Day Eight: Settling In

I’ve now lived in Canterbury for over a week!  Hallelujah!  Now that I’m somewhat settled in, I can successfully navigate my way around town and CCCU campus.  This might be a certifiable miracle, considering my awful sense of direction.  The past week has been amazing in terms of my overall mood and ability to adapt to my new surroundings.  I have been very fortunate in that my accommodation (my apartment building) is right in the center of everything:  the city centre and library are minutes away, the campus itself is about seven minutes away, and the Student Union/coffee shop is practically next door.  Most of the Americans live on Parham Road, which is on the complete opposite side of Canterbury, and a thirty minute walk from campus!  That’s quite a hike for us Americans, who are used to taking cars and buses everywhere. 

Don't let the crazy map fool you!  Canterbury is easy to navigate because you can spot the cathedral from anywhere.  It's the perfect marker to find your way around. 

Canterbury is similar to Naperville (my home institution’s city) because it is very quaint and everything is within walking distance.  Also, I like to think Canterbury is similar to Naperville because both places are just an hour away from major cities (London and Chicago).  Most of the tourist shops here are filled to capacity with London souvenirs, despite the fact that this is not actually London.  The same is true back home; many shops in Naperville and the surrounding area carry touristy Chicago items.  

 Naperville's downtown area with lots of window-shops

Canterbury's city centre lined with shops and tourists

*Side note:  Chris, one of my new friends from Northern Ireland, says that in Europe and the UK, the presence of a cathedral is what determines whether the area is called a town or a city.  If there’s a cathedral, it’s a city.  If there’s no cathedral, it’s a town.  This label has nothing to do with population.  It’s all based on the presence of a cathedral.  Interesting!*

There’s lots to do here – a scenic river walk area, cute (expensive) little window-shops and cafes, and a coffee shop on every corner (one of two British favorites: Starbucks or Costa).  However, most businesses close by seven on the weekdays and by four on Sunday.  If you’re lucky, you’ll find a Starbucks open past seven on Saturday.  I’m hard-pressed to find a cheap café where I can hangout and read, study, etc.  It’s times like these that I miss the Boilerhouse at NCC (even though BoHo coffee is mediocre at best). 

I’ve been on a bit of a high this past week.  Everything is going just perfectly and I’m very happy with the way this new life of mine is turning out.  However, I am bracing myself for the low that is sure to follow this.  Before leaving home, we were told about the dramatic ups and downs that usually plague the first few weeks of a study abroad students’ experience.  I am determined to avoid the lows, but in case I suddenly become really homesick, I am mentally preparing myself for it. 

Today was beautiful, weather-wise.  THE SUN CAME OUT.  Like, it actually peeked out from behind the clouds, then, later in the afternoon, it burst through the clouds and the entire town was aglow.  I hate to be so cheesy, but it was magical.  It was almost humid.  Certainly not Chicago humidity, but definitely the warmest day I’ve seen since my arrival in this rainy place.   

Not the best quality photo, but THE SUN.

After a quick visit to campus to pick up some paperwork from Doug’s office, I sat out on the lawn and stared to read The Canterbury Tales (for the second time this year).  I hate to admit it, but I really hated the Tales the first time through (Sorry, Dr. Eaton!).  I know, I know, I’m an awful English Lit. major.  Maybe it’s because I’m IN Canterbury, but after reading through The Miller’s Tale earlier today, I was actually enjoying myself.  Ha!  Funny how that works. 

Enjoying some Starbucks coffee whilst re-reading an old enemy (new friend?)

While I was sitting there reading, some random foreign dude came up to me and asked me where the Centre for Sport is located.  Judging from his thick accent, he was definitely not English.  I couldn’t tell where he was from, but I could tell that he was trying to hit on me.  I guess flirting is the same in every language, heh. Awkward. 

 The state-of-the-art library that I can use for the next three months... YAY!!!

Three floors of books. So. Many. Books.... mine, all mine.

Anyway, nothing too exciting happened today.  Tomorrow I get to tour the Canterbury Cathedral… finally!  I am definitely looking forward to that.  Also, there is a “Vintage Fayre” at the Student Union with free giveaways and FOOD.  You best believe I’m going to that.  At 7:30, the CU has its first meeting in the chapel.  I’m interested to see if this meeting is similar to Focus, our inter-denominational student-led worship service back home.  And hopefully, I will get plugged into a Bible study once I find a church. 

