Times in the Toon

I go home to America in 2 days and 19 hours.

After 3 months of adjustment, adventure, homesickness, wanderlust, and any other travel-related emotion one could fathom, it is finally coming to an end.

(well, ish)

When I board my plane on Saturday from Heathrow International Airport to JFK there will once again be an entire mix of emotions, but unlike every other study abroad blog being written at the moment, I don't think that sadness will be one of them. There are no tears in my eyes as I type this- and there will certainly be no use of the word "goodbye"- best to save all of those things for June 2016. Below are the amazing things I've encountered in my final month of my fall semester in Newcastle, England, described in a way that only a person lucky enough to be staying 5 more months could write about them.

That Time I Joined the Ultimate Frisbee Team 

As part of the Loyola Study Abroad program, each student is required to complete a cultural immersion project that entails joining some sort of club or society at our new university and then writing a report about it once we return to America. Naturally, this seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to join the Newcastle University ultimate frisbee team and I can now confidently say with 2 days left in the first term, that was the best decision I have made in my time abroad thus far. Though this has meant 4 trainings a week, usually in the pouring rain ("Newcastle is the driest city in England" they said, "Last year it never rained at trainings" they said), the consequential purchase of new 'boots' (and a mortifying conversation with a Sports Direct employee who had no idea what we were talking about when we asked for 'cleats'), a routine 7:00 am Wednesday morning wake-up, and now a potential concussion that gave Mum a fun scare when I called her at 3am my time, I wouldn't have done this semester differently for anything in the world. Now proudly returning to America this Christmas with a new vocabulary of words such as 'pitch' (field), 'kit' (uniform), 'keen' (what I am for frisbee) and of course, a disc carefully packed away in my suitcase.

The highlight of our indoor season was definitely women's regionals in Leeds last month (and not just because the insane Americans researched and located the only Dunkin' Donuts in the UK). Though ultimate frisbee is generally a mixed gender sport, this was an opportunity to just play with the girls in the club and I felt extremely lucky to be put on the second team again with my best friend Sarah (also from Loyola) and 7 other girls who have become something of the same. In the end, we managed to finish 16th out of 27 teams and as the best second team in the North! Our first team also ended up winning the entire tournament so overall it was a very proud weekend to be a female Newcastle frisbee player. This club has taken me to Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, and Leeds, but I'm mostly just grateful for the time spent in the windy, rainy, cold toon training with the best people I've met here.

Thank you pies for that.

Those Times I Went Places

Though it would appear that all I do in Newcastle is frisbee (ask my flatmates) I have actually managed to travel quite a bit this semester. From London to Dublin, and various places all over England including Durham, York, and just about every castle that exists in the UK, it seems as if I've barely spent a single weekend in Newcastle. The tentative plan was to do the UK and Ireland in the fall and then venture further out into Europe next semester (travel plans in the works for Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, and Leuven, depending on when I run out of my non-profit summer camp salary). Loyola has also already planned excursions to France, Wales, and Belfast for the Spring so watch out world. While cognizant of how incredibly lucky I am for these opportunities and beyond excited for each of them, I don't regret for a second spending this semester almost exclusively in England. Our most recent adventure- a day-trip to York- included a tour of York Minster, the famous Christmas market, and York's own chocolate factory in which we not only got to eat absurd amounts of chocolate, but make our own. If that's not the definition of lucky I'm not sure what is.

In contrast and not surprisingly, I've definitely found that my favorite travels have been those in which we step away from the touristy things. While Thanksgiving was a particularly difficult weekend homesickness-wise, it was made much easier by the fact that I was able to spend it in London with a real family and eating real food- even if it wasn't mine and the food wasn't the traditional turkey and gravy. This second trip to London included much more sleep, much less crowds, a jog through Hampstead Heath, a tour of Camden (very near to where Mum used to live) and a particularly wonderful tour guide. Sometimes it really is worth seeing the same place twice.

Thank you England for that.

That Time England Was Too Keen 

If there's one thing that can melt the icy reputation of the North, it's the festivity surrounding the holidays in England. They may not celebrate Thanksgiving- or Halloween, really, for that matter (the 'Merry Christmas' sign was flashing jubilantly in the center of town on October 30th)- but Brits are very keen for Christmas. From the enormous Fenwick's window constantly playing Christmas music on a loop to an abundance of Christmas jumpers everywhere from the lecture halls to the clubs, it's hard not to get carried away by all of the excitement surrounding the upcoming holidays. Even our Thanksgiving celebration- specially planned for the American study abroad students and hosted at Alnwick Castle- was a bizarre mix of Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. The castle dining room had been hysterically altered to include a Christmas tree at one end and a giant projector screen at the other on which an American football game was being live-streamed. Then at the end we were each invited to use Christmas crackers that had been placed on our settings and the majority of us began trying to unwrap them like presents, just further proving that even in England you can embarrass yourself culturally. We do it regularly.  

