Hey everybody! So let the record show that this is the first post for me to send as a 21 year old. It's crazy to think that I've got 21 years under my belt. And better yet, who would have guessed that I would spend it in England of all places, haha. Well, before I get to the story of my birthday, I feel as if I should give a recap of what has been going on with me this week (or 2...)
Well, two Saturday's ago, me and more of the international kids went to this local restaurant simply called Café (Simplest title I think I've heard in my life). I would consider it the British equivalent of Waffle House back home. At Café, we were able to get the full English breakfast experience which usually consists of 2 pieces of toast, sausage, eggs, bacon, beans, and black pudding (tasted good, but still not fully sure what that is...kind of afraid to find out...). After that, we walked around the town center all day and explored some of the stores, along with going through the cathedral in the middle of town.
The Cathedral, which was built in 1092 A.D., is probably one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. The architecture was amazing, and made me wonder how people back then could have constructed something like that. The ceilings within the chapel had different European crests on them along with what looked like smaller, golden crests next to them. Along with the crests, there were mini towers within the chapel that were insanely intricate. The towers looked similar, however, there was a small difference in each of them. Each tower had an angel on it, but each angel would be holding a different object. While I was walking through the chapel, it made me realize that there is nothing in America that has been standing as long as the chapel has. There were even graves that were dated back to 1687 within the walls. I could talk about the inside of the chapel all day, but honestly, I think it would probably be easier to look at the pictures on Facebook.
After a long day in town, me and the rest of the group came back for a relaxed night and played some card games along with some chess. I have learned since that day that the game Spoons, as fun as it may be, is perhaps one of the most terrifying card games in existence.
The next day, a group of us went to the church service at the Cathedral. The service was actually fairly similar to the ones we had at home, so it wasn't that hard to adjust. The acoustics in the chapel made it an even cooler experience. The one down side was the whole lack of central heating thing. After the service, the group decided to go and do a little exploring around town again. One of the great things about Chester is that there is always something new that can be found. Everyday has been a small adventure. Later that afternoon, we went back to the Cathedral for the Evensong service (which was mostly the choir singing), went back home, then called it a night.
As for the rest of the week, everything worked out fine. It was my first full week of classes, and by the looks of things, it looks like it will be a good semester. My three classes are Feature Writing, Power, Persuasion and the Media, and Law and Ethics for Journalists. This will be my first time to take legitimate communications courses, seeing that Hendrix doesn't have a full time communications major. Although I'm excited to be taking these classes, it's taken a pretty long time to get used to the layout of the schedule. Each class is divided into a lecture and seminar class. For example, I have my Feature Writing lecture on Monday, but I don't have a seminar until Friday morning. It is definitely a different layout compared to things back home, but at the same time I think I prefer the British method.
Later on that Tuesday, a few of us went to the pub called George and Dragon to watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona football (soccer) game. Saying that Europeans are fans of football is an understatement. The amount of energy and hype that was in the pub was ridiculous. It rivaled that of a superbowl party back in the states. The place was packed. The people supporting their teams were huddled together screaming and shouting at the tv (I'm pretty sure there was one guy who yelled every curse word in the Spanish dictionary at one point.). The whole experience was brilliant, and I can't even imagine what a live soccer game would be like.
Then that Thursday, I woke up to a text from my sister wishing me happy 21st birthday. It was all in all a fairly relaxed 21st to be honest. I had class earlier that morning as usual, but then that night me and some of the others went to this event that the university has every week called the Language Café, which is a place for international students to come and practice different languages along with learning about different cultures. Dale, the guy who was in charge of the event, ended up announcing that it was my birthday to the group and made everyone sing happy birthday. Nothing beats hearing happy birthday sung in different languages at the same time. After that, we all just talked and got to know more about each others homes. I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain where Arkansas is. I've found out that the easiest way to explain it is either a) It's in the South b) It's north of Louisiana and northeast of Texas, or c) telling them Bill Clinton was born there. Usually if I stick to those three, I'm guaranteed a winner. Later that night, I found out that some of the international girls had baked a surprise brownie cake for me, which was great and kind of made me feel at home. Like I said before, it was a fairly relaxed 21st, but looking back on it, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Sorry again for the long post, I'll have to do a better job about keeping up with this stuff. This weekend is the Chester Chinese New Year festival along with the Manchester New Year Festival. I'll be sure to keep you all updated!