And lastly, dear reader, I leave you with these pictures of the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral!

Cheers!

 – K

BRITISH WORDS OF THE DAY

module - course or class

wellies - rain boots; Wellingtons

Day Six and Seven: Updates and Adventures

Yesterday was a whirlwind of excitement.  We went sightseeing in Broadstairs, a town right along the southeast coast, near Dover.  England is beautiful beyond words.  I am in love with Canterbury and now Broadstairs as well.  Although I want to record my sight-seeing adventures, I’m afraid that my writing will not do these incredible places justice.  I don’t want to diminish the natural beauty of these places in my attempt to describe them, so I will keep the description to a minimum and try to include more pictures. 

We travelled to the Richborough Roman Fort and Kent beaches today.  The Roman fort was a lot larger than I expected.  There was a tiny museum inside the lodge on the site of the fort, but I spent most of my time exploring the huge wall and the surrounding ruins.  Apparently, the coast line used to be right next to this Roman fort, but because of the changing tides, the shore is now a few miles further. 

I took some fun pictures, too!  We have some pretty awesome people in our group. :]

 

THE ROMANS BUILT THIS. 

THIS IS SO COOL.

The beach at Broadstairs was brilliant.  We had so much fun wandering the beach and taking pictures on the shoreline.  Our tour guide and friend Doug took us on a walking tour out of town and into the countryside.  That was about four miles both ways; however, a few of us ended up walking even further because Doug told us about a castle that was on the highest point of the coast and walked us there and back to town. 

 The town of Broadstairs

 Beautiful coast line

 A British lighthouse

 Entrance to the beach!

 Dipped my feet into the English Channel

 We L-O-V-E England!

On a clear day, it’s possible to see the shores of France on the other side of the English Channel.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t.  But the view was beautiful all the same!   After the tour and all that walking, we broke off into groups and explored the town of Broadstairs.  My group and I found a quaint little café on the beach and had afternoon tea and dessert together!  Now that’s what you call good, clean, British fun.

Following our little tea party, my friends and I went out on the beach to people watch and generally just take in the spectacular view.  As the evening went on, it gradually became colder.  At dinner time, we hopped on the train back to Canterbury.  Because I was exhausted from an entire week of nonstop activities and staying up late, I about passed out once we returned to Vernon.

That said, I don’t regret staying up late to experience fun things like quiz night at the Student Union, eating out at local pubs, or going on a ghost tour of Canterbury.  I’m still tired after a full night of rest, but I want to do everything that there is to do while I’m here.  Who knows when/if I’ll be back?

 New friends!  Tessa, Sadie, Josephine, myself, and Kaitlyn

 Quiz night at the Student Union

I’ve met so many interesting people from all over the globe, literally.  Everyone at CCCU International has been so kind and welcoming.  Honestly, meeting all of these great people has been the best part of my trip so far.  They are just like me, completely clueless about the University and some barely know English, but we bond so easily because we are all unfamiliar with Canterbury and English culture.  I have new friends from France, Nigeria, Slovakia, Holland, Sweden, Ireland, and Iowa. :)   

Everyone involved with CCCU’s Christian Union has been so helpful and friendly!  They are going to be my closest set of friends, I can already tell.  On Friday night, a few NCC friends went with me to a British tea party sponsored by the CU (Christian Union) and we met some cool people.  The Brits were asking us to say certain phrases in our best British accents and we were asking them to show us their best American accents.  Talk about hilarious.  We ended up staying there super late, just talking and making fun of each other’s accents (in a good-natured way, of course).  Then we discussed differences in our cultures and even talked about American politics.  Our conversations were fun and interesting.  Then, the CU officers walked us home!  They are seriously the kindest people ever. I can’t wait to get to know them.

Today I visited Canterbury Baptist Church, which meets in the CCCU campus chapel because their building is being renovated.  I met up with a lot of the same students I met at the tea party.  While I was singing during the worship portion of the service, it suddenly struck me that these people love God just like I do.  That’s a silly observation; it’s a church – of course they love God!  Yet I felt strangely at home as I sang familiar hymns and praise songs with these unfamiliar people. 

After the service, I met the two sweetest British ladies who basically told me they would be my honorary grandmas while I was here.  They made me feel so welcome!  What a blessing to meet these ladies.  There was a light lunch after the service, and then I mingled for quite a while, my new British grandmas introducing me to various people in the congregation. 