     

Perhaps the greatest gift Newcastle could have given us this Christmas season, however, was the snow that fell a few days ago and sent everyone else into shock. While everyone at home in Connecticut was enjoying 65 degree weather, we were slipping around in the few precious inches of snow that were just enough to make it really feel like Christmas and home all at the same time. To be fair, though, Newcastle has that effect in a lot of ways. When I return in 3 weeks we will be just beginning our final exams (perhaps the only fault I can find with the English education system) but I doubt that even exams will be able to take away from the excitement I'll be feeling to come back. Contrary to popular belief I do actually attend classes here, and I've come to really love my big university- large lecture halls, long walks to class, and all. I've even begun to give some thought to post-grad programs in psychology in Newcastle so stay tuned for that. For now, though, I'm just thrilled to call this beautiful city my home for 5 more months and to show Mum and Dad around in February! Even 3 months in, the most common question I get from people is "why did you decide to study in Newcastle?". The answer, while never simple, has changed quite a bit since the original version in September. 

In September, I thought I came to England because I had family here, because Mum wanted me to, because it had my major, because it was an english-speaking country, because why not? 

In December, I know I came to England to leave my comfort zone. To see the world. To understand what it felt like to be British, further than doing a pretty accurate accent. To fall in love with people, places, and (not embarrassingly) a competitive sport involving a frisbee. 

Thank you Newcastle for that. See you soon x

Luck of the Irish

This past weekend marked a very significant part of our study abroad experience: our first bit of travel outside of the UK!

Granted we didn't go very far (not to undersell Ireland, because it was absolutely amazing), but this first bit of European travel did only entail a one hour plane ride across the Irish Sea. That being said- as I've come to learn these past couple of months- never underestimate the power and promise of unforeseen adventures and circumstances. This past weekend we almost lost a member of our four-person traveling group, allowed a former fire-throwing street performer to lead us around the city, consumed far too much Guinness (which too be fair isn't that much), spent the majority of our time in church, and became entirely water-resistant as a means for survival. Luck of the Irish, am I right?

May the road rise up to meet you...

Perhaps the most nerve-wracking part about all of this was the travel anxiety. We may not have been traveling very far, but it still meant our first flight out of Newcastle, our first customs experience, and most importantly, our first solo hostel stay. Luckily as I said before, I was traveling with three other of my closest American friends so we at least had each other with which to figure things out. Did this prevent one of us from forgetting to print the boarding passes and nearly missing the flight? Absolutely not. It did, however, mean that we got to do a stereotypical American tourist sprint through the airport which was super fun. Once officially in Dublin, I was split from my friends going through customs because of what Mum calls "the one thing she's good for"- my British passport. While I obviously don't support that, I won't deny it's easily one of my new favorite things she's good for because now what takes my friends 5 minutes of questioning and a biometric test, literally takes me ten seconds and a (albeit slightly confused) smile from an Irish customs officer. Cheers for that Mum!

The next part of the adventure was waiting for us in the form of our eight-bed rooms at our youth hostel. Aside from the fact that it reminded me of an old boarding school or maybe the orphanage from Annie, we actually had a really nice stay there and even got to room with other Americans. We joked that this was probably the closest we will have ever come to living in a fraternity house- complete with constant guitar playing in the hallway and drinking games in the dining hall- which was made even more interesting by the fact that the dining hall was actually a renovated church. The important part was that we all had beds to sleep in (and that Sarah brought ear plugs).

... May the wind be always in your face

To say that we woke up to a big rainstorm on Saturday would be the understatement of the century, so instead I'll just say that I will never again complain about Newcastle weather and leave it at that. In retrospect though, has anyone truly experienced Dublin unless they do it soaking wet and with an inside-out umbrella? Our real Irish luck rested in the fact that we found a free walking tour around the city with a man named Oisín- "The best tour guide in Dublin", as his sign claimed. He actually made several claims throughout the day, such as: "I'm what you call a 'true blue dub'", "Back in the day when I was working on my PhD...", "Back in the day when I was a street performer and I juggled fire...", "Back in the day when I was a goth and hung around in alleys just like this one...", and "Everyone in Dublin hates U2 because they didn't do enough drugs" (ask anyone apparently). Relevancy and cultural accuracy aside, joining that tour was the best decision we could have made because we saw and learned about things that we never would have if we had just relied on our iPhones to show us around. In my opinion, the only real way to see a city is with the guidance of someone who has lived there their entire life and in that respect we certainly got very lucky. 

And the best part? In the end, it even decided to stop raining for a quick millisecond. 

