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.