Tuesday, January 29, 2013

First Day Of School... Take Two!

Two major differences between living in the U.S and England have really managed to catch my attention the past two days... One, being that just about everyone goes by military time here (24 hour time). So when someone says I will meet you at 15:00 they really mean 3:00pm, not I will meet you in 15 minutes. This has taken a little time to get used too, but thankfully I have not been too embarrassed by any mistakes dealing with time. However I can not say the same for the other big difference I have come to find between the U.S and England.

Here in England, Monday is the official first day of the week, not Sunday like we are used to in the U.S. So when you look at calendars Monday is the first day listed on each week. Unfortunately I found this out the hard way. Sunday night I was preparing for my first day of school by filling my backpack with notebooks (which are also different here...) and pens and anything and everything thing I thought I may need. I took the time to pick out my first day of school outfit, but apparently I should have spent that time looking at my schedule more closely. When I looked at my schedule (or timetable as it is called here) the first day was filled with nothing which I automatically thought was Sunday, and then the next day, which I assumed was Monday like I would on a calendar at home, listed a class starting at 11:00am.

Fast forward to the morning, when I woke up at 10:15 to no alarm, because out of all my preparing, that was the one thing I had forgotten to do! I rushed to get ready, grab breakfast, and headed to the bus stop because I knew there was no time to walk. I ran to the bus stop, and just caught the bus in time. After finding a seat, I realized I forgot my schedule, which meant I had no idea where to go. At the next stop I got off and sprinted home, needless to say, at this point I was a bit of a mess. Again I grabbed what I needed, and left the house in a hurry to again arrive at the bus stop just in time. When I was finally seated on the bus for good, I was feeling better. I would make it to the school just on time, and would hopefully only be a few minutes late after finding my classroom. I also decided to count the large amount of running I had done as my exercise for the day.

As I rushed into the school, I passed a student that seemed to be confident in where they were headed, so I stopped to ask which way I should go, unfortunately I could not understand what they said, but instead headed in the direction he was pointing. After going up and down stairs a few times, and going in a few circles, I found myself outside of the classroom that was listed on my schedule. A very friendly student was waiting outside and asked if I was ok, I responded with a smile and asked if this was the class for the Civil Rights Movement, he looked a little confused but assured me that this was a "Civil something" class, so he was sure this was it. I snuck into the room and found an open seat towards the front of the lecture hall. While I was focusing on entering the classroom unnoticed, I failed to realize that the class was filled with almost all guys. As I sat down and got out a notebook to start taking notes the professor (or leader) was starting to lecture. I started to notice that what she was saying did not sound familiar to me...at all. I looked at the handout that was being passed around and right as I was reading the heading at the top "Civil Construction and Bridges" I heard the professor ask the class if they had there model bridges ready to turn in today. I immediately knew that was not where I was supposed to be. I quickly packed my things and headed for the door, of course being in the front of a lecture hall and leaving abruptly, I caught almost the whole classes attention, but as I rushed out the door, and lost my grip as it slammed very loudly I knew I had just made quite the scene.

My new home away from home
At that point I was very confused and found a place to sit and look at my schedule, It was then that I realized the day of nothing that I thought was Sunday, was Monday. And the class I thought I had on Monday, was in fact on Tuesday. You learn something new everyday right? It all made sense after that. I soon left after realizing I had no reason to be there and found the nearest Cafe to enjoy a much needed cup of tea. That afternoon I met up with some friends for a late lunch, and we all laughed about my first day of school. We all decided that when I am reminded of that day on the last day of school, I will simply just laugh.

After all of that, I went home and prepared for my actual first day of school, which was today! The good thing was I knew what classroom to go to, since I had already visited it. And I can now officially say I have had my real first day of class. And it was great! I ended up meeting another girl from Michigan who attends GVSU. She has been studying here for the past year and was reassuring me about classes and adjusting to the differences in classes. I only had that one class today, and am very much looking forward to the rest of my classes this week.


Window View
Also I have recently uploaded some pictures of the house I am staying in! My host family experience has so far been wonderful! I am definitely glad I chose to stay with a family. I feel as if I have already been able to become more adjusted to British life from things I have learned from the couple I live with, and the bonus being they have an awesome cat!




Front gate
My view from my 3rd floor window...