The next stop for us after the tour was the famous Guinness factory. Now I'm not a big fan of beer, to be fair I don't think any of us are, but it was that or the Jameson factory and I certainly wasn't going to suffer whiskey so Guinness it was. The factory itself was actually really cool, displaying not just the process of making the beer, but also teaching how to properly pour the perfect pint of Guinness and- my personal favorite- the tasting rooms. Again, I hate Guinness, but they have an actual whole room devoted to teaching you how to pick out each of the different ingredients in the beer, and it looks exactly like something out of Willy Wonka. For example, you can personally go to the several different "aroma pods" around the room and have the smells of the ingredients spritzed into your face (which honestly helps in no way when drinking the beer with your mouth) but is still wicked neat. We then of course enjoyed our "free" (€16) pint of Guinness in their Gravity Bar which overlooks the whole of Dublin, and that was by far the best part of the tour. Even Willy Wonka couldn't provide a view quite like that one. 

(Guinness's most satisfied customers)

An Irish Blessing 

We were only in Dublin for a total of about 36 hours, but when all was said and done it felt as though we had been there for days. That night us girls banded together and attempted to go out in the rain only to make it to a nightclub called "The Church" (the second church renovated to be used for alcoholic reasons, only in Ireland) and nearly be turned away at the door because of our homeless, umbrella-less appearances. Needless to say, we found a pub near the hostel to be much more our pace and sat down and happily drank our sweet, non-Guinness ciders to a classic background of Irish rock (U2 not included, funnily enough). In the morning our 9 am flight came around way too fast of course, but largely because we just weren't ready to leave yet. 

I would say that our first official trip outside of the United Kingdom was an immense success for all of the unexpected little turns that it took. I can now check Ireland off of my list of places to see on my tour of the world, and maybe more importantly, I can say I truly know what it's like to be a quarter Irish now. I may hate the taste of beer, all but melt in the rain, and only own green clothing that has "Loyola" written explicitly across it, but it's hard not to love a city that looks beautiful even in the pouring rain. 

In the words of Bono, after the flood all the colors came out

it was a beautiful day.

Fifty

As of today, I have officially been abroad for 50 days.

That in and of itself is mind-blowing to me, but made more so by the fact that it's gone by so fast. When I arrived in Newcastle in September it was still vaguely resembling summer, but now it has given up on sun altogether and fall is undoubtedly here. I will admit that this has made me a little homesick for the first time because fall in New England is one of my absolute favorite times of the year, but when I look back on everything that's happened this month I'm wondering when I ever had time to miss home amongst all of the spontaneous adventures October brought with it. Below is a selection of my thoughts, my favorites, and my reasons to never come home.

"This history could have been yours"

This is a direct quote from a tour guide at one of the many historical places that we've visited recently who began his tour by asking for a show of hands from those in the crowd from America. I feel as though my American-ness is obvious enough as it is so I didn't raise my hand, but after several others did he said, "Now I want all of you to keep in mind as we go through the tour, all of this history could have been yours" (well played from the country that doesn't teach about the Revolutionary War). But he had a valid point. There's something magical about being able to visit castles and monuments that have been in place for hundreds and hundreds of years. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being able to visit three castles- Alnwick, Lindisfarne, and Bamburgh- and it's definitely one of the best trips that we've taken thus far. Alnwick castle is of course famous for more than it's magical historical appeal, it has also been used for real magic in the Harry Potter movies and as a backdrop for Downton Abbey. It's actually still lived in currently by the Duke of Northumberland and his family, but that didn't stop us from shamelessly taking touristy photos and running around on quidditch broomsticks on their lawn. I may not be able to celebrate Thanksgiving and the voyage of the pilgrims this fall, but I think I can happily adopt this history instead. Tonight is my very first Bonfire Night- the commemoration of Guy Fawkes not blowing up the Houses of Parliament (which ironically means lots of fireworks and explosives)- and I can be thankful for that.

 

 Cultural Immersion 

Beyond the historical aspects of British culture, we have also been making a very dedicated effort to fully immerse ourselves in everything England has to offer culturally. This month this included a One Direction concert, our very first James Bond movie, and a quest for the best tea house in Newcastle after discovering that the nearest Dunkin Donuts is in Barcelona (plans already made for the spring).

Booking tickets for the former was probably the most spontaneous decision I've made thus far in my travels- and most likely just a consequence of intense procrastination in the library- but what better place to see some of the most popular British artists surrounded by screaming little girls than in the UK? In addition to getting to see Harry, Liam, Niall, and Louis (and receiving several angry glances from the ten year olds in front of us for googling their names) we were pleasantly surprised to also get to see the amazing Jamie Lawson, Ed Sheeran's first artist on his new label (though sadly he wasn't in attendance as we had hoped). The boys had actually just returned from a summer tour in the US and couldn't stop commenting on "how nice it is to be back in the UK", with which I couldn't agree more, Harry Styles. There's something about going to a One Direction concert in the middle of Newcastle on a school night that has made my abroad experience that much more worthwhile.

 

The next school night excursion was a trip to the cinema to see the new James Bond movie- Spectre- with my flatmates. I brought my American friend Sarah along with me, neither of us having ever seen a James Bond movie in our lives, but we certainly weren't going to let that stop us from following the British crowd. 2.5 hours later of covering each other's eyes and all the adrenaline my heart could handle, we emerged from the theater at 12:30 am both happy to have seen it but probably not needing to ever again. Perhaps we're more suited in crowds of ten year olds with early bedtimes after all. Either way, I can now safely say I've listened to more than Taylor Swift and watched more than Netflix in my culturally-enriching time abroad in England. 

