American Idol

Alright folks I'm back! Sorry for the long hiatus...a combination of finals and traveling but now I am back!

Today's topic: An American in an English Class, namely an American focused class.
This semester is different for me than my last one here because I am taking all American studies/history courses. I am taking Gender and Sexuality in the New Republic, Gender and Democracy in the US and The Civil War in American Culture. The last two courses I am the ONLY American in it, so it creates both an awkward and awesome situation. Awkward because I am the only American so everyone immediately looks to you for answers and reactions to things. It is common in my classes to be asked by both my professor and students, "How is ______ viewed in America?", "When did _____ happen?", "Have you been to _____ in America?"
It is awesome though being the only American because I get quite a bit of attention from everybody. Many of the students have studied abroad in America for a year or semester so they are always eager to talk to me. It's really fun to be in these classes because as much as the British students might learn stuff from me, I am learning stuff about how they view American things.

On a side note, discussing American events and people is quite interesting and amusing. Even for being American studies majors, the British students and professors oftentimes don't know about typical famous people in our history, such as Betsy Ross or Molly Pitcher. I had to explain to my American gender history professor (who is a very good teacher nonetheless) about Molly Pitcher and how she manned the cannon to defend her husband. This same teacher thought the Statue of Liberty was built in 1812...the actual date is 1886. Nonetheless my professor is an enthusiastic teacher and loves hearing my input. In my Civil War culture class it is also interesting looking at the Civil War from a foreigner's eyes. America kind of looks ridiculous that we still hold on to the Civil War so much, especially with people still owning Confederate flags. People always love to ask me about that. It is unfortunate, but I have to tell them that I see them in Pennsylvania, a "northern" state today, oftentimes in my hometown. Not only are my courses useful to my learning, but also learning from other students has proven just as useful to my education.

Scotland Puts Me In a Conquerin' Mood

Hello Friends!

If you haven't guessed from the title of this blog post, I just came back from a weekend in Scotland, namely Edinburgh. 7 other friends and I decided to head up to Edinburgh for what better than Halloween weekend! So after a few hours train ride from Norwich (and listening to very annoying and loud Americans the entire way up) we made it! We arrived in the early afternoon, so we didn't have too much planned for the day. First things first, we had to find our hostel.

Edinburgh is set up on about 7 hills/mountains, so if you haven't gotten my drift already, the city is VERY hilly. The really nice thing is you can basically get around both the old and new city by walking, so it is very convenient and often treacherous! Our hostel was down a hill and across the street from the Three Sister's Pub, which closes at around 2-3 in the morning. Excellent. After checking in, we head to our rooms, one room that fit 6 people and another room that fit the other 2 (who had to share with 4 other strangers). The hostel was so nice as to give us a sheet sack (a sheet that is sewn together at the bottom to form a sack) and on our sunken-in bunk beds, we have a nice, crusty comforter and pillow that who knows when the last time it was washed. The bathrooms were tolerable, a bit hairy and wet, but could be worse. And thank goodness almost all of us decided to bring towels, because they give you none. All in all, I was just thankful for a place to rest my eyes for the night, because I was in Scotland!

We didn't have much planned the first night, except that we had seen a literary pub tour offered at one of the pubs. Of course, all of us being some form of a nerd, we decided that was an excellent idea (and it was!). Our tour guides were witty and recited poetry both in Scottish and English, as well as told us a few stories about Edinburgh and authors. It also helped us to get acquainted with the city and enjoy an ale or two along the way. We were all a bit worn out from traveling and walking, so we went back to the hostel so we could enjoy a full day tomorrow. As soon as I laid down in bed though, my nose completely blocked up from the lovely mold/dust/disgustingness and I only got a few hours of sleep. Oh well...

The next day we had quite a full day. We got up early (early enough to get 4 girls and 3 boys into the shower in a timely manner) and headed off to Edinburgh Castle. It was very uncanny to be back in Edinburgh, after being there about 4-5 years ago as a high school student and seeing some of the same sites...but now I could do what I really wanted to do...just explore! The castle was great, with lots of interesting exhibits and got to see some crown jewels along the way. There was even an exhibit on American POW during the 1780s (I guess that made up for the misnamed cafe in the castle...the REDCOAT CAFE...awful name haha). From the castle, one of my friend's had spotted two rather large hill/mountain on which one we could see people climbing and another that looked like it had a Roman parthenon. What did we decide to do then? Find these places!

