Germany, and the rest are from China. And, of course, our seminar leader/professor is British. My little group all got along really well right away. I feel like I made instant friends with them even before seminar got started. Everyone was so eager to learn about each other's culture right from the start, which made for some awesome discussion.

Once seminar got started, we were each given a sheet of paper and were told to make a list of stereotypes each of our cultures had about the UK, British culture, British people, etc. Once we made our lists, we all shared what we had, and they were all basically the same. "British people are reserved." "British humor is dry." "It's always rainy." Then we had to make a list of things that we noticed about British culture once we actually got here. Again, there were a lot of similarities, but then we got to discuss how British culture is different from our own cultures. I wish I could explain how awesome it was to share interesting things about U.S. culture and see everyone else be so intrigued by what I had to say. We also had to name at least one distinctive thing about our culture, so I was explaining how basically everyone in the United States has ancestors who immigrated there from some other country. The girl from Germany was extremely excited by the fact that a lot of our ancestors are German. :) My professor was really surprised by that too. I guess it's never even crossed my mind that people from other parts of the world don't know that about the United States. It was a great feeling to be able to openly share things about my culture and then learn more about theirs. It's amazing how much open discussion like that makes you appreciate your own culture that much more while learning to appreciate others at the same time. There are actually stereotypes I had before today that I don't have anymore, and that's after just one class. I'm definitely looking forward to learning so much more and coming home with a much more open mind! Just from today, I learned that when meeting people, always go in with an open mind and never let stereotypes interfere with your thoughts about them. Get to know someone before judging/assuming anything! That's something I hope to keep with me for the rest of my life. 

One Week In

So, I've been in Newcastle just over a week now, and I'm loving this city more and more. (By the way, I have quite a bit to say, so bear with me!) :) I love getting out and walking around the main areas of the city centre without having to worry about being run down by traffic (it's all pedestrian zones). In fact, I love that I am within walking distance of the city centre! It makes getting everything I need really simple. Of course, what is considered to be "within walking distance" here is far different from that of the U.S. - back home, if something was a 15 - 20 minute walk away most people would hop in their cars. That being said, I've noticed that U.S. cities tend to not be quite as pedestrian friendly and more spread out, so it's understandable. I've already become used to walking everywhere, and it's such a nice change of pace. I'm also enjoying the much cooler weather! 50's and 60's feel so much better to me than 90's and 100's that I've become used to in Texas. I've also noticed that British words are very easy for me to pick up. Haha! I'm not sure that I'll necessarily come back with an accent, but I'm already using "lift" instead of "elevator" and some other, more "British-sounding" words.

I also got to experience my first proper afternoon tea this last week. It was lovely! We had English breakfast tea with a bit of cream, a large variety of appetizer-sized sandwiches (some being tuna & mayo, prawn & mayo, ham, cheese, and turkey... just to name a few), and wonderful desserts. There was quite the variety of cookies and scones! The British generally have afternoon tea every day between 2 and 5pm, and also have what they call "elevenses" at around 11am which is basically afternoon tea, but in the morning. I could definitely get used to that! ;) 

Speaking of food, I'm just starting to get accustomed to LOTS of sandwiches and pastries. There isn't very much meat here, which is something I'm not used to at all. I basically have something sandwich or pastry-like for every meal. It's really good, just way different. And a good way to open me up to trying new foods! :) Alli - a girl in my ISA group - and I have become pretty good at finding the best places for sweets in Newcastle too. There are two places in particular that are very worthy of noting here: Shakeaholic is an amazing shake place. You can get pretty much any kind of shake here, from Starburst and tic tac shakes to Nutella, poptart, and peanut butter shakes. They've got it all! The second place is called Cake. It's a cute little cupcake place that has all different flavors. I had the peanut butter cup one with a cup of hot chocolate - it was amazing!