Frisbee, the Circus, and Other Completely Unrelated Things 

My favorite part about the fall in New England is always the preparation for Halloween and all of the little traditions that come with it. Luckily, my newfound favorite part about Newcastle is playing frisbee and I was able to combine the best of both last weekend, which made up for the lack of candy corn and pumpkin-flavored Dunkin. 

This was made possible by the fact that our team played in a mixed regionals tournament in Lancashire against other Northeast university teams from places like Manchester, Liverpool, Durham, and Lancaster. We brought a total of five teams and I was really excited to be chosen to play on the second team as a "fresher" alongside mostly experienced players. Overall, we played seven games throughout the weekend and didn't make nationals ourselves, but our first team qualified which was just as thrilling. Returning to Newcastle, exhausted and sore in just about every way, I couldn't have been more proud of this team or the weekend we spent running back and forth after a frisbee together. 

As always, one of the best parts of the tournament was getting to go out with the other teams on the Saturday night, which also happened to be Halloween. Instead of just dressing up, however, the team was given a theme for fancy dress that for whatever reason was "spooky circus". Given the fact that this isn't something that one can just google ideas for, I ended up settling for a tiger with Sarah dressing as my elephant companion. There was a whole range- bearded men, mimes, clowns- but there just aren't words capable of describing the group dynamic accurately so you'll just have to imagine a group of 50 dead-looking, circus-themed, frisbee-playing, uni students taking on the city of Preston. Overall, it was certainly an unforgettable Halloween even if no one outside of the club could make sense of our costumes and we still had to wake up at 8 am to play another full day of frisbee. I really wouldn't have had it any other way. 

So in the end, as October has come to a conclusion and I'm now facing my last full month in the UK before traveling home for the holidays, I can officially say that fall in England- for all of its differences- certainly surpassed my expectations. In November I have trips all over the UK planned, including Dublin and Edinburgh in the next few weeks, but at the same time I have no regrets about having mainly stayed in England for the past month. Whether or not I actually understand British history, culture, or the proper way to fancy dress, not a second of the past 50 days has been wasted. 

And more importantly, if this was 50, I can't wait to see what crazier, unexpected adventures 7 more months have in store for me.

Too Many Pies

One of the main things that I promised myself about my travels abroad was that I would make a solid effort to make Newcastle my home, and not just a place where I sleep when not adventuring around Europe. This was one of my primary motivations for choosing to study abroad for the entire year as opposed to a single semester and I cannot even put into words how crucial this decision was. Currently the fall semester students are busy booking trips all over the world for every weekend from now until December 19th (granted, I've done the same) but my weekends have also been filled with a few unexpected surprises. For example, I was always going to see Dublin or Edinburgh in a way that only a touristy American can, but no one, including myself, expected to hear that I would be visiting Liverpool as a member of the Newcastle University Ultimate Frisbee team. 

First off, I want to address the fact that in my last post I resolved to never seek out any other activity that would classify me as a "fresher" again- when that's exactly what I did this weekend. I've always been an athletic person (shout out to Dad for ensuring that his daughter was playing soccer, unicycling, and competitively bike racing by the age of five) but aside from all of those bizarre activities, I have never actually played ultimate frisbee other than messing around with Tommy. In fact, when I told him that I had joined the team his non-surprising comment was "wow Jess that's awesome!... I'm just kinda shocked they let you join". Filled with positive support from my loving brother, I went to a few of the trainings and it was blatantly obvious to me that this was going to quickly become one of my favorite parts of my time abroad. It also didn't hurt that I convinced two of my closest from Loyola to join the team as well and that most of the trainings ended at a local pub for pints and free pizza. Welcomed in the friendliest way possible by the experienced players on the team, I accepted my role as a frisbee fresher and my dream of becoming a college athlete finally came true. 

The club has men's, women's and mixed teams that compete at different tournaments throughout the country and for both indoor and outdoor seasons. The name- Too Many Pies- is still a complete mystery to me (and most people on the team to be honest) but it also allows for a million little puns and traditions, such as our freshers uniforms for the weekend- navy shirts that have "pie's the limit" ironed onto them in times new roman font- and the compulsory pie eating contest after the final game of the weekend. My team was a co-ed group of eight freshers and two experienced players, who could be relied on to both give inspirational pep-talks and not laugh when we lost almost every game. We did end up winning a few though, including our final game in the tensest sudden death overtime a fresher frisbee game could warrant. One of the best parts was that even though our experienced teams at the tournament had their own games to play they always managed to watch ours, and likewise we were always there to cheer on our fellow pies. I've found that while extremely competitive, the sport itself is one of the most respectful and accepting that I've ever played. I guess this is expected in an environment in which the players are also the referees, but other little things like "spirit circles"- in which the teams that just played each other go outside and talk over their strengths and weaknesses- just further solidified my obsession with the sport. When it was all said and done, our women's team ended up winning their tournament! ... and as for our freshers team, we even managed to grab our own trophy for "most spirited team" (tough to tell whether it was the shirts or the love we had for each other). 