After a wee bit o' a walk, we found the hill with the Roman-y ruins. Along the way we stopped to check out a cool little cemetery (at my bidding, because I have a certain fondness for cemeteries...). Once we climbed to the top of the hill, you could see all over Edinburgh and even out to the sea. It was such a beautiful day and I was so happy, that I just laid down in the grass. At first, everyone was apprehensive to what I was doing, but low and behold about 2 minutes later, everyone was joining me. That was probably one of my favorite moments that weekend.

From the Roman parthenon, we spotted another castle and decided to try and find it. And find it we did! Unfortunately, to get into the palace it would have cost us about 12 pounds and none of us was willing to spend that. So we then continued on our random journey, which included us stumbling upon the Scottish Parliament building right next door. We got to get a quick look inside and see the room where they hold meetings. If you haven't already got the idea from this blog post, all of my friends are either History, English or American Studies majors, so we love this kind of stuff.

And from the Scottish Parliament, my one friend Brandon tried to convince us all to climb this mountain that he had had his eye on climbing from day one. After a bit of twisting our arms (not really) we all decided to do it! The mountain from a spectator's view looked like it would be quite a climb, but actually it wasn't too bad. It was worth the view and the fact that we could say we climbed that mountain. It was the perfect almost ending to our day. We got to watch a bit of the sunset and a storm roll in (that caught up to us later).

It was only about supper time once we got back, so we went out in search of food after climbing at least 3 mountains that day. Since it was Halloween and we were a group of 8, it was awful trying to find a place to eat because every since place was turning us away. The one place that had room was a thai restaurant by our hostel that ended up being perfect. We all got to sit around a big round table, enjoy some wine and eat yummy thai food. Our night concluded with going to a few pubs and people watching on Halloween. And boy was that fun! Some of the prize costumes of the night were people dress up like Pac-Man, a group of men dressed up like secret service and one man was Obama (of course) and I believe there was a Jesus-like person at some point. It was a great end to one of the most perfect days.

On Sunday we decided to head back early, because we bought train and bus tickets that could be used at any time. Sunday is probably the worst day for England travel because that is the day that the transportation business does servicing on the lines. This means that you are constantly getting on and off different trains and buses...there is no direct line. Our day was supposed to be taking a bus, a train, a bus, and another bus, but because we got up early, we managed to catch a train first. Once again, we are magnets for loud talking people, so we all had to endure a loud gaggle of giddy girls on the way from Edinburgh to Newcastle. From Newcastle we had to get off and get on another train. This train was especially crowded because it was going to London King's Cross Station (even though we were getting off before it). Many of the seats were reserved, so myself and 3 other friends ended up sitting/standing in the toilet/luggage/standing part of the train. It ended up being alright because it was quieter there, but you got bumped into alot and had to sit on the floor for a few hours. At one point, a woman asked me to watch or in her words "put my arms around" her 2 year old daughter while the woman helped another daughter pee. Quite an awkward moment for me. After we arrived in Peterborough, we now had to catch a bus to Norwich. After a two hour bus ride, we arrived in Norwich and had to catch another bus back to the University...another 30 minutes or so. I had quite lost my appetite the entire day because I was constantly on vehicles that were in motion. All in all, I had arrived home safely and earlier than we had originally planned, so I was happy. And I had a really awesome weekend with great company, food and adventure!

An American in England Part 1

In a matter of about 12 hours I managed to have two completely diverse experiences with the British here in Norwich...

Part one of my experience started last night when I was waiting outside a local pub with a number of my American cohorts. A man, clearly a bit intoxicated, started off his conversation with us asking us if we were Americans. Of course, at least for me, I am always wary of a person when they ask that question because you don't know what their reaction is going to be. After we all answered a timid yes to the question, the man clapped his hands with joy and thus began his words of praise. From what I gathered from his scattered speech to us, he had fought alongside Americans in WWII during the Battle of Britain. To just give a quick history lesson, the place where I am studying, Norwich, is apart of the county of Norfolk, from which there was a big airbase that supplied much of the army and went through damages from the war. Since Americans were a big help to the English during that part of the war, some people hold us in very high esteem. This man contined his praising with blowings of kisses and many "bless you all"s. He also relayed to us that, "We Brits had never seen coffee before you Americans came, all we had to drink was tea (at this point he makes a letter "T" with his arms) and then you introduced us to the world of coffee...". Anyways, after chatting with this fellow, or I guess I should say, him chatting with us, we backed away slowly from his attempts to blow kisses at us and give us a hug. Overall it was a nice gesture and something I thing none of us ever expected to experience.