Later, I practiced piano for an hour or so and then went shopping at Tesco, a grocery store in the city centre.  Now, after some reading for class and checking my emails, I plan on taking a refreshing nap and then going to the chaplain’s new student welcome at 6… there’s free pizza!  Somehow, I doubt it will be as good as Chicago pizza, but I’m still willing to give it a shot.  :)

-- K

BRITISH WORDS OF THE DAY:

quid - slang for pounds; the British equivalent of "bucks"

brown sauce - a mixture of BBQ and A1 sauce; used on breakfast food, sausages, and meats

jacket potato - a baked potato with the skin still attached

Day Three: Really Random Musings

Today whilst at CCCU Orientation (notice I used a new English word!), I was suddenly made aware of my own American-ness.  It was awkward and funny, but something I’ve never experienced before…

Let me set the scene:  International Orientation takes place in the Augustine House, a massive, state-of-the-art building which is home to the library, computer labs, and various offices, including the International Office.  The Augustine House was relatively empty these past few days, but now that more students have arrived, it has become a lot busier.  This morning, as we filed in at 9:30, the atrium and café were filled with British students.  It was slightly intimidating, but we took our seats in the atrium and waited for the program directors to come and get us.  However, we received word that orientation would start late, specifically at 10:30.  Over the hour break, a group of us from NCC decided to check out the Student Union coffee house just down the road because they sell Starbucks coffee for a discounted price.  After going four days without any decent coffee (the airlines coffee was awful and the coffee that the Augustine House café serves is nothing to brag about), I was pretty pumped about some Starbucks.   AND BOY WAS IT DELICIOUS...  Caramel latte with a touch of chocolate powder.  Come on, y’all.  So good.

Anyway, to kill some time, we hung out at the coffee house for a while, which was really cute and sort of vintage-looking.  It was here that I began to notice a difference in the way Americans act and the way the British act (or at least a difference in our coffee house etiquette).  We were all sitting in the lounge area, excitedly talking to each other and sipping our coffees.  Meanwhile, across the room, a small group of British girls were sitting together and chatting softly, if at all.  They were staring at us from the moment we walked in, and were definitely watching us as we talked.  It was almost funny, how different we were.  But they clearly we not amused.  Maybe they were just peeved that we had disturbed their peaceful midmorning coffee break, maybe they were genuinely annoyed that Americans were invading their coffee shop.  Either way, I immediately felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.  But soon after this happened, we had to leave to make it back in time for the rest of orientation. 

The second embarrassing moment occurred when we were on campus after lunch, searching for the location of our classes.  I felt like such a dumb American!  And everyone in my group was loudly asking a thousand questions and gathered around Doug, the study abroad coordinator at CCCU, pestering him about their schedules.  I, too, was asking questions and trying to figure things out, but I somehow felt like the British people there were almost – this is silly – judging us.  Haha.  I suppose they expected the American students to be the most obnoxious.   I was suddenly acutely aware of my own American-ness and it bothered me a lot more than I expected!  Wow. 

The entire orientation program was very… chill.  We had several different “talks” from various representatives in the University.  In between the sessions, there were fifteen to thirty minute breaks when we did nothing but sit around and chat amongst ourselves, waiting for the next talk to begin.  It was very informal, which is odd because I was expecting the Brits to be punctual and strict in scheduling matters.  My expectation was the complete opposite of the reality!

 My first meal in England... I found American mustard! Success!

On another topic, the food here expires rather quickly.  Everything has such a short shelf life!  I have to shop for food multiple times a week because there are no preservatives or additives in the meats/breads/etc. to make the food last longer than three or four days.  For example, I bought two packs of deli meat for sandwiches, but I quickly realized that the meat will go bad two days after opening!  Same with the bread.  Crazy, right?  I never understood just how bad the food back home is until I read the labels on food here in the UK.  And that’s another interesting issue – food labels.  They are quite different from the little “nutrition facts” table that is on everything in the states.  I need to adjust to the UK system. :)

 First time at a British pub!

Yuuuuum - pub food!