Now, you would think that four games a day would warrant an early, good night's sleep, but as I would soon find out, the exhaustion was just as integral a part in the team dynamic as the actual frisbee playing. The whole team- 25 of us in total- set up camp in a "scout hut" for the night (which for my American friends is just a boy scout hall) by rolling out our sleeping bags and huddling for warmth on the cement floor. Luckily, by that point we were all perfectly comfortable enough with each other to sit around eating 15 Domino's pizzas shamelessly and engaging in drinking games of which the boy scouts probably wouldn't have approved. Later, dressed in outfits from 90's blockbusters, we ventured out into Liverpool with all of the teams we had faced earlier that day in two of the best team-building exercises you could imagine: fancy dress and awful dancing- proving that the only true way to ensure that you're not more hungover than the competition in the morning is to party with them the night before. 

So after two and a half days of road tripping, frisbee playing, barely sleeping, friend-making, and laughing harder than I have in my life, I can only say that becoming a frisbee fresher is one of the best decisions I've made in my adventures abroad thus far. It's a strange feeling to know that in a year this team will have new freshers to induct and I'll be back in Baltimore, but a much better feeling knowing that I still have an entire year to make the most of it. Though I'm so jealous of all of the new friends that I've made who still have years ahead of them to make their mark on the team, for now I'm just honored to have been allowed to be a part of it. 

Take that Tommy- I'm an Ultimate Frisbee player and I have the shirt (and appropriate amount of bruises) to prove it. 

Let's go pies!!

Freshers Flu

One of the very first reactions I would get from people familiar with Newcastle (or who had at least heard of it) was about its famous reputation for "Freshers Week". This was a very foreign concept to me because back at Loyola, "Freshers Week" consisted of 3 days of icebreakers and orientations that concluded with midnight breakfast or an early bedtime. In the toon, however, this weeklong initiation of the freshman class not only includes the standard welcome lectures, but comes with its own gift bag, handbook, and wristband that for £65 gets you unlimited adventures and drunkenness. Keep in mind that by the time this week rolled around we had already been in England for a week and a half and participated in "International Welcome Week" (slightly less thrilling), so we were a pretty exhausted and overwhelmed group of Americans. That being said, I have never been more tired than I was at the conclusion of this crazy whirlwind of a week. Once again, Newcastle never fails to live up to reputation.

Day One: Welcome to the Jungle*
*(I do not claim the creativity to come up with these titles, they are stolen from the very official Freshers handbook) 

This was perhaps one of the greatest days of Freshers simply because I finally got flatmates to share my very empty, beautiful flat with! - 9 flatmates to be exact. This means there are 5 boys and 5 girls that share a common room and kitchen, and so move-in day was both very hectic and overwhelming as everyone got settled in and had to ask people their names 4 or 5 times before actually remembering them (eventually I just got post-it notes and wrote everyone's names on the doors). Thankfully, by dinner time we had all grown pretty comfortable with each other as one of my lovely flatmates insisted that we all gather for icebreakers that consisted of sitting in a circle and saying interesting things about ourselves before we all went out. A quick summary of the group: 3 Scots, 1 German, 1 American, 5 Brits, a future doctor, a talented musician, an electrical engineer, a world traveller, a Newcastle native, 9 of the friendliest people I have ever met. We joke now that our flat is a bit of a social experiment, having so many different types of people trying to share the same little space for a year (we could probably put the Real World to shame with all of the laughs we've had already), but I think so far we've passed the test. The funniest part to me is that the majority of them are 18 and at university for the first time, therefore making me the oldest, most "experienced" one in the flat. I'm sure that's what they think every time I go to bed at 10pm.

Day Two: Off the Rails

The second day was actually the first day in terms of activities that you could sign-up for, which meant that although the sign-up window began at 8am and went all day long, it was pretty much required that you get there at 8am to beat the queues. So my friends and I woke up at 7:45am and managed to get free tickets for a tour of St. James Park, the home stadium of Newcastle United. As a fake fan of Newcastle United I was super excited about this, and even more so when we actually got to see not only the field but all of the locker rooms and VIP boxes. Even cooler was the fact that they were in the process of transforming the football pitch into a rugby pitch for the upcoming world cup match between Scotland and South Africa. The best part, though, was the beginning of the tour when the guide asked for a show of hands of who were actual Newcastle fans... and not a single hand went up. He just nodded and said, "To be honest, we are a bit shit." Gotta love the toon army.