Sunday, January 27, 2013

First Weekend Across The Pond

love at first sight <3 
I can confidently say that I now fully understand the term 'love at first sight'. Friday morning a couple friends and I got up and met in Kingston to make our first adventure into central London. We were all a little nervous, because none of us had rode the train yet, but we very glad to find it pretty easy to get to. And on the plus side, we even got on the right train! Even though central London is less than 20 miles away, it took the train about half an hour to reach the Waterloo train station with all the stops that it had to make along the way. We were all so anxious and as soon as we got off the train we all rushed to the nearest exit of the very large train station to take in the sights! Sadly, the first step we took out of the station did not include a sight of Big Ben, the river, the London Eye and all else we were eager to see (imagine that). Because none of us truly knew where we were going we stopped at a couple maps up around the station and started to make our way to Big Ben. As soon as we saw water, we started walking faster... and faster... and before I knew it we were running across the pavement, making our way to the edge of the river to get a glimpse of Big Ben. And sure enough, it was as beautiful as any picture I had ever seen. We were all in awe and started to make our way towards it.
Made a wish in the fountains!

Fish & Chips and Bangers & Mash
After we had each taken about a hundred pictures we decided we should probably move on if we wanted to see anything else before the day was over. We continued down the main strip past Westminster and then passed Parliament (which I will later be visiting in a class trip), some other museums, which are on our list for our next trip into central London. We passed many monuments and beautiful buildings. We then found ourself standing in Trafalgar Square surrounded by beautiful fountains and the famous National Gallery. It was a bit chilly that day so as soon as we had had enough of the sights we made our way to the nearest pub for some traditional English food and tea. After warming up, we then spent the rest of our time touring the National Gallery, which was free to enter. As we made our way back to the station, the sun was setting and Big Ben was breathtaking. Lights had started to light up the city and we were all very exhausted and ready for the train ride home. It was a wonderful first trip into London and now I am looking forward to the next trip even more. There are so many things more things on my list to see there, and of course, I will be needing another glimpse of Big Ben soon!

That night I arrived back at home around 7 and was still filled with excitement from the day. The pub right down the street had advertised live music for that night and I decided to go and check it out. I walked into the small local pub that was blaring old country music, and instantly all eyes were on me. You could tell they were all regulars and were confused by the stranger who had just walked in. I sat down by myself a few tables away from the performers and within minutes a friendly old man came and introduced himself to me and started conversation. He was incredibly friendly. After he left, a younger couple at the table next to me invited me over to there table and I talked to them for a long time about Michigan and differences between England and USA. It was wonderful conversation! They also filled me in that it was very much a local bar and everyone would look after me whenever I was there. I even was introduced to the landlord (owner) and he was also very welcoming. Before I knew it I was being introduced to all sorts of locals and the small town feel of everything there really made me feel at home. As I sat and listened to the performers sing 'Sweet Home Albama' and other old rock classics, I knew this was a place I would be coming to often.

Where the queen herself drives in...
The next morning (Saturday) I had my first class trip with all the study abroad students. We all boarded buses and head off to Windsor Castle, the worlds largest inhabited castle and one of the many homes of the Queen. The Queen is known to spend her weekends at Windsor and there is an easy way to tell if she is there. If the Royal Standard flag is flying, she is there, but if only the Union Jack is flying, she is not. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the Castle and surrounding sights were incredible.

We were able to tour around the castle and surrounding town, and also go in and tour the castle where we saw old rooms of the Queens and Kings, many dinning rooms, lobbies, St. Georges Chapel (where most royalty are rested in) and we were even able to see the Queens Doll House, which is the most famous, and I believe largest, Doll House in the World. The whole place was enchanting and just being in it made you feel like royalty. After taking in all the sights of the castle, we made our way down the cobblestone streets towards Eton College, which is the most famous school in England. Countless Prime Minsters have attended and the grounds were amazing! After another tiring but exciting day, we all boarded double decker luxury buses that took us home. We all figured that was as close as we would ever feel to being royal.



Classes start tomorrow and I am very excited to get my schedule set and see all that Kingston University has to offer!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

A '10 Out Of 10' Kind Of Day

Meet Tigger, the largest cat I have ever seen.
He has to curl up and hold on to even
stay on the chair!
I knew it would be a good day yesterday when the host cat Tigger followed me into the kitchen and insisted on sitting next to me while I ate my breakfast. I enjoyed a nice warm cup of tea and then headed off to orientation at Kingston University. It wasn't too cold out, so I decided to walk instead of take the bus so I could attempt to get used to my surroundings. It was about a 25 minute walk, but it was beautiful. I walked through a couple little towns and past some beautiful churches. And best of all, I never once got lost!

When I arrived I was instantly nervous because I really didn't know what to expect, but as I entered a lecture hall type of room, I instantly felt better as I looked around at a room full of study abroad students just like me. Throughout the orientation I learned many different things about the university and overall schooling in England. It was very interesting to learn the differences between schools like CMU and Kingston University as well as other European Universities. The presenters were hilarious and made the whole thing fun for everyone. We were given our schedule there and given a chance to fix them to get them how we wanted (mine is currently being fixed) and we were then given information about our Windsor Trip this weekend for anyone who was participating in the British Life & Culture class! I am very excited, not only to see Windsor, but also take a trip with other study abroad students and get to know more!