Part two of my experience happened in my Visual Display class (which is all about well "visual display" in museums, life, art, culture, nature, etc.) the following day. It was actually a rather good class, where the guest lecturer was discussing Vauxhill Gardens, a place in 18th Century London that was about art first and foremost as an aescetic. It was also about British identity and nationalism, put on display in an area to show off to other visiting cultures and people as well as to make fellow Englishmen and women proud of their country and themselves. To begin with, it is also a little awkward to listen about British nationalism during the 18th century (at least for me). The class concluded with a discussion about finding this sort of naivity, non-political correctness in society in a place where nationalism is put on display. People were discussing how nationalism is not really thought of as a tasteful thing in society. The kicker was though, when my professor decided to bring up the difference between American and British soldiers today. Her comparisson was that, "British soldiers are often perceieved as 'nice chaps' you know where American soldiers are all about might. So maybe we [British soldiers] don't wear helmets on our heads or metal vests and we get blown to smiterines for it, but at least we are thought of as nice chaps." Hmmm. So much for being all "PC" there huh? It was quite a different attitude on American soldiers than I experienced only a mere twelve hours or so before.

I am quite sure I will have many more experiences and encounters either similar or different or whatever to this, so I will be sure to post them!

No Place Like London

This past weekend my boyfriend decided to come up and visit me both at my University and in London. It had been over two months since I had seen him (which is not a whole lot of time apart, but still enough) so I was looking forward to seeing and being around something, someone from "home". One of the things I remember from the first few minutes together was how "American" I thought Matthew, my boyfriend, looked. He was wearing his typical New York Yankees blue ball cap, a bright blue windbreaker, jeans and sneakers. And he was talking loudly. I don't want you to think that I was embarrassed being around him, but it was just interesting seeing him in the English culture where I have been around and tried to adapt and learn the customs.

I took Matthew all around Norwich first. I had to show him all the lovely 70s concrete architecture that was oh so scenic. We then met up with friends of mine and his to go out on the town and show him a night in Norwich (which isn't as exciting as it may sound). As tradition, we went to our favorite pubs for dinner and some after dinner treats with a few of my close friends. It was a good, relaxing night with great company and lots of laughs.

On board the "Hogwarts Express" to London!

Then we were off to London by train! Since I had lived in London for a month I was interested to see what it would be like returning after a month had gone by living in Norwich. I must say, I did not realize how much I really missed London...going back felt like home. I had missed the Tube, the atmosphere, the places, everything. Of course, I had to take him to a typical pub at first and get some pub grub. During the meal, I convinced him to try HP Sauce. For those of you who don't know about it, HP sauce is quite vulgar. It is a mixture of molasses, beer, and salt and the English put it on their chips, burgers, etc. Matthew was so happy with me after trying it.
Matthew, after trying the HP Sauce, and oh so happy.

One thing that Matthew and I really wanted to do was to go to Madame Tussauds, the wax museum. Neither of us had ever been to one, so we didn't mind waiting in line to take pictures next to creepy but realistic looking people. The wax museum was pretty big, with many rooms filled with celebrities, famous sports starts (that we didn't really know because they were all English), famous famous people, and royalty. Then there was a "scary" part where you got to walk through dark corridors and have costumed people scare the daylights out of you. The scariest part for me though was what came afterwards. The next room was of wax figures of famous murderers and an exhibit on the guillotine, with the actual blade that beheaded Marie Antoinette. There was even a ride at the end all about London and how it is a wonderful place. All in all we had a great time and I would recommend to anyone to go to at least a wax museum once in your life.
Matthew taking the Queen Mother for a walk.

Us spending some time with B. Spears.

Spirit fingers!

Madame Tussuad's making light of the French Revolution...


After spending some time exploring parts of London, we met up with other Dickinson students and friends that were there with him from Malaga, Spain. We went to a museum or two with them, ones that I had already gone to. My one friend constantly kept asking me about a place to get "authentic English tea" and how he wanted to go out for "tea time". Not to burst his bubble, but I had to tell him that "authentic English tea" is everywhere, just go into a pub or a cafe and order a cup of tea. People have this idea that the tea here is so much more exceptional than back at home. It's really the same, tastes the same, smells the same, it is the same. The only places that I've seen that have cutsiey little tea shops are in English country towns that want to cater to tourists. I think he ended up going into a cafe and ordering some regular tea...