Later that night was a "traditional European bar crawl" that took us all over the city to different venues and ended at a bar with a beer hall underneath it in which everyone was dressed and dancing as if we had just stepped off the train into Germany. I may not have made the actual trip this year, but at least I can say I experienced my own little Freshers Oktoberfest in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Day Three: The American Road Trip

The third day was the last time we were going to wake up at 8am to sign up for an activity but I'm so glad we did because it meant that we got to go on a day trip to Durham, a city like 35 minutes from Newcastle. Unlike Newcastle, which is a mix of traditional and modern buildings, Durham still has that classic British feel to it and we spent the whole afternoon walking around the cathedral, the castle, and all of the shops on cobblestone streets along the river. It was nice to be reminded of the fact that we are actually in the middle of the English countryside and not just a large, commercial city. Sometimes you need a 30 minute coach ride through fields of grazing sheep and rolling hills to remind you that you're not in America anymore.

That being said, later that night following our own little road trip was of course "The American Road Trip", which ironically just furthered the above fact. According to the Freshers handbook, this night promised "red cups, American anthems, popcorn vendors, cheerleaders, and much more!" (if you're American and you didn't laugh out loud at that/ feel slightly offended then there is something very wrong with our country). With one flatmate dressed as a cheerleader and one wearing a 50 cent t-shirt, they put me to shame with their "American-ness" and had me wondering if perhaps I've always been more British than I thought.

Day Four: Pandamonium

This was the biggest night of the week because the university reserved the entire Rugby World Cup Official Fan Zone- complete with amusement park rides, food vendors, and an enormous glow-in-the-dark tent- to host all 5000 freshers at one time. My university at home doesn't even have 5000 students, let alone the resources to rent an entire fairground, so this was really wild. Needless to say, sporting the official t-shirts that came in our Freshers gift bags, my friends and flatmates took on all of the rides we could stomach and then shamelessly covered ourselves head-to-toe in neon paint for an evening I'll most likely never forget.

Day Five: ReFresh 

I honestly couldn't tell you, I was sleeping. 

Day Six: Fresh Start*

*(actually mine) 

So in the end, I survived my second round of freshmen activities and my very first Newcastle Freshers Week. Looking back on it, I honestly have no idea how we fit so many things into one week but I can say that it was the craziest and most exhausting week of my life. Never again in my life will I meet so many new people from all over the world in such a short period of time, or cover myself in neon paint and ride an upside-down ferris wheel in the middle of the night, or get the opportunity to start over and try as many new things as my heart desires. In fact, during that week I signed up for the Royal Blues mixed a cappella group, the Catholic society, the running society, and the co-ed Ultimate Frisbee team (for which I am already traveling to Liverpool this weekend for a tournament!). I guess I should have expected my "easy" year was always going to be anything but.

And so now I have begun classes again for the first time in six months and it's back to reality. There's a joke in Newcastle about "Fresher's flu", which is hardly a joke at all because every person I know is currently dying from the contagious after-effects of a week of partying. I'm no exception to this of course, but I like to think I have Fresher's flu in a positive way as well. Never again do I want to re-live freshman year and all of the antics that come with it, but I am exceptionally proud to be a Newcastle University fresher.

Once Upon a Tyne

By the end of our first week in the UK, we had spent more time in London than we had in Newcastle so there was still a lot of exploring, adjusting, and learning to be done. As easy as it is to navigate the city itself, there are still some little things that trip me up on a daily basis that hadn't even occurred to me before living here. Below are some of my first impressions and reactions to the city of Newcastle and life in general in the UK.

1. "Self Catering"

As fancy as this sounds, it's really just a posh way to describe a university student having to not only buy all of their own food, but also cook it. Now some American students do opt out of their meal plans at college but I can assure you that had I stayed at Loyola for my junior year I would not have been one of them. The extent of my cooking skills are pasta, scrambled eggs, and sub-par tuna melts. That being said, I am proud to report that it's not the actual cooking aspect that has been my greatest challenge thus far, but rather finding the foods that I would generally eat as staples in my diet. Granola/protein bars, peanut butter, and even cheap eggs are extremely hard to find in supermarkets (the "international" section of Tesco is primarily just peanut butter, Pop Tarts, and Kraft mac and cheese). In their place are pre-made sandwiches, salads, and probably much more healthy, quick foods to eat, which I suppose I can hardly complain about. There's also so many more open-air markets where culinary-inclined people can buy just about any type of fresh food. The university even required that we take a cooking class in order to learn how to cook in our kitchens- which was super helpful- but also the morning after my flat mates and I spent 2 hours trying to turn on the hob to make pasta... so baby steps. If anything, I may come home eating healthier than ever and just with an empty suitcase in which to stock up on Luna bars and crunchy peanut butter.

