First Class, Scottish Professor

Random Fact: "Doctorial students can be paid professors assistants in the University of Sunderland."

Today I had my official first class in a CINEMA! I'm serious, the door to the room is on the outside so at first it looks like you're getting ready to enter a small room. Then, you enter a couple of dark rooms and when you open the door...imagine a movie theater with a huge screen and cushy royal seats. I almost felt guilty bringing my soda into the room.

My professor for Television Genre's is Dr. Michael (or Mekel as he pronounces it) Higgins. I was having a hard time trying not to laugh due to the My Fair Lady reference. Well, it turns out he's not really British and at first I thought he was Canadian. Well, as he kept talking, that's when I realized that his accent was...SCOTTISH! Usually, not even Irish or British people can understand the Scots (at least, that's what my friends told me), but I could understand him well enough.

He seems fairly nice and I talked to him after class to let him know that I've registered for his class and asked him what style our 2,000 word paper worth 80% of our grade should be. He said he didn't care as long as it was the same (though he prefers Chicago style, which most people in Britain write in Harvard style...don't ask I have no clue what it is). He was quite friendly and even seemed a bit joyful when he realized he was talking to an American. He told me that British Uni's are not as diligent as American Uni's when it comes to classes.

I'm so excited about my other classes now. I looked up the Harvard style of writing papers and while there are a few differences I think I could try it out. I just hope they don't penalize me for my American grammar b/c the grammar here is completely different from America. Actually, when I read one of my school books, I noticed that one of the papers I did reviews on for a student in Com 400 turned out to be using British English grammar (he wasn't British), and I counted it wrong so many times. I probably should have taken a closer look at his paper to learn some more about the British writing style, LOL.

Religious Tolerance?

Random Fact: "The pigeons here are about twice the size of pigeons in America. Yes, not a good fact, but it was still shocking."

I'm a Christian, but even I know that religious tolerance is needed. Today I saw a website about "Every Berea Student" and it has some views about different religions (ex. Muslim, Hindu, etc.) that I totally disagree with. I was so angry at how they made the Christian religion seem like the only religion with a loving and caring God that I almost wrote to them. I guess it's all in the matter of how you believe, and while they believe that, I will continue to believe that we need more tolerance of other religions.

Sunderland, at first glance, seems like a Catholic town with all the cathedrals spread around. When I started talking to the people in the town, however, I realized that many of them don't consider themselves to be Catholic Christian or they consider themselves to be atheists or agnostic. There are some Catholics, but they don't get mad about not having enough religion in society. I was also shocked to see so many books about New Age and Pagan religions in bookstores. I think if we did that in America the store would be picketed by extreme Christians.

There's nothing wrong with having a strong faith. But wouldn't it be nice if we could just stop arguing over it and not let it take over politics?

Clubbing

Random Fact: "There are street cameras in England that take your picture if you drive even one mile over the speed limit. If you get up to 12 points (or 3 shots) on your license then your license will be taken and you have to pay a fine. The cameras cost $300,000 to replace, but bring in $3,000,000 per camera."

In comparison to England, America seems like a very anti-social place where it's more important to have a significant other than hang out with friends. I went clubbing for the first time last night and I was so amazed at how much fun it could be. Everyone was actually dancing and they would hang out in larger groups rather than just one or two chosen people. It would be so neat if we could develop that kind of culture here where you can go out with friends and not worry about what other people might think.

They have some very fun themes at clubs and they play all sorts of music (rather than the usual rap and pop you get in America). The "American" group, as me and some of my friends like to call them, came and they hung out with us for a little bit, but they seemed more interested in hanging out with one another. I think I'm the only American that actually talks to the other international students. I might be the only one who talks to the UK students as well.

Overseas Advice

Random Fact: "Sunderland, much like my home town, used to be a coal mining area."

A while ago, my mentor Kay told me that the international students would look to me to translate British for them. However, she told me that I would more than likely not be able to understand the Geordie accent for a while. I thought she was crazy at first since I was able to understand the Irish, Hartlepool, and Manchester ones. Well, when Eva (HK) and I went to buy some supplies I asked a worker at a store if they had any pots. The only think I could really understand was the word "no", so I looked blankly at her and said that I guess they didn't have any there.

I really shouldn't doubt the experiences of other people in a foreign country. However, I am more willing to ask some of my British friends about England rather than believe someone who just visited the area. One of my professors told me that Sunderland used to be a coal mining area, which is true, but he also told me that there were no trees. I have tons of pictures of trees and I'm really thinking about sending him a picture to let him know, LOL. Nah, I don't know if he takes jokes well or not and I might take another class with him, so I shouldn't.

Still, I guess in the mix of fact and fiction we all need to decide what's right and hope that it is truly the right decision. Or else I might end up looking cluelessly again at a guy who speaks a dialect so original that not even some of the natives of England can understand it.

Busy Week

Random Fact: "Durham Castle is now part of Durham's University and they used some of the indoor shots for the filming of 'Harry Potter'."

I am still alive. It's just been a while since I've gotten internet access. Anyway, I'll try to start with Manchester and work my way down.

After a 2 day stay in Manchester, I made my trip with my loads of luggage back down to the bus station without flying away. I went from the huge city of Manchester to the country side of Leeds. By the way, it looks similar to the South except they have hedges marking off squares of land instead of fences and they have sheep everywhere instead of cows.