Got my "Eye" on you.

Being back in London again, as tour guide Alli, and among friends who had not lived with me in London for a month, it was interesting to observe the situation. I always like to find out what each person really wants to do when they get to London...for some people it's the typical touristy stuff, like going to see Big Ben and the Eye, but for others it is just as simple as going to a park. Since I had been here long enough to get to know the city and the sites fairly well, I felt confident enough in showing Matthew around to some of my favorite places. We did a nice variety of museums, parks, Indian and pub food, sight-seeing and markets. At the end of the trip, it was hard to say good-bye to both my boyfriend and the city again.

What I have learned so far...

It has been almost 2 months since I have been in England and so, I felt it fitting that I share my observations with all of you so far.

1. A common greeting is, "You alright?" meaning "What's up?" I must say this still throws me off because I feel like I have something on my face whenever my flatmates say that to me. Cheers! is also a common universal phrase here. It can mean anything from "good-bye" to "thanks" to well, "cheers!"

2. There are no cookies here, only "biscuits". And they sell loads of them in stores for 'tea time'. My favorites are ones called 'Digestives'. It took me a few weeks of curiosity until I finally tried them and realized that they aren't for digestive purposes, just meant to be "digested".

3. Just like we have preconceived notions about British people in America, British people have the same things towards us. A sampling of questions asked are:
"Is Pennsylvania above New York?"
"Are you from California/Florida/New York?
"How do you say...[insert word here] aluminum?"
"Don't you say "garbage" instead of "rubbish?"
"Are you an Evangelist?"
"Is high school in America like 'American Pie' the movie?"
"What do you think of Obama/Bush?"

4. To some British, dinner is often called "tea". So it get's a bit confusing when one of my flatmates will say that they are "having tea" when it actually means they are making dinner. So if someone invites you to "tea" you have to make sure it is "tea time" and not dinner.

5. The water systems in England aren't necessarily the best. Over the 2 months I've been here, I've mastered flushing the toilet. Yes, I am serious, there is a trick to it. Some toilets will only flush if you push down the handle twice consecutively, others you have to hold the handle down for about a minute and others will flush normally.

6. If you are in a "line" here in England it is called a "queue". There is also queue etiquette you must learn. For all other queues, there is no "queue jumping", but at the pub it is basically a free-for-all for drinks. You are also not served at the pubs, you must go up to the bar and order or you will never be served.

7. While drinking non-alcoholic beverages here, there are also some things to note. First of all, Sprite is often known as lemonade here, which can be confusing because I am afraid one time I will order sprite and it will be actually lemonade. Also, fruit drinks are called "squash", which took me awhile to realize when my flatmates would tell me they bought squash today.

8. Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes. They are one of the biggest foods here. They eat them with beans and cheese (white cheddar always) or just white cheddar or tuna and corn. Almost every night one of my flatmates has a jacket potato. They are rather delicious.

9. I've also learned that anything with the words "spicy" before it, means it isn't spicy at all. It took me about 4 or 5 disappointed tries of such "spicy" foods to realize that spicy is often a misnomer. Unless you go to an authentic Indian restaurant and ask for it to be spicy.

10. Cornish pasties are the best food you will eat here besides chips and Indian food. They come in many different varieties and they are the best way to warm your inners when it is chilly out. 

11. Fancy dress parties here do not mean wear your best attire. Fancy dress means wear a costume. Luckily I did not attend the first fancy dress hosted party on campus for I would have worn a nice dress to a "farmers"-themed party. Whoops!

12. Never say you are not wearing pants, or you don't have pants on because you are wearing a skirt, etc. Pants=underpants. Trousers=pants. Underpants=Knickers. People will look at you very strange if you say any variation on the pants/underpants theme.

So far, those are my various encounters with the oddities of the English culture. It has been very fun and often embarasing making some of the discoveries, but here they are for you to enjoy.

A Narnia in Norwich

Adjusting to life here at my Uni in Noriwch has been a bit different and bit harder than adjusting to life in London. In London, we were extremely busy every day, and the city is just one big distraction. Here in Norwich, I finally have a room and time to myself, with spare time being put towards classes, reading, research, walking, and meeting new people. On the one hand I miss London, for it's adventure and ever-changing nature, but I believe I will grow to love Norwich even more, for its country charm, beauty, and it just feels like home.