2. "The Toon"

Newcastle is notoriously called "the Toon", partly because of the way Geordies pronounce the word "town" and partly because it's a title for the fans of the premier league football club, Newcastle United. I've frequently joked to mum and dad that my biggest regret of my childhood was not being brought up in a family that actually cares about sports, but I've certainly gotten what I wished for here. One of my favorite things about the city is that every time there's a game at St. James Park, what seems like the entire population of the city pours into the pubs first and then the stadium, a massive sea of black and white striped jerseys. Elderly men, young families, and university students alike turn up for these matches and only in Newcastle would you find that kind of devotion to a team that can lose on Wednesday to a non-premier league team and tie Chelsea on Saturday night. On top of that, we're currently in the middle of the Rugby World Cup so there isn't a person who isn't watching those games, especially when England is playing. I don't pretend to understand a single thing about rugby, but even I can get excited about how supportive Brits are of their team. Sorry USA, I've enlisted in the toon army.

3. £££

Money is any university student's worst nightmare regardless of location, but I would say that students having to convert to a currency that only equates to .66 of a dollar struggle just that much more. I like to think of myself as a pretty responsible person when it comes to spending but even I am terrified of this new challenge (shout out to London for making us all grateful we don't live there). Primark, Tesco, and Poundland have become my new favorite places in the world within walking distance and I'm sure by the end of this semester they'll know me by name. For those unfamiliar with these places, Primark is home and clothing, Tesco is food, and Poundland is anything else I can't find in the first two. The good news is that I'm not spending money on much else because the Brits don't believe in textbooks and we walk absolutely everywhere. Perhaps the most confusing thing is that they actually use coins (there are 7 different types) whereas Americans look at you as if you're insane if you use anything less than a quarter. But that's fine by me, if I'm only getting .66 a dollar you bet I'm saving each and every pence.

4. Uni, mates, and other foreign concepts

Each time I meet a group of UK students the reaction is usually processed in four steps:
1) my accent (are you American? where in America?)
2) pretending to know what Connecticut is (that's like New York City right?)
3) my student status (what the hell brought you to Newcastle?)
4) Newcastle University (... oh so you're really clever)

Having been brought up by the cool British mum and also just having spent a whole summer surrounded by British counselors, I'm pretty used to Americans freaking out about their accents but never the other way around (and it never really gets old). The funniest part, though, is that in America when you tell someone that you're studying at Newcastle University they smile politely and pretend to know what that means but here it actually has a pretty good reputation, especially in rivalry with the neighboring school- Northumbria University. In fact, in my university induction the faculty referred to Northumbria as "that other school which we don't mention". That's not to say that we don't associate with them, however, because in a city of about 300,000 people, 50,000 of those are university students between the two schools. I'll never forget the first night we went out in Newcastle we stopped a group of Northumbria boys to ask for directions and after we introduced ourselves as Newcastle University students they responded, "Oh so you're smart American girls" (we then asked how they knew we were from the US and they just laughed and replied, "you're wearing coats").

Befriending our own flatmates has proved to be just as fun. As year-long study abroad students we got placed with other international students as well as traditional British students so already I've gotten to know people from Spain, France, Germany, and of course different parts of the UK. The real challenge will be adjusting from Loyola seminars of 6 people to lectures of over 200 people. Already the differences of a small college and a large university have begun to make themselves clear as we wait in line for hours at a time for things like freshers wristbands and ID cards, but that has yet to take away from the experience of being a freshmen, or "fresher", for the second time. I may be a junior in college, but this week I will proudly wear my neon wristband and accept all of the free things thrown at me (or in the case of sleep... cruelly taken away).

5. Newcastle Upon Tyne

I just have to end with a few words about how beautiful I find this city. From the picturesque Quayside by the River Tyne (which mum has informed me is pronounced "key-side") to the Tyne Moor (a huge park in the middle of the city full of running paths and grazing cows) to the coast of Tynemouth with its beaches and castles. So many people- both here and in the US- are so curious about why in the world I would have chosen to study abroad in North East England but I honestly can't imagine being anywhere else. They may be a little hard to understand at times, drink a little too early in the day, and operate solely on a 24-hour clock (I've switched every electronic device I own and still have to rely on my analog watch), but the Geordies have my heart. Armed with my wardrobe of grey sweaters, my travel-sized umbrella, and my purse full of coins, I'm ready for everything you've got, England.

Diaries of a British Tourist

My initial adventures in Newcastle were fairly short-lived. In fact, most of my first study abroad experiences took place in London because after arriving in England on Thursday, we were arranged to spend Saturday through Monday wandering around the capital city. On Friday we spent all day at the university registering for classes (which don't even begin until the 5th of October) and then it was a 6 am wake up for the train to Kings Cross Station, which needless to say, not a single person remembers because we were all fast asleep.

Once in London we encountered our first hostel, which was both an overall enjoyable and eye-opening experience. "The Generator" was a cool building in which every floor was a different British theme- James Bond, Alice in Wonderland, Willy Wonka, etc.- and the rooms each had 2 bunk beds that we were luckily able to share exclusively with other Loyola students. Due to the Rugby World Cup, however, it was full of a wide array of different teams and fans from all over the world who had come to watch the games in England so we still met our share of interesting new people (including the particularly loud Argentinian rugby team across the hall, one of whom thought it would be a laugh to drunkenly climb into my bed at 3:30 am after finding the room key on the ground... I didn't laugh).