I won't get into a lot of detail, but Durham, Bishop Auckland, Gateshead (Metro Centre) and Spennymoor are very lovely places. It's not as Celtic as some would believe, but you do get a sense of something magical in the region. They have amazing cathedrals and you really do get the sense that these people are nothing like the portrayals in American film.
--------------------------------------------
They took me to Sunderland and I have a fairly nice room. I live with both men and woman, 4 of whom major in Pharmacy. There's a Media Com major who gave me an explanatory module guide that told me the requirements of each class and there's another student who is an American Studies major. Unlike many of the other international students, I'm the only one in the dormitory not from the UK, but it's pretty awesome and they all seem very friendly.

British Money = Weird

Random Fact: "Manchester has the most amount of clubs in England. 1,500 of them in the entire city and 600 in the city centre alone."

I'm paying for a full hour, and let me tell you British money is so weird. I keep thinking I'm getting ripped off every time the clerk gives me change. Then, I look at the coins and realize, "Oh, that IS a £2 coin." The money feels so much like regular crisp paper, not fabric, which worried me a little. However, if you want to save money and don't mind living in a slightly smaller than dorm size room with people you can chat with, then stay at a hostel.

I was planning on going for a little trip today to Marks & Spencer, Afflecks Basement, etc. but it was canceled due to the fact that it's practically hurricane weather. Take the strongest wind you've ever felt, if you've never been in a hurricane, and times it by 5 or 10. I'm so serious, I am a slightly heavy girl and the wind was so strong that it literally, and I mean LITERALLY, blew me 5 feet across the bus terminal. I actually had to struggle to walk a couple of times when it was blowing at me. It's CRAZY!!!

I really do enjoy the hostel, even though it's a bit cold in the room (that's what coats are for right?). Anyway, Manchester has a red sky at night. It's not just grey or black, it's like a very gray version of red. It's cool and a bit strange. I forced myself to stay up last night until sometime between 8 and 9 p.m. in hopes of catching up on sleep and such. I ended up waking at 11 p.m. and then again at about 2 a.m. and was wide awake.

Now that I'm getting used to it, Manchester is a pretty cool city. It will be really cool to come back here and stay a day before my flight leaves. However, tomorrow I shall leave for Durham and then they will take me to Sunderland.

First Day in Britain

I only have 25 minutes b/c it's costing me $2 to play for 1/2 an hour, so I'll have to wait until Friday night to tell you the joys of flying. Tobias was totally right! I mean, yeah plane crashes are scary and there's no real safety net, but considering how it's safer than car travel, and how super fun and amazing it is, seriously you all have to try it if you haven't. Even if it's for an hour or two, it's still totally awesome.

I've only had about 4 or 5 hours of sleep within the past 48 hours. I've made a few friends here, a couple are teaching at Manchester U and he's American, a British woman whose name I didn't get who helped me out so tremendously! She is the sweetest person I have met and she actually came looking for me after we left the gates. I hope she knows how tremendously thankful I am to her. I also met this PhD student, who looks as young as I do, and she actually traveled with me to the hostel. I have her address and will add her to my my myspace .

I am suffering major culture shock. It's not the kind where you're "Dude! This is so awesome!" It's more like, "OMG! It's so big, and so stressful. Can I go home now?" LOL, j/k. I mean, I was raised in a rural area, so being thrown into a big city is sort of shocking. However, I just need to relax for a while b/c I'm usually this high strung about a lot of things.

I know I'll get better once I make it to Durham. It's just all the uncertainty. Being in a big, strange place where I can only really depend on myself b/c while North England is nicer than South England (they do everything opposite of America), you still have to act confident and that you know what you're doing. I apologize for the spelling errors...typing on a British keyboard, LOL.

I went to the Manchester Art Museum today and it's one of the few things here that are free. It's pretty neat to see all the different kinds of artwork. They have some dramatic portraits of Shakespearean characters and nearby is a mural of humanized cats running around Manchester to show the nightlife of the city. There's even this giant brush with a sign claiming that it could hold a man's weight, but the sign near it says "don't sit on it". Hmmm...still, it's an interesting place and it's in the China Town district of the area (who knew England had China Towns)?

Last Day in America

Random Fact: "The Geordie dialect is so unique, and hard to understand, that during WWII they were the only people of Britain allowed to communicate in the war without code words"

I e-mailed the hostel for a last-ditch effort on trying to figure out how to get from the airport to the hostel. So, I wrote them and not only did they say that it was exactly the place but they gave me clearer walking directions to the hostel. It's across the street from a place called the "Little Buddah". I don't see why people fight over religion, this is proof that deities can work together ;). So should we.

So, now all I have to worry about is explaining to them that I need to check out of my room before 6 a.m. so I can make it to the National Express terminal and meet Deft in Durham. From there, life should hopefully be smoother until I start to transition into Sunderland. They are going to give us a tour of the campus and such, plus I have some international allies, so it should be good.

In 24 hours I will be leaving for the airport. I'm going to wear my pajamas with the Scottish Terriers on them since it's going to be a long flight. I'm going to miss my friends and family. However, this trip is going to be so exciting!

Now, I just need to pack, call the airport asking them about a couple of items I want to bring, and download a bunch of my CD's onto my media player. I'm off to England!