When I first decided that I was going to study abroad in Norwich, England, one of my first thoughts of joy was the fact that the campus was probably going to look like Oxford or Cambridge and be old and charming. Wrong! I forget that in England they are constantly surrounded by "old" and so, when designing this campus, they went to "new". Of course, this "new" is "70s new" which means it is rather quite hideous. All the buildings are sterile, bland, grey, unemotional, concrete placed into a lovely English countryside. I try not to look at the buildings or become emotionally connected to them when I walk to class.

On of the many "aesthetically pleasing" buildings on campus.

The campus also makes me appreciate Dickinson a bit more. First of all, Dickinson is absolutely gorgeous when compared to what the 70s thought what aesctically pleasing. Secondly, there are about 14,000 students on UEA 's (University of East Anglia) campus, whereas Dickinson has about 2,500. The walks around campus take at most about 30-40 minutes, whereas Dickinson is about 15 (and everyone still complains about the "long" walk at Dickinson ha!). But, I can't just sit here and compare and contrast home and now because that would take away from my experience. I just realize how much I appreciate the little things back at home.


In my backyard!

One of my most recent discoveries though will perhaps make the bad 70s architecture tolerable for some time. On a whim after a lovely pasta dinner, my friend Sarah and I decided to go exploring. A short walk past our flats and down a little dirt path, we were awestruck by a beautiful stream that was cleverly hidden by the residential halls. In the stream we also saw a wild swan, which is common in England, but rare in Pennsylvania. After walking along the stream and taking some pictures, some very friendly Brits told us that there was farmland and a big hill "over yonder" that you can see the entire town. Sarah and I were all over that.
A wild swan.

After walking over a bridge that went over our newfound stream, we entered into a small wetlands, which lead us to the next part of our journey. Stretching before us was English countryside and farmland. We then spotted "Corses" or "Hows", horses that we thought were cows, some sheep and real cows further out. The pathway ran right inbetween the farm animals and it was apparent that the farmer had laid out the pathway for anyone to walk it. The sun was setting, so we never made it up to the hill, but the sites around us were still incredible.

"Corses"


It reminded me of home, yet it was very much not like home. I find myself lapsing into my subconscious that I forget that I am in England. In my mind sometimes I feel like I am just walking around somewhere in Pennsylvania or I am going to class at Dickinson. Sometimes, I cannot believe I am here in England, but I am so glad I have this opportunity to be here.

I'm an International Student?!

On Wednesday I arrived here in Norwich, UK, which was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from London. Upon arriving on the campus, we were all greeted by a sign that said, "Welcome International Students" and it was quite strange, but we are international students! After getting all sorts of useful information and my room key, we were bused to our flats.

O little town of Norwich!

A hill and three flights of stairs later, I was finally in my own room with my own bathroom. The room is rather cosy, with a long desk, a very board-like bed, a closet and the toilet/shower/sink-in-one bathroom. It is a cross basically between a portapotty and a cruise ship bathroom, but it really is not bad.

The rather spacious room.

The shower/toilet/sink all-in-one!

After getting settled in, we were invited to our professor's house for a dinner and some goodies. Apparently every year the professor invites over his students and lets them divide up things left from the previous year's students. There was everything there from coffee makers, comforters, lamps and pots. Basically we all picked a number, waited for our numbers to be called and got to pick out one item for three rounds. After three rounds it was a free for all. It was a bit crazy! I did manage to get two pillows, one comforter, silverware, a pan, a skillet, a towel and some plates. Not bad for it all being free.

View of the flats in The Village.

We did pay a price for it all being free though, for our professor lives about a 30 minutes walk from campus. So after we collected all our spoils, we had to carry them all back. Everyone's arms were sore the next day, to say the least.

Today my flatmates all moved in and I have 5 in total. All are from Britain and are freshman. It was definitely quite strange because, just like Americans like to talk to British people because they are from Britain and they like to hear their accent, they were doing that to me! I got such questions like, "Say 'aluminum" or "You say trash instead of rubbish, don't you?" The best ones though, are when people want to know what state you are from. Of course, I answer with Pennsylvania. One answer I got was, "Oh, isn't that above New York?" or "Are you from California then?" They are generally nice though and are just curious about various American customs.

They are particularly interested in our schooling system. Apparently there is no "high school" here, it is called "college" and it lasts for 2 years. So when I say I'm in college, I'm really in University. I guess some English schooling systems are beginning to take the "American" approach of having a 'high school', etc. All in all, I am an international student and I am having fun both learning about their culture and teaching them about mine, however strange it may be for me...