Hi all, I am back in the states and returned late March at my school’s recommendation. I’ve been enjoying these weeks at home with my dogs and family, and been finishing up assessments for my classes.
At the beginning of this journey I had planned to make a video, or maybe even multiple videos, documenting my experiences and travels. While I did not make it to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Paris, Barcelona, Geneva, Naples, or Amsterdam, I did end up with my fair share of pictures and video snippets to create something with. While I feel that the video is a disproportionate representation to my real experience, as there are many clips of London and Glasgow in comparison to Liverpool when I only spent 4 days in each, I still think it is a sweet presentation of the time I spent overseas. While sitting in the hallways of our flat at all hours, the meals we cooked together, the gatherings we hosted in the lounge, gossiping on the shuttle to and from campus, and the outings to Liverpool Central were how I spent most of my time, perhaps the beauty and authenticity of these moments can not be captured.
Either way, please enjoy this video I have made, and stay safe during these times!
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.
Ben Lomond in Scotland
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.
Left: Lady Chapel at Liverpool Cathedral, Middle: Metropolitan Cathedral, Right: Arch at Chinatown, the largest arch of its type outside of China
Since then, my friends and I have visited downtown Liverpool a few times. We have dined in Chinatown (9% of Liverpool’s population is Asian, which is the highest proportional Asian population in England), shopped, and visited two of Liverpool’s most historic cathedrals: The Liverpool (Anglican) Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. The two cathedrals are joined by Hope Street, which is the street that my school, Liverpool Hope, is named after, although it does not preside on Hope Street. We’ve also visited Crosby beach, a 30-minute train ride from our residential campus. We’ve also planned a trip to Dublin, and are in the process of planning a traveling extravaganza in April, when there are no classes due to what they call Easter Break. For now, however, I will continue “cracking on” with my classes, as they would say, and hopefully report back to you all sooner than I have this time!
As of today, it has been approximately two weeks since I arrived in England. New Year’s Eve was filled with family tradition and frantic packing, and new year’s day was filled with heartfelt goodbyes and additional frantic packing. But, after all, what would leaving home for six months be without almost forgetting your toothbrush, and omitting packing many other toiletries to save space for the “important things”? As I embarked from Denver International Airport through Reykjavik, Iceland onward to Manchester, England; I remember thinking, how hard could international travel be? I have flown alone multiple times with regularity, but international travel is its own beast. I’d like to believe that my familiarity with flying made me well-equipped for solo international travel, although some may disagree as they read further details of the traveling extravaganza that marked my beginning of this decade.
Not even five minutes into sitting down on the majestic piece of machinery that was my IcelandAir plane, I had already misplaced my phone. I wish I could make this up. It took me a moment to realize that the very Scottish mother and son duo sitting next to me was actually speaking English, but once I realized they were, I knew I had to ask them if they could please call my phone. No, I swore it was not in the seat pocket in front of me. Why would I put it there instead of my purse, backpack, or any other vessel that would make oh-so-much-more sense? Why is the seat in front of me vibrating? Oh.
Following that incident, the rest of the flight was relatively less turbulent (aha). I purchased in-flight wifi for €12, which my brother and father lovingly teased me is more than my brother’s rent for his apartment in China. I’m not sure if that was a joke or not. Many Tetris games, Twitter perusals, snacks, and micro-naps later, we touched down in Reykjavik, Iceland. I was shocked to find that Iceland was, indeed, icey. Snow gracefully floated on the 6AM wind as we hazily de-planed. I had felt bored and lethargic for the past 8 hours, but quickly became alert with excitement as I realized my journey was nearing its true beginning. Little did I know that Keflavik Airport would be its own mini journey.
The first thing I was appalled by was that the bathrooms provided patrons with so much more privacy within the stalls than American bathrooms, and I have found the same to be true in England. For people who value their own personal space and privacy, it seems ironic to me that American bathrooms provide less privacy. The next thing I noticed was that most of the seating was located at the restaurants and shops, in comparison to shops in American airports—which tend to be grab-and-go. It seemed like the airport was designed for people to actually enjoy themselves. What does it mean that I found that strange?
