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.
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