Friday 27 January 2012
Friday 13 January 2012
Pip Pip, Cheerio, and all that other stuff
Greetings from across the pond everybody! Well, it's been quite a crazy week so far. I ended up leaving from Little Rock last Saturday and flew through Dallas (DFW) and Chicago (O'Hare) and finally landed in Machester early Sunday morning (or around midnight Little Rock time). The whole situation is still kind of weird to me, and I don't think that it has fully hit me yet that I am in England. This will be the first time that I have been away from home for this long, but I know that it will be a good experience overall. Seeing that I am new to this blogging thing, it took me a while to get the whole thing together so sorry for the long post. I'll try to keep it short. I've also noticed that, even though it's only been a few days, I've started to pick up some of the British mannerisms, so I apologize in advance, haha
So where to begin...well, like I said before, my flight landed early Sunday morning. Once we got through immigration, we were picked up by Dale, one of the student mentors from the university, and loaded up our luggage to see our new home. Manchester is about 45 minutes away from the city of Chester, which would make you think that the drive in between the two cities would be tedious, but for a sleep deprived American, it was amazing. The country side of England is gorgeous, filled with green mountains, cottages, old farms, and sheep...lots and lots of sheep. Once we got to the uni (British talk for university) we got to meet Sam who is the international mom for our stay. Her and Sophia helped get us to our accommodations and took us to 1 of 5 local Tesco's (British Target). We were able to get food, bedding, and anything we needed for a fairly cheap price.
After Tesco's, me and a few of the other international kids walked around the City Center which was brilliant. Chester and the city center is the perfect combination of new and old ways of life. The 2 mile wall that surrounds the city has been standing for a little over 2000 years, and has been under the control of the British and the Roman's since 70 A.D, which is incredible to think about. Some of the buildings It's funny to think that an ancient wall that once protected kings and soldiers from many historical battles and enemies, now protects grocery stores, pubs, and a Disney store (along with other modern stores).
Seeing that I am studying Communications, I was originally placed at Chester's sister campus Warrington which is another 35 minutes from Chester. Once there, I got to meet my neighbors who helped me get to know more about life in England. They were very welcoming, and I learned a lot more about British culture. On the second night at Warrington, me and the neighbors went to a local pub about 5 minutes outside of Warrington. It was one of the higher end areas and had amazingly good food. I ended up getting something called Gammon Steak which is pretty much fancy fried ham with pineapple. Pretty great stuff.
The next day, all of us had to get our classes worked out. I talked to the head of the media department and we realized that I would be better suited at the Chester campus and that it would be possible to commute between Warrington and Chester. Talking to the teachers and staff has been pretty hilarious because every time I have stopped by to talk to them, I've been offered a cup of tea. No joke. So after enjoying a good cup of tea, I packed my bags and moved over to Chester with the other international kids. I had my first class yesterday which was Power, Persuasion, and the Media. It was actually a really interesting experience. For a few moments in class, I felt like a sociologist because I was able to just observe and analyze their form of education.
The class was similar to that of a Hendrix class. It was a small class of about 5 people. I wasn't sure if that was due to people skipping, or if it is just that small to begin with. Our professor was actually really funny, and used a lot of British terms and phrases that flew completely over my head. One thing that I did catch was that at Chester, the teachers are more focused on the feedback and what you've learned rather than your final grade. Instead of knocking points off of an assignment starting from 100, they start from 0 and keep adding points based on the work you've done. From what I understand, a 70 = A, 60 = B, 50= C, etc. Supposedly, it is impossible to get an 80 or 90 for some reason for both international and British students, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the year's grading goes. Oh yea! Classes don't go by semester's at Chester either.