'Study hard, Play hard' Some advice from orientation
On the way home I was quite hungry and realized I hadn't stopped to eat out anywhere since I had arrived. I decided on a quiet little cafe I found on my way home. I enjoyed a wrap and some coffee. The owner who delivered my coffee, instantly picked up on my American accent and began asking many questions. We talked about MTV's show Cribs (it seemed to me that he watches that often), he also asked some questions about Puff Daddy and was very interested in how he got his name, which is information I do not really know either. As I drank my coffee we made other small talk and as I was leaving he made sure to ask me to come back again so we could continue our 'American talk'. I walked out of the cafe with a smile on my face all the way back home.

A  beautiful church I walk past on
the way to school
I arrived home and was only there for a short amount of time and then was off again to downtown Kingston for a welcome event held at a local pub by the school for study abroad students. There were a ton of students there and I was able to meet so many great people! I talked to some Australian girls who told me koalas are not as nice as everyone thinks, I talked to a group of French students who tried to give me a lesson and teach me some French, turns out I roll my tongue too much, so they suggested I stick to English, I even met other American students from Tennessee, California and New York! I could go on and on about all of the wonderful people I met. I had an absolute blast and I look forward to seeing those people in class! To add to my feeling of accomplishment for meeting so many other students, I also managed to find the right bus and even get off at the right stop on the way home! I was a little nervous, but my first bus trip was a success!

All in all it was a great day. Today I walked into downtown Surbiton and purchased a track phone and now am currently sitting in a lovely little coffee shop, taking in all the british accents around me, and realizing I made the best choice I have ever made when I decided to study abroad!



More pictures to be up soon!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

'Home Sweet Home'

The beautiful view on the way into London
After about 20 long hours of traveling I can officially I have crossed the pond! I had a total of 3 flights yesterday to get here, leaving from Kalamazoo, to Chicago, to Tampa, and then to Gatwick here in England. I arrived at Gatwick at about 9am (which is really our 3am) and was greeted by a very welcoming Kingston student who helped me get a taxi to take me to the school. At the same time as I was leaving the airport, another Kingston student arrived from Holland! We shared a taxi to get to the school and got some good tips and suggestions from the driver.

As we were driving I couldn't help but feel as if I were in a dream because everything seemed so backwards! We were driving on the left side of the road, and the drivers seat was on the right side of the car! Once I got used to the different driving rules, I began to notice how beautiful everything was! We drove through a lot of small towns and even some country side. All rooftops and trees were covered with a couple inches of sparkling snow.

As we passed houses I became more and more anxious to finally meet my host family! We arrived at Kingston University where we were able to call home, and register and receive other information about the school and the surrounding area. We were given lots of good information and we were even transported to our accommodation for free. As I was heading to my accommodation I felt very nervous. I arrived to a beautiful home with a little black iron gate. As soon as I opened the gate my host family was there to meet me at the door. They were very welcoming, showed me around the house, and even took me for a drive around the surrounding areas!

Some chocolate I found in my bag as I was unpacking.
He knows me too well!
I unpacked my things and went to bed very early that night, and slept in late this morning, and I was so happy to wake up and not feel like a zombie anymore! The jet lag did not get to me too badly, but the time difference is still throwing me off a little bit. This morning I ventured out on my first walk around town and stopped at a local market for some groceries! All in all it was a very successful trip.

Tomorrow I have an orientation at the school and then a welcoming event. I am very excited to get my class schedule and meet more study abroad students!




Sunday, January 20, 2013

Ready Or Not, Here I Come...

When I woke up this morning to an alarm going off on my phone, and looked at it to find this...
I knew it was going to be a weird day. The past week it seems that time has flown by faster than ever before and I feel as if I went from my first meeting with a study abroad advisor to packing my bags within days. And even though time has gone by so fast, I know it will only go by faster from here on out.

These past couple weeks I have been handing out all the goodbyes and hugs that I can handle, and it is especially hard saying goodbye to family and friends when it still doesn't feel like your going anywhere. My bags are packed and my passport is ready, but I still haven't had that 'holy crap I am actually leaving' moment. Many people have said it will hit you when you're on the plane, so I have made sure to pack some Kleenex in my purse and am prepared to apologize to whoever ends up having to sit by me. I am extremely excited for everything that lies ahead of me from boarding the plan for England, to living with a different family on the outskirts of London, but I also know how much I will miss my family and friends.

I am most anxious to meet my host family, they seem wonderful and I especially cannot wait to meet my host cat named Tigger! I made sure to pack a toy to befriend him with, so fingers-crossed it will work and I don't end up with scratches instead.

All I do know for sure is that I am ready for this 'experience of a lifetime' that everyone has been telling me about, and I am ready for whatever lies ahead tomorrow, and the next 5 months after that! Ready or not England, here I come!