As most of you already know, whether it's you know me or that you can read the title of this blog, I made the big decision to study abroad for the spring of 2018 semester. I used to think it was impossible. Ever since I was a freshman back at Wayne State College there were booths and students talking all about how one can study abroad. I never thought much of it, the idea seemed more like a dream than something that could be attainable. When I transferred to the University of Northern Iowa, studying abroad was something much more popular. This was probably due to it being such a bigger school. After I heard about a few of my friends traveling I got the bug and started doing my own research. Finally after weeks of debating back an forth, weighing the pros and cons, and going to many meetings, I made the decision to make this dream a reality. After convincing my mom of course. (;
So that's what led me here to the University of Chichester in Chichester, England. Let me tell you though, getting here was not a walk in the park. My travels started on the 10th of January at 11am Iowa time, and ended on the 11th at 7pm England time. If that didn't make much sense, that was one 1 hour flight to Chicago, a 5 1/2 hour layover, a 7 hour flight to Iceland, a 20 minute layover (talk about stressful), a 3 hour flight to London, a 2 hour bus ride to Fareham, and a fun time running around a campus to find my dorm (bless Sally's heart). It was an exhausting two days.
I must take a moment though to thank Sally and Mark. For those of you who don't know Sally is Lauren (my sister-in-law's) aunt, and Mark is her husband. If it wasn't for them, my first week would have been much more stressful than it already was! Sally, with both William (5years) and Violet (7months) in tow, picked me up at the Fareham bus station and took me to Chichester. Not only did she take me to campus, she went to the offices with me, helped me into my dorm room, and together we went out to dinner at Pizza Hut. Yes, my first meal in England was Pizza Hut. It was well worth it. After seeing how bare my room was, Sally went out of her way to bring me some things to cook and eat meals with, as well as a few things to make the room a little more homier. Everything she did went a long way and made my adjusting period much more comfortable. After my international student orientation Mark picked me up and took me back to their house where we watched tv and ate some of the best Chinese food I have probably ever had. On Saturday was Sally's dad's 90th surprise birthday party, but there were two surprises that night. Lesley and Nigel (Lauren's Parents) were coming to England to surprise everyone! I knew of the surprise the whole time and being the sneaky person that I am, I was able to keep it held in. That Sunday was spent with Sally and Mark's Neighbors and a yummy roast dinner where I tried a yorkshire pudding for the first time. Here's a hint: it's not pudding.
Monday morning Sally took me back to Chichester where I met up with a new friend I had made at orientation. She is also from the US. We took the bus to Bognor Regis which is where the other campus to the university is, and is where most of the education classes are held. I would later find out that all my classes are located in Bognor. I also found out that there was a miscommunication with my school back home and Chichester when it came to what classes I'd be taking. Luckily I was able to remember what classes I was wanting to take and was able to be enrolled by that Tuesday, though because of the I missed my Monday class. I then didn't have classes Tuesday or Wednesday, and my Thursday class got cancelled due to the teacher being sick. So finally, after four days with limited human contact I had my first class and it was so good. The class was "Learning Outdoors" and I learned that a majority of our classes will be held (surprisingly) outdoors!
My weekend was quiet due to it raining almost the whole time, but it gave me an opportunity to figure out Chichester, and what I needed to do for my upcoming classes. On Monday I finally had the class that I had previously missed. This one wasn't too exciting, but I found out that my friend was in my class! That day we rode the bus back together and she told me she had plans with another girl from the US (this girl is also from the University of Northern Iowa), to take a train to Brighton and explore. She invited me too over dinner and we worked out the details of where we would meet and when we would leave.
It was my first train ride ever, so I was pretty excited. The train system wasn't too hard to figure out and the tickets only cost 14 pounds round trip! After arriving in Brighton we set off to see the Royal Pavilion and garden. It was fun to be with two people who also enjoyed reading the historical signs around the buildings. We also discovered there was a pier with an amusement park over the ocean. It wasn't in operation due to it being so cold, rainy, and windy, but we made a mental note to come back when it is warmer. We ate at a little tourist restaurant off the pier that reminded me of Village Inn. After that we made our way around the shops. I was very proud of myself for only spending a few pounds. Eventually we got tired of walking and decided to head back to the train. I don't even think we made it to half of the stores. We made it back to Chichester just as it was starting to get dark and let me tell you, I don't think I've ever been so excited to hit my bed.
The two other US girls and I at the Royal Pavilion
At the pier in Brighton
