Imposter

Since my last post, it has been a little bit of time (approximately a month, oops!). But, the pace of what I’m doing has slowed down considerably, so I’ve found that there is a little less to talk about. To begin, here is a brief list of things I’ve observed to be different in the UK than in the United States:

• No one says bless you when someone else sneezes
• Most of the museums are free
• Goods tend to be less expensive at stores, but the price of going out is approximately the same
• I started watching Love Island, a British show similar to The Bachelor in Paradise, and what British people think is drama is different than what Americans think is drama
• What British people consider efficiency is much more relaxed than what Americans consider efficiency
• They don’t sell hand sanitizer anywhere?
• Generally, there is a more concerted effort to save energy and reuse resources
• British dogs are not as excited to see you as American dogs
• The British act like they invented tea, when really they stole it from “the Orient,” and mostly only drink black tea
• They still listen to a lot of music from the late 2000’s, and early to mid 2010’s (which I’m here for!)
• Food has less preservatives, is less sweet, and never salted
• Instead of asking, “How are you?” Northern British people will ask you, “Are you ok?”
• The British pride themselves in their mild weather, yet still complain about how cold it is constantly
• Not only do they say they have mild weather, but two large storms have hit the UK since my arrival
• England is constantly wet, whether or not it’s rained

I have started classes, and while I thought that the hardcore, European-constructed International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme would have prepared me well for the English university structure, I was very wrong since my IB classes were applied to the American school structure. In the UK, there are set times for lectures, set times for an interactive lecture (tutorial), and set times for guided discussion (seminar). To me, this is very different than the typical American classroom where the teacher/professor structures class so that there may be a combination of interaction and lecture throughout the lesson. And, having a designated time to discuss also means I actually have to interact with the British students, which is not to say that I don’t want to, but as international students we were warned by the head of the International Hub that the British students tend to be very reserved. From what I’ve observed, this is true, but the community that the international students have formed together makes up for it.

To elaborate on the international student community, the complex that we live in is split into different sections. Approximately 25 of us occupy one section, while a few more live in other sections spread out across the complex. Altogether, there are about 50 of us. I am lucky enough to live in the section that solely international students occupy, and it’s been a blast! All of us are constantly going up and down each floor to hang out with one another, and lending each other various kitchen tools. And since the entire complex is relatively small, none of the other students are too far away, and most of the time one of the flats in my section is the hub of international student interaction.

Another thing I have really enjoyed about living here is that I finally have a fully-equipped kitchen. At college, I had money on my account to pay for meals, so it seemed wasteful to not eat at the cafeteria or other locations on campus. The kitchenettes in the residence halls are equipped with stoves and ovens, but are definitely not spacious enough to prepare a full three-course meal. I have yet to prepare a full three-course meal, but two of the girls who live in the floor above me and I have dinner together every night, and we enjoy cooking and baking food together as part of our daily routines. These are also the girls with whom I have made Love Island a part of my daily routine, as well.

While the cooking and reality TV show-watching seem characteristic to the United States Jessie you all know and love, my friendship with these girls has also gotten me into situations that may cause some to ask, “Where did the real Jessie go? She’s definitely not in England!” When I first met these girls, I was certain we were not going to be close. They are also from Elmhurst College, and were the two girls who arrived a day earlier than I, and many others, arrived. When we asked them what they did when they got here, they told us that they had gone for a walk around the park. Now, I’m not saying that I’m not a proponent of the outdoors, but going outside is probably not what you think of when you think of me. Hey, they’re your thoughts, not mine!

Yet, the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of January, I found myself on an epic adventure in Scotland. Both of them wanted to go on a hike, and said that it wouldn’t be anything too hard. That was a lie. If anyone ever asks you if you would like to hike Ben Lomond (the southernmost of Scotland’s munroes/mountains), you should probably run in the opposite direction. The hike was steep, windy, misty, rocky, and took three hours up, and a little more than two back down. But, it was also beautiful and rewarding. Ben Lomond, whose summit is 974m/3196ft, is easily the largest and most challenging hike I have ever done. Ever. Yet, and I hate to admit this because my parents may use it against me to make me go outside more often once I get home, it is incredibly rewarding to have made it all the way to the top, and to have kept going even though I think I wanted to quit about every 100 feet due to the steepness.

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On Super Bowl Sunday, the international students had a potluck Super Bowl party. Even though kickoff was at 11:30PM, we all brought our tastiest foods, and best attitudes. I tricked people into thinking that I actually know things about football by sharing with everyone a phrase someone told me to repeat: “I’m not sure if Mahomes is ready for the 49ers defense.” But then, one of the friends who I went to Scotland with tricked me into learning about football. So, until the halftime show, I was more or less invested in the game, and found that maybe Mahomes was ready for the 49ers defense. After the halftime show, all of us retired to bed. We had also all gotten deals on the women’s Liverpool vs. Everton football match (Liverpool and Everton are the two Liverpool football teams), but the game was rescheduled due to one of the aforementioned storms.