Despite the fact that we were all still incredibly jet lagged and working on about 6 hours of sleep a night for a consecutive week, we still managed to see just about everything that London has to offer. The first day we went on a walking tour of all of the main touristy attractions- the London Eye, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square- and then had dinner at an amazing mediterranean restaurant. We walked about 13 miles that first day, little did we know that was just the beginning.


                         

The next two days began with a tour of Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London (a castle, contrary to popular belief). After these though, we were set free into the city until dinner. Thankfully we were given day passes for the metro each day, but we still walked around 12 miles on average. Much of this free time was spent in coffee shops or museums attempting to find somewhere to sit and relax, but we also had a few bucket list items that needed to be checked off. The list included cliche things like pictures of Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross and Abbey Road, but then grew to incorporate more spontaneous things like a trip to Borough Market, where I had the best pumpkin tortellini I've ever tasted (also the only one I've ever tasted) and we were asked to play confused tourists for a London Pride beer commercial- still on the lookout for this, stay tuned. The best memory from London, however, was probably sitting in Trafalgar Square trying to catch our breath and having two women from Africa ask us if we would wear shirts to promote their rapper friend "Golden Poppa". If you search the internet carefully you may be able to find a picture of my two close friends in these shirts, smiling in a way that only people too nice to say "no" can. In this respect, we got more pictures than we bargained for.

By the end of this whirlwind of a trip we felt as though we knew every stop on the London underground. On our first day in Newcastle when we went to get SIM cards for our phones we were laughed at by a Geordie man who said "everyone in London is so posh, you'll be glad to be back in Newcastle"- which was very true- but I also enjoyed every second in England's biggest city. Though I'm not sure that I would survive living there for a whole year, it certainly didn't fail to impress or entertain. Having been there twice before when I was younger I expected to remember some bits and pieces, but it was truly a new experience as an independent 20 year old (especially when you have to pay £5 for a pint as a legal participant of happy hour). In the end, I put my British passport to shame and was just as touristy as any other American. Worth it? Absolutely. 

Cheers, London. 

Prologue

Up until the 16th of September when I left for my semester abroad, I was continuously told one thing: this will be the best year of your life.

While it's meant to make you feel more excited about everything to come, it was really just more intimidating. To have the best year of my life at age 20 seemed like a lot of pressure to me. On top of this, I had just finished the best summer of my young life working at an incredible summer camp in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire for kids with all types of emotional, social, and behavioral disabilities. When September began I was still adjusting to real life with mirrors, electronics, jeans, and uninterrupted sleep. It was hard to imagine that life could get much better than the camp high I experienced for 3 months, but once my younger twin siblings left for their own respective college experiences I was (desperately) ready for my own to begin.

And so on that Wednesday Mum, Dad, and I packed up the car and drove to JFK. Luckily, the group of students from Loyola traveling to Newcastle this semester is around 45 so it was easy to find other confused and anxious Americans with whom to navigate the airport. Our flight left New York at around 9 pm US time and got into London at around 9 am UK time. For the record, a 7 hour flight across the Atlantic is just as a bad as it sounds, even with free movie access and our first legal alcohol order. That didn't stifle the excitement of being in London when we landed, however, especially when I was able to skip ahead of the customs line and walk straight through with my British passport (the first time I would get a strange look for being a Brit with an American accent but certainly not the last).

The unfortunate part of this journey was the 5 hour layover that awaited us in Heathrow's terminal 5 before our connection to Newcastle. After the initial excitement of making our first purchase with pounds (regrettably Starbucks, true to our Loyola roots) there wasn't much more to do than sit and wait. The rest of the day is nothing more than a jet lagged blur: our connection at 1:30 pm UK time (8:30 am US time); a gift bag from our Newcastle hosts including an orientation schedule, room keys, and a surplus of Digestives; being dropped at the wrong location by the coach and hauling our suitcases a mile through the city of Newcastle; crying in my room because of confusing wifi passwords and light switches that require key card activation; and then finally dinner in an Italian restaurant with all 45 Loyola students.

It's safe to say that if you had asked me that night if this would be the best year of my life I would have laughed in your face and then passed out in my bed. Despite all of that, however, I was still enchanted by the city from the second I was dropped into it. It's hard to put into words because it's unlike any city I've ever experienced in the US, but I suppose that's what I love about it. The walkability, the friendliness, the traditional English architecture mixed in with modern, quirky university buildings- they say Newcastle is one of the best college towns in the world and I can see why. It also doesn't hurt that year-long international students receive amazing university accommodation seconds from the city centre, more resembling a hotel than a dorm room. Regardless, studying abroad finally feels real for the first time since I received my acceptance letter nearly a year ago and so if this is the best year of my life, it's off to a good start.