“Cheers” from Plymouth, England. I have been in this new world for 27 days (see what I did there), and I can finally say I feel comfortable. When I first decided to do a semester abroad, I prepared myself for an entirely different kind of experience. In my mind, it was the idea of constant travel, accents and much the same kind of world as America. I thought because we shared a common language and the historical bit where England colonized parts of the USA, I wouldn’t experience homesickness or culture shock. My thoughts misled me.
It is amazing how different England is from America. Where I live is considered a type of Suburbia, the same idea of families and kids all around, but it is a different kind of Suburbia. The houses are built together, the streets narrow, no front yards, a school that looks like a manor around the corner and an amazing view of the sea. That is the kind of Suburbia I live in over here.
I could go on and on about the differences; there are plenty. But I’ve narrowed it down to the top five that have been both the most charming and the most frustrating. Here it goes.
There is no such thing as country music. It horrified me to say names like Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and Lee Brice only to have no one know who I was talking about. My Saving Grace: they do know Taylor Swift, only they don’t really like her. I started my explanation of country music with “I go to Longwood University in Farmville, Va., AKA the South. That is what we listen to.” Every single person referenced the Facebook game Farmville, much to my horror, when I told them where I came from. When I told them it was the South, the cliché based accents and attitudes from Texas were referenced with big hair, big mouths and big personality. The English listen to a lot of alternative and other artists that I have never heard of, but other than the absence of country music, their genres are all pretty much the same.
The weather. The weather here in Plymouth is insane. It is inconsistent, cold and hot at the same time, blustery, rainy, sunny, spring time, winter time, hazy, foggy, overcast, humid and just wet all the time. And the weathermen are victims of this insanity. They are never, ever right. Google Weather tells me nothing. I have stopped looking up weather in advance because you have to take it in the moment. Friday was supposed to be a gloriously sunny day, but it poured — cold and windy all day long. The rest of the week was supposed to be rain; today has been the most beautiful spring-like day I could have wished for. You never know what kind of day it is going to be. It would start with beautiful sunlight and fade into freezing rain with monsoon winds within two hours. Here, umbrellas come to die. My rain jacket is my new best friend.
The food. I haven’t had McDonald’s in four weeks. There is also no such thing as Cook Out, and it’s killing me. Fast food isn’t as desirable when you have to walk 20 minutes to get it, so I’ve been living off of fish and chips and pub food because it’s everywhere, including right around the corner from me. It’s a fine line of compensation between things England doesn’t have with what they do. England doesn’t have Costco size bags of frozen chicken, Bisquick or a large selection of salad dressings, and most people drink instant coffee. It’s not so much lacking items, just having different ideas of them. Things they have that I love include Tea Time from 2:00 to 4:00, fresh baked scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, pastries filled with all kinds of delicious things, fish and chips (with vinegar and salt, ketchup is overrated), squash juice and alcoholic cider. Just the scones and cider make up for a lot of the things I am missing.
The way people our age dress: The first night I went out here I was taken off-guard by the way a lot the young people dress. The best word to describe it is eccentric. Loud. Super loud. So many people have purple, blue, violet, bleached or a combination of colored hair. No one wears jeans really; most people just rock a pair of leggings or shorts with tights. The most common kind of jacket is an animal print complete with faux fur. There is a lot of sparkle and different prints all layered together. The make-up here is also over the top and eye catching, including heavy eye make- up and bright lips. It makes people watching way more fun.
I came to England expecting to see something new every day and be on the move, but that isn’t what studying abroad is about. It’s about experiencing a new culture and appreciating it for what it is without comparison.
To see pictures and hear more about my semester abroad, check out my blog volagratis1.wordpress. com.
*** This editorial is an opinion stated by the writer and does not represent the views of The Rotunda or Longwood University.