I went into the main snack area, and was amused to find that Diet Coke charades under the name “light taste Coke” in Iceland, and bought it. When I was buying it, the sales clerk asked to see my boarding pass, since the shops in the airport were intended for departing passengers. My first thought upon hearing this was, Why wouldn’t they want to make as much money as possible by catering to a larger audience? The thought that followed was the realization that I was no longer in capitalist America.
Light taste Coke in-hand, I continued onward to Manchester, where I was escorted with my professor, her husband, and four of my peers to our hotel in Liverpool for the evening via limo. I think limo means something different here, because the limo was actually just a van. But, my professor specifically ordered a limo, and so a limo I will call it. Once in Liverpool, the six of us met up with two girls who had arrived a day earlier, dined together, and explored the residential part of Liverpool our hotel was located in. Conveniently, the hotel is only a few blocks away from the residential campus I’m staying in now. My professor and her husband also introduced us to Tesco, the supermarket by the residential campus that I have visited almost every single day since I moved in here. 32 hours after waking up, around midnight, I finally allowed myself to fall asleep.
The next day, the last two girls arrived, and we met them at the residential campus. The original plan was for every student to arrive this day and stay in the guest suite at the residential campus, but since many of us found better deals for flights on earlier dates, we had been staying at the hotel for the evening(s) prior. That being said, the staff at the residential campus were able to prepare the actual rooms of two of my peers so they were able to move in, and the rest of us stayed in the guest suite as planned for that evening. We visited Liverpool Museum and ate pizza together before returning to the residential campus to rest up before we departed on a five-day trip to London.
Following a two and a half hour train ride from Liverpool to London, we ate lunch, and lugged our suitcases and backpacks full of five days’ worth of clothes* through London to our hotel. From the hotel, we took our first tube ride to the Tower of London, where delirious and hilarious conversations about stealing—and eating?!—the Crown Jewels ensued. Amidst the laughter and camaraderie forming, I was reminded of home when I asked an American couple, who had helped us escape a winding tower, where they were from. They shared they were from Castle Rock, Colorado, which is not too far from my home. Then, as if the entire experience of existing in London, dreamily half-awake (or jet lagged, whichever term you would rather use) and exploring a beautiful, historic site weren’t awe-inspiring enough, the sun began to set. The sky was painted purple, and the city lights twinkled in each of our eyes as we beheld our first sunset in London.
The following day, we spent our morning on a hop-on, hop-off bus that included commentary on the sights we passed by. I found out that sitting on the top level of a double-decker bus is not as exciting when the top level is open during January in London, but some things just need to be learned the hard way. I would probably still do it again, though. Being on the top level allowed us to interact with the tour guide, who was speaking into a microphone being broadcast across the bus to those who plugged their headphones into the bus’s provided radio system. The tour guide, upon learning we go to school in Chicago, assured us that along with replacing my passport, the US Embassy here can also give me a heaping serving of FREEDOM! In the afternoon, two of my friends and I walked to Buckingham palace, where we did not spot the queen, but did throw pence into the fountain Queen Victoria’s statue was perched upon so that we could wish to spot her next time we go. We then took a bus to the London Eye. From the London Eye, we successfully navigated the tube back to our hotel by ourselves, which was an incredibly gratifying feeling.
Buckingham Palace & the view from the London Eye
The view from the London Eye was so gorgeous that it inspired us, the next day, to continue to see the city from above. We went to Tower Bridge, a two-tier bridge featuring a footbridge above roaring car traffic. As if a two-tier bridge is not exciting enough, Tower Bridge is also a drawbridge, and the upper-level footbridge has portions of the flooring that are made of glass so that one may look down on the traffic below as they are walking. That day, we also toured the Shakespearean Globe Theater, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, which has many pieces of beautiful artistry, as well as a crypt that contains memorials for many of England’s heroes (including and not limited to Lord Nelson and Duke Wellington). Also at St. Paul’s Cathedral, my friends and I climbed over 500 stairs to get to the platform at the top of the cathedral. At this point, it was clear to me that I should probably be royalty with how much I had been on top of the world within the past 48 hours.