I've also been to the coast (which was awesome!) and have taken a walk around the Ouseburn Valley, which was really pretty. I've seen and toured beautiful castles and cathedrals, which was able to take me back into a whole new time period. I get to walk by this every day when I walk from campus to the city centre and it still just about takes my breath away:

As far as school goes, I've been having quite a few problems getting my modules (classes) sorted out. Since British students focus on only one subject from the time they're about 16, they don't have much trouble with their classes conflicting time-wise since they're all in the same department. Since I (and other study abroad students) am taking subjects from a variety of different departments, it can be difficult getting classes that aren't scheduled at the same time. This, unfortunately, has been my problem. I've been online looking at timetables for different classes for the past few days, hoping that I'd find some that wouldn't conflict with each other and that were still relatively interesting and relevant to me. Finally, last night, I think I got it all figured out. If everything goes according to planned, I will be taking British Culture, Cognitive Psychology, Intro to Developmental Psychology, and a sociology class called Comparing Cultures. I absolutely LOVE how these classes are sounding, so I pray that it all works out! I met with my tutor, Laura, today, and she said that it all looked good to her, so we'll see! For now I'm going to register them and go with the flow. Classes start Monday (October 3rd), so I guess I'll find out then if there's a mix up! 

Culture Shock

Okay, so I decided to post this separately from my last entry, because it just didn't feel right putting it together. Culture shock. Yes, I am completely in love with England (particularly Newcastle) and feel so blessed to be here, but culture shock has definitely hit me hard. I guess I had this idea in my head that British life and culture really wasn't going to be that different from that of the United States. Wrong. VERY wrong. I mean, I was told many times not to think that just because English is spoken here that the cultures would be the same, and I thought I understood that, but I don't think it's really possible to fully understand it until you've lived it. And I think that because I was focusing too much on the big things I was going to experience, I missed stopping to even think about the little aspects of daily life in England that would be so different. For example, ketchup. Is ketchup available in England? Definitely. Does it taste the same? Absolutely not! It has a sweeter, more bitter taste.This is true with a lot of foods and drinks over here. Another example is Fanta. I love orange fanta and was super excited when I saw it in the store. It was in a different bottle, but I figured it would taste the same. Turns out that orange fanta over here is just sparkling orange juice, not soda. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not what I was expecting. Snickers candy bars taste different too. I still can't pinpoint what it is that's different, but there's definitely something. When going out to eat in the United States, you're used to ordering, eating, getting the bill, and leaving. Here, after ordering, you may wait a while for your food while everyone else at your table has theirs, and the bill may not come until long after you've finished eating. Waiters don't depend on their tips for income, so they're not in as big of a rush (and don't tend to care as much about good customer service) as waiters in the U.S. are. Oh, and today when I went out to buy a hair dryer and straightener, the lady at the counter asked me if I would like to buy a bigger bag for 6 pounds. I said no, thinking she meant some specialty bag or something. Turns out that if you need a bigger plastic bag than the standard size (which would fit about 5 small items in it), it's going to cost you 6 pounds. I would have never thought of that, since in the U.S. you automatically get your things in a big plastic bag if you need one. The other day, I forgot for a moment that in the UK chips are called crisps and french fries are chips. So, I ordered some chips with my sandwich, and they brought out fries. Fried chicken in England should not be called fried chicken at all - I'm not sure what it is, but it doesn't even taste like chicken. Corn is a popular pizza topping - and popular in just about anything for that matter (I had a chicken salad sandwich with bacon and corn the other day). Not that any of this is bad at all - in fact, I love that restaurants aren't rushed like they are in the States, and the English have some incredible food that we don't have in the U.S. so it's a trade off. It's not that what I'm experiencing is necessarily negative, it's just so different and will take some time to get used to. I know a lot of these things seem to be really petty and insignificant, but believe me, it adds up to some crazy culture shock that can be very overwhelming at times. For now, I am consciously deciding to remember that U.S. culture is no better than British culture and that these experiences are the ones that will build character and help me to grow. This also proves that I could never have prepared myself enough for my time abroad - some of these things will just require living it and learning from it. Now I already understand so much more how an experience living abroad can change a person significantly. In fact, I'm not sure how it couldn't. It's definitely a growing experience, and one that I know I will look back on as being a defining time in my life. And it's just amazing to me how the "petty" little things I never would have even began to think of before leaving are the things that are the most difficult to deal with and probably the ones that will change me the most.

