It has been a long time since my last post, and I don’t even know where to begin. I have certainly been busy having the time of my life here at uni! Last I posted I was still in London being the ultimate tourist, but the past two weeks have been quite the immersion experience.
When I first arrived the only other students in the halls were international students from all over the world, but primarily from all over America. One of my favorite aspects of this trip has been meeting the other American students and getting to know them just as much as meeting local UK students. We have all become so close and it really feels like we are one big misfit family. The first day after we arrived the study abroad office took everyone on a trip to Conway, a quaint little city in Wales that was ever so picturesque, and it helped that the weather ended up being perfect!
Some of the international students along the castle wall
Conway was a great day trip to get to know the staff and other international students, but the next day was the real challenge. It was move in day for the freshers (what freshman are called here) and most of the American students including myself are in an all freshman dorm. It was certainly an interesting, almost like being a freshman back home again. The first week was basically a string of parties and events to get everyone used to campus, and on the last day the international office took us on another trip to Liverpool, the nearest large city to Ormskirk.
After a whirlwind week of fun it was time to get down to work though, and classes began. The course system is much different here so I may spend some time focusing on that in a separate post, but most of the international students have a special set of courses across different areas of study, unlike the the traditional students who only take courses in one specialized area. Each class is only one day a week ranging from 2-4 hours and because I have only 3 classes I feel like I am doing hardly any work at all!
So far I don’t feel like I have had any real culture shock, but perhaps I am still in the honeymoon period. I know that one thing all the other Americans have trouble with is the weather, but it reminds me so much or rainy cloudy Oregon that it is almost comforting to me! I definitely brought the appropriate wardrobe as well so that helps keep me warm and cozy.
Overall I am having a blast, and now that things have calmed down a little I hope to write posts a little more often.
So long for now, and I hope your adventures have been just as exciting as mine!
Summer
It’s sounds like a whirlwind since you arrived. I’ll look forward to learning about the education system in future posts. That might be a good opportunity to use DIVE (describe, evaluate, verify, explain). Living in a freshman dorm will be interesting:) Are the freshmen mostly students from the U.K. or are they also international students? Michele