Finally, the weather.  I know I’m jumping around with all of these topics, but I need to write about everything as it comes to mind.  You’ve heard about the rain in England?  Well, it’s true.  It’s rained at some point every day of my stay so far.  But the rain is different here.  It’s not Chicago rain.  To paraphrase my British friend Natalie, “The rain here is not like your rain where you go outside and psssssssssssshhhhhhhhh – downpour!  You get soaked!”  Haha, she’s so right.  The rain in England is a gentle mist, not a harsh, torrential downpour.  It will rain for literally five minutes, then stop, then rain an hour later for like twenty minutes… then rain again later!  It certainly takes some getting used to.   Thankfully I am prepared with a nice raincoat and umbrella (shout out to my awesome grandma!).  Actually, no one really uses umbrellas here.  The locals are used to the rain and they either have a coat with a hood or they simply “keep calm” and keep walking through the light rains.  I feel very touristy when I use my umbrella, so I’ve been trying to use my hood as often as possible.  Don’t want to stand out too much! 

Check out this massive rain cloud!

So far, I am not too terribly homesick.  I’ve been so busy exploring and sleeping and trying to cook food for myself, I hardly have time to miss home. :)  I still cannot believe I live here.  How do the locals adjust to the splendor of the cathedral, the medieval buildings they pass everyday on their way to work, or the quaint little cafes and pubs that line the cobblestone streets?  How does one just get used to those sights?  Every time I pass the enormous West Gate, the majestic cathedral, or the beautiful entrance to St. Augustine’s Abbey, I want to snap a picture (even if I already have several of the same place)!  This is just unbelievable.  What an amazing experience I am having!  Wouldn’t trade this for anything.  Not anything. 

The City Wall

 The Canterbury Cathedral entrance



The West Gate

At the West Gate

P.S.  I finally found the Fine Arts building… you know what that means!  PIANO TIME. <3

–K




BRITISH WORDS OF THE DAY:

Tutor - professor, teacher, instructor

Tutorials - one on one time with a tutor.  Similar to the help an American student would receive at a professor's office hours.

Day One and Day Two Mushed Together: I Hate Airports but I love Canterbury

I would like to start off this post by saying that Canterbury is beautiful beyond words.  You know those popular “expectation vs. reality” memes?  If you were to compare my expectation of Canterbury and an actual picture of Canterbury, the images would be identical.  I’m not saying this because I’m delirious from the jet lag and intense hunger pains I currently have;  I’m saying this because it’s absolutely true!  Even in the dreary rain, Canterbury is the quintessential English country town.  The view from my apartment is ever so quaint!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I need to express my profound hatred for airports.  Rough transition, I know.  But it has to be done.  Because I am the daughter of an airplane mechanic and inspector, people generally assume that I either love airplanes or I love flying.  In fact, I do enjoy flying when I get a window seat. :)  However, I do not wish to carry on in my father’s footsteps and work on airplanes for the rest of my life.  I cannot wrap my mind around the physics behind the concept of an airplane.  There were over a hundred people on the triple 7 that flew me to England.  How did we stay in the air?  How is there a bathroom on the plane?  Where does my pee go?  Where do the stewards get the fresh water when we’re thousands of feet in the air?  It’s all crazy. 

Unfortunately, to enjoy the incredible process of takeoff and flight, one must go through the hell that is airport security.  This is the number one reason why I cannot stand airports.  Sure, I understand that heightened security is a must, especially after the horrible events on 9/11.  But I’m still not convinced that taking my shoes and belt off to step through a machine that can see me naked is worth the awesome experience of flying. 

After trekking through security, there’s the waiting period before the plane boards.  This can and usually does take longer than a caterpillar’s transition to a butterfly.  Time almost stops.  Especially when you’re about to get on a plane for eight hours

My final point isn’t really about the airport itself – it’s the surrounding traffic and parking situation.  I’m no stranger to flying, but every single time I go to O’Hare (or most any other airport), the traffic is cray and the parking is even worse.  It just breeds stress, whether you’re the driver or the passenger.

Not that I got that off my chest, I can discuss the smooth flight I had to London Heathrow.  Everything went pretty well, expect for the fact that I left my contact case and glasses in my purse, which I had stowed away in the overhead space.  This was a huge bummer because I couldn’t sleep with my contacts in, which caused me to be extremely tired after we jumped ahead six hours in London. The jet lag didn’t really set in until the next day, but I’ll get to that later.  Thankfully, I managed to get about two hours of sleep on the bus ride from London to Canterbury.  This was all the sleep I had for the entire 48 hours that mushed Saturday and Sunday together after my flight. 