The English Life... So Far.

So, after a flight cancellation followed by a 7 hour layover and unexpected delay, I finally made it to England! I can't even believe the things I have already experienced in just 2 days. It's a whole different world over here, and it hasn't taken me long to figure that out. The first lesson I learned is that people walk EVERYWHERE, and I'd have to get used to it fast. After landing in London, I had to make my way from the airport to the hotel on my own. After a little help from an airport staffer, I caught the tube (London Underground) to King's Cross station, which was apparently near my hotel. Although I knew it wasn't far from the station, I figured I'd take a taxi from the station to my hotel so that 1) I didn't get lost in the middle of London, and 2) so I didn't have to drag all of my heavy luggage around London. When I went to get into a taxi, I told them where I wanted to go. Turns out that the hotel was "too close," so I had to walk. After looking at map after map and only getting somewhat lost once, I made it to the hotel all on my own. Proud moment! ;) I figured that it was about a 10-15 minute walk from King's Cross. There's no such thing as taking a 5-minute taxi ride just because your luggage is heavy. It's a good thing I like walking, because I've been doing it non-stop. ;) And I must say, it's not a hard walk when there's something beautiful everywhere you look.
Being able to see the sights that you've only seen in postcards and pictures and have dreamed of seeing your whole life is completely surreal. Walking around London yesterday was truly indescribable and I feel so blessed to have been able to see the things I did!
As amazing as it was though, I can honestly say I am pretty glad I didn't choose to spend my entire semester there. It would have been extremely overwhelming for this small town girl! Newcastle, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect. At about 277,000 there is plenty to see and do, but it is not overwhelming. I walked to the city center twice today and never felt uncomfortable, unsafe, or overwhelmed. I can definitely see myself living here for 3 months and loving every second. It is a beautiful city! Today we had our orientation and got to walk around campus. It is HUGE! I'm definitely not used to such a large, spread out campus. It's beautiful though, and at least I'll have plenty of scenery to look at while walking to classes every day. I also finished my registration, which means I can finalize my classes within the next week! Excited! :)
So, I'm definitely loving it here! Meeting great people and experiencing amazing things that I may only get to do once in my lifetime. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Here I Go...

Well, it's finally here. Early tomorrow morning I will be on a plane to England. It seems like only yesterday I was just planning for my time abroad, and it's crazy to think that time has finally come. Everything I've been waiting for pretty much my whole life is finally happening! I'd say I'm pretty blessed. :) Last night my whole family was able to get together with me for a going away dinner at the country club. It was wonderful! I loved being able to spend one of my last nights at home with some of my favorite people. The cake you see above was brought out to me after dinner as a surprise. I have the best family ever! I will miss them so much, but I couldn't be more excited to head out tomorrow. As for today, I'm finishing up some last minute packing and getting all of my documents, money, etc ready to go. I'm actually most nervous about forgetting something important, so I'm double, triple, and quadruple checking to make sure I have absolutely EVERYTHING. I'm also spending a lot of time praying that everything goes smoothly with my flights, that my luggage makes it to London, and that I don't have too much trouble getting through customs and immigration. I'm very excited to say that my next blog post will be from London!! Wow. :)

18 days!!!

Wow. I'm only 18 days away from the greatest adventure of my life! I don't think I could be any more excited at this point. Today I got 1/2 of my luggage, and tonight I got my housing information from ISA. For the first time since I "signed up" for study abroad, I got nervous. The reality of it all is just now starting to set in. I have my luggage, housing information, campus map, orientation schedule... it's actually happening in a little over 2 weeks. It's unbelievable! As nervous as I am getting, the excitement outweighs the nerves completely. I cannot wait to get to England and begin my adventure! Meeting new people, taking fun classes, discovering completely new ideas and ways of life are just a few of the things I can't wait to experience. I've already been in contact with a couple great churches over in Newcastle, so I'm all set with that too! I feel so blessed to have this experience and can't wait to share my experiences and stories with all of you!