At Chester, you have 3 years in college and your classes last for a year. You have 3 major assignments scattered throughout the year as well. There aren't any tests or quizes either. So it was pretty surprising to me to hear that my next assignment isn't due until the middle of March. Since class ended, the international kids have gone bowling, had an international food fest, and next week are supposed to be going to North Wales. I'm pretty excited about the year and for this whole experience.
Anyway, I think I'll end here. Another thing I've learned while here is that I will never complain about Hendrix internet again. The wifi lasts maybe 5 minutes if you are lucky, but at least it's better than none so can't be too picky. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the first post!
Cheers,
Marvin
So where to begin...well, like I said before, my flight landed early Sunday morning. Once we got through immigration, we were picked up by Dale, one of the student mentors from the university, and loaded up our luggage to see our new home. Manchester is about 45 minutes away from the city of Chester, which would make you think that the drive in between the two cities would be tedious, but for a sleep deprived American, it was amazing. The country side of England is gorgeous, filled with green mountains, cottages, old farms, and sheep...lots and lots of sheep. Once we got to the uni (British talk for university) we got to meet Sam who is the international mom for our stay. Her and Sophia helped get us to our accommodations and took us to 1 of 5 local Tesco's (British Target). We were able to get food, bedding, and anything we needed for a fairly cheap price.
After Tesco's, me and a few of the other international kids walked around the City Center which was brilliant. Chester and the city center is the perfect combination of new and old ways of life. The 2 mile wall that surrounds the city has been standing for a little over 2000 years, and has been under the control of the British and the Roman's since 70 A.D, which is incredible to think about. Some of the buildings It's funny to think that an ancient wall that once protected kings and soldiers from many historical battles and enemies, now protects grocery stores, pubs, and a Disney store (along with other modern stores).
Seeing that I am studying Communications, I was originally placed at Chester's sister campus Warrington which is another 35 minutes from Chester. Once there, I got to meet my neighbors who helped me get to know more about life in England. They were very welcoming, and I learned a lot more about British culture. On the second night at Warrington, me and the neighbors went to a local pub about 5 minutes outside of Warrington. It was one of the higher end areas and had amazingly good food. I ended up getting something called Gammon Steak which is pretty much fancy fried ham with pineapple. Pretty great stuff.
The next day, all of us had to get our classes worked out. I talked to the head of the media department and we realized that I would be better suited at the Chester campus and that it would be possible to commute between Warrington and Chester. Talking to the teachers and staff has been pretty hilarious because every time I have stopped by to talk to them, I've been offered a cup of tea. No joke. So after enjoying a good cup of tea, I packed my bags and moved over to Chester with the other international kids. I had my first class yesterday which was Power, Persuasion, and the Media. It was actually a really interesting experience. For a few moments in class, I felt like a sociologist because I was able to just observe and analyze their form of education.
The class was similar to that of a Hendrix class. It was a small class of about 5 people. I wasn't sure if that was due to people skipping, or if it is just that small to begin with. Our professor was actually really funny, and used a lot of British terms and phrases that flew completely over my head. One thing that I did catch was that at Chester, the teachers are more focused on the feedback and what you've learned rather than your final grade. Instead of knocking points off of an assignment starting from 100, they start from 0 and keep adding points based on the work you've done. From what I understand, a 70 = A, 60 = B, 50= C, etc. Supposedly, it is impossible to get an 80 or 90 for some reason for both international and British students, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the year's grading goes. Oh yea! Classes don't go by semester's at Chester either.
At Chester, you have 3 years in college and your classes last for a year. You have 3 major assignments scattered throughout the year as well. There aren't any tests or quizes either. So it was pretty surprising to me to hear that my next assignment isn't due until the middle of March. Since class ended, the international kids have gone bowling, had an international food fest, and next week are supposed to be going to North Wales. I'm pretty excited about the year and for this whole experience.
Anyway, I think I'll end here. Another thing I've learned while here is that I will never complain about Hendrix internet again. The wifi lasts maybe 5 minutes if you are lucky, but at least it's better than none so can't be too picky. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the first post!
Cheers,
Marvin
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