Staying positive in the airport! :]

Day Two:  Exploring Canterbury

Honestly, there is so much to write about.  I feel so incredibly overwhelmed.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great kind of overwhelmed.  But still overwhelmed.  The beauty of this place is beyond words.  There is so much to see and explore!  I don’t even know where to start!  Everyone from my host institution has been so friendly and welcoming and helpful.  The orientation process started today and will continue all throughout the week.  I am filled with a sort of restless excitement that makes it difficult to sleep, even when I’m extremely tired at night.  This life is so new and fascinating; I can’t believe it’s mine!  I feel like I’m living a dream. 

 Kaitlyn & myself on the coach to Canterbury from Heathrow

Yeah, we're pretty excited!

Last night (which was Sunday), there was a mad rush to go shopping for groceries right after we moved into our apartments.  This is because everything closes early on Sundays, including the food shops.  Our group arrived at around noon.  At that point, the shops were closing in four hours.  So instead of unpacking and napping – like we all desperately wanted to do – we went out to buy a few groceries to tide us over until Monday.  So the British students who helped us move in took us into town, very kindly showed us the various grocery shops, then left us to figure out our way around!  My new friend Matt said, “We aren’t going to walk you around or take you back to your flat.  You need to figure this out on your own; it’s all part of the experience!  Have fun!”  Because of the whole not-knowing-our-way-around thing, what should’ve been a simple job took a bit longer than expected. Considering it was my first time in the city centre and I successfully came back with groceries and a working pay-as-you-go-phone, I feel pretty dang proud of myself!  Woohoo!  I didn’t get back to Vernon Place (our building) until 4:30 (or 16:30 – proper British time!).  The tiresome process of unpacking took up the next hour.  Afterwards, I had to prepare a small meal for myself.

By the time I was done eating, the British students from the Student Republic arrived at Vernon to pick us up and walk with us to the Student Union.  This was such a crazy place!  The Student Union has its own bar and lounge attached to it.  The welcome “meet and greet” was basically a social event for all the new students on campus, freshers included. (“freshers” = freshman).  The bar/lounge is epic.  It has a cool dance floor with neon lights, a DJ table, a large bar, some tables and couches, and… a beer pong table.  That’s right, a table specifically set up for beer pong.  Weird, but considering the fact that the legal drinking age here is 18, most of these students have probably been drinking since they were like 15. 

Student Union Coffee shop!

Needless to say, I didn’t stay too long.  That’s not really my scene.  I went with a few of my fellow Americans and two British students (who were exchange students at NCC last year) to a cute little pub for dinner.  *Big cultural difference* When you are ordering at a pub, you have to walk up to the bar or front table to place your order, pay, then go back to your table where you were seated.  The food is brought out to you, and you then eat and leave whenever.  No tipping.  Another cool thing is THERE ARE NO TAXES.  Well, actually there are, but they are built into the price of each item.  So when I see a pack of hangers for £2, they are exactly £2, nothing more!  Pretty cool, eh?

All of the American & Canadian exchange students at CCCU

Today was pleasant.  I went to orientation, which is just loads and loads of information.  It’s all very helpful and overwhelming.  I still don’t know my classes or my schedule for next week. That makes me a little nervous, but oh well.  Everyone starts classes at a different time at CCCU.  Each department (like History, English, Theater, Science, etc.) starts their classes whenever they choose.  So your schedule depends a lot on your course of study (a.k.a. your “major”).  After the morning session of orientation, we took a break for lunch.  I went to get more groceries with some friends then made a sandwich with “crisps” (potato chips) and grapes.  Yum!  Success.  After lunch, I went on an audio tour of Canterbury with my friend Carmen (an American student).  The orientation staff literally handed us a map and a CD player and said “Have at it.”  So we followed the map on our own and played the CD player as we went along.  It provided basic information about all of the historic sites (there are SO MANY historic sites).  The tour lasted a total of two and a half hours.  Since it was a walking tour, I am pretty exhausted and ready for bed, but before I crash into my thin and uncomfortable bed, I am going to the Student Union coffee house with a few American friends.  We will relax and drink cheap Starbucks coffee (we get a student discount).  YAY LIFE.

 Photo shoot in Canterbury ;]

Exploring the city centre with NCC friends :]

More pictures to come!

 – K


BRITISH WORD OF THE DAY:

Motorway - the expressway or highway