St. Paul’s Cathedral & sunset from Tower Bridge
The fun for that day did not end there, though. In the evening, we saw Come From Away, a new Broadway musical, at the Phoenix Theater. I had heard a few songs from Come From Away, and only really remembered one of them, but I was not prepared for the impact that Come From Away had on me. For those who don’t know, Come From Away is the story of how Gander, Newfoundland’s community came together when their small town population doubled due to planes emergency landing following the 9/11 terror attacks. If you would like to explore Come From Away, I highly recommend listening to “Me and the Sky,”** which was the song I knew from the musical beforehand. The whole soundtrack, however, is so much more meaningful within the context of the performance. Come From Away was a candidly beautiful balance of informative, sentimental, and humorous. After the show, we also ran into the Elmhurst College January Term London trip, who had also just seen the performance. There was something poetic about seeing a musical about America in London, and afterward being reunited with fellow Americans from our school.
Our penultimate day in London began with a tour of Westminster Abbey, London’s most historic cathedral, with royal traditions embedded in its walls. There we saw the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots. Next, we visited the Churchill War Rooms, which were underground rooms utilized during WWII to conduct secret work and protect England’s most important personnel during the frequent bombings. We also visited Harrod’s, which is a ginormous store akin to a department store, but instead featuring clothes and items that cost more than my average paycheck. Even though being on top of the world so much had made me feel like a queen, I didn’t have the budget to match. Our next stop was the British Library, where we explored their rare books and documents collection. I spent most of my time looking at the sheet music they had collected from various composers and eras. To finish off our day, we saw Henry VI at the Globe Theater. The performance was spectacular, with live ethereal-but-period music, and phenomenal acting. Minus a brief period in the first act where I suddenly became very sleepy after a long day, the cast did an incredible job of maintaining my attention throughout the performance, which can be difficult with Shakespeare.
Westminster Abbey courtyard
For our last day, we went to the British Museum in the morning before blasting off back to Liverpool. At the British Museum, we looked at many Mesopotamian, Greek, and Egyptian relics, and were able to see the Rosetta Stone and an Easter Island totem. After a busy five days, I fell asleep on the train ride back.
Once I got back, however, it was not quite time to rest. I moved into my flat, which I share with two girls from my school, as well as six other people. Each of us have our own room, and have a shared lounge and kitchen. I also had international student orientation, which included a trip to Chester (which is an hour train ride south of Liverpool, across the River Mersey), where we explored Roman forts, and Chester Cathedral. Classes started Monday 15 January, where I was thrown into lectures and discussions that the English students were continuing on from last semester for my Educational Psychology class. I was delighted to find, however, that even though I was not here last semester, they were discussing topics regarding education that I was familiar with due to the education classes I have already taken. The psychology unit of the class doesn’t start until next week, but I was advised that the lectures would still be useful (which I agree, after attending one). Fortunately, I do not have to attend seminar and tutorial (classes intended for small group discussion) until the psychology unit begins. My music seminar and Earth Surface Processes class also do not start until next week, so I am grateful to be eased into the school schedule. I feel prepared. I enjoyed my travels, but I’m surprisingly excited to go back to being a student after being a tourist for a while.
If you have made it this far, congratulations! The past fourteen days have been a whirlwind of activity and buzz, but I am so grateful for all of it, and I am grateful to be able to share it with the people around me—and now you, too! I plan on writing again very soon, since believe it or not, I still have so many more thoughts in my mind running around like headless chickens than the ones I’ve shared with you today. Simply put, life is different here. But, as the Education Department at Elmhurst College has been keen to teach me, differences are not deficiencies—differences are strengths when we step outside our comfort zones and look past our own cultural frames of reference.
*It’s worth mentioning in order to avoid confusion that we left our large suitcases at the residential campus in the rooms of the girls who had moved in, so we didn’t have to lug them all the way around London.
** I tried to embed the song into this post, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t work.
Jessie Abroad 