Archive for category: London 2022

My study abroad journey is almost over, and I don’t want it to end. I have learned so much and had some of the most fun I have ever had. Leaving the friends I have met is going to be hard. I am grateful for everything I have done and learned, and I know I will have these memories for the rest of my life.

I am the proudest of how much my people skills have improved. I have never been the most outgoing or social person, and I was really nervous to put myself in a situation where I didn’t know anyone. In the past 4 months, I have made so many genuine connections with people. Some I only had one conversation with and some will be my friends for life. I think that I am a lot better at carrying on a conversation and connecting with people than I was when I got here. In ministry, you need to be able to talk to all kinds of people, so I am very glad I had this experience.

Being abroad has given me so many opportunities that I never would have gotten otherwise. One of these advantages is that the University of Roehampton is a lot bigger than MLC. There are many more clubs and activities on campus because of this. If I could go back and do my semester abroad over again, I think that I would try to participate in these events on campus more. I did get involved in a few things, but I was so busy doing things out in the city most of the time that I neglected what was right in front of me. On-campus activities are a great way to meet people. Plus, they are free!

Although I wasn’t involved on campus as much as I would have liked, I did plenty of things. London is a huge city with so much to offer, and I made it my mission to never be bored. My flatmates and I explored our corner of the city, trying new restaurants and going into every store. We went to museums and took dance classes. We were motivated to try new things because we were in a new city. I recently realized that I haven’t explored nearly this much in New Ulm. There are so many restaurants I have never tried and places I have never been to. It might not be as glamorous as London, but I want to make it my new mission to never be bored back home either. Even if it just means going for a walk in a park with my friends, I want to always be appreciating the world around me.

Even though I love London, studying abroad has made me much more grateful for my home. By my home, I mean the USA, Connecticut/Minnesota, my church, my school, and my family. I gained a lot of pride in my home while abroad. There are some things you just can’t get anywhere else. I am grateful for enthusiastic American customer service, Kraft mac and cheese, and Target. After spending so much time outside of the country, I didn’t get less American, but more American, because I learned what that really means.

Looking back, I can see God’s hand working in so many ways. He knew what I needed to get through the hard times and He put me in the right places with the right people. When I came to London, I didn’t know a single person here, and I had no idea who I would be living with. The assignments were completely random. God’s plan was so evident in the fact that one of my flatmates is also a Christian. I was able to relate to her in a way that I couldn’t with others, and she helped me through some tough moments. Leaving the bubble of MLC was scary because I wasn’t just leaving my friends, I was leaving my Christian community. Having a Christian friend here who I can talk to made a huge difference to me.

I also think that it was part of God’s plan for me to meet Karla. I didn’t expect to practice my Spanish or become closer to my culture while in England, but it all worked out. Some of the best benefits I have gotten from being in London were ones that I never expected or planned.

I have two pieces of advice for future study abroad students. The first is practical: save as much money as possible before you go and track your spending carefully. You won’t be able to work while you are abroad and the last thing you want is to be overly stressed about money. Studying abroad is expensive, but it is attainable. You just need to identify in which areas you want to spend your money. The second piece of advice I have is to constantly try new things. Studying abroad in its entirety will be a new experience, so I would encourage everyone to make the most of it and keep the momentum going. You will only have this experience once and after you push yourself out of your comfort zone, it will feel so rewarding. If you play it safe the whole time, you will probably still have a good experience, but you won’t grow nearly as much or have as much fun.

Even though this is my final blog, my journey is actually far from over. I still have a month left in London, and then it’s off to Buenos Aires for an entirely new culture (and language). Even after I get home, I will continue to grow as a result of this experience. I would tell anyone getting ready to study abroad not to expect it to change their life. It’s best not to go in with that mentality because it creates unrealistic expectations. That being said, it absolutely will change your life.

Study abroad is only four or five months, so it’s important to be intentional. Everyone I’ve met talks about making the most of their time in Europe. They want to travel as much as possible, make as many friends as possible, and have as much fun as possible. But it’s not just about doing the most; it’s about working toward your goals systematically. I know that I can’t just live willy-nilly and expect to have a feeling of closure at the end.

Now that I have reached the halfway point of my time in London, I want to look back at how far I have come. Altogether, I am immensely proud of my growth in the past few months. I came to another country by myself and have managed to build a full life. I have balanced academics, a social life, and everything that comes with living in a big city. Not everything has been easy and life is stressful at times, but I’ve made it my goal to push through and enjoy every moment.

One of my goals before leaving was to widen my political and social viewpoint. One of the biggest roadblocks in communication is the inability of one party to see things from the point of view of the other. By living among people from another culture and country, I have become acquainted with their point of view. I have seen their reaction to the pandemic, worker strikes, and the crisis in Ukraine. With my knowledge about world events coming from multiple sources, I have formed more well-rounded views. And even when I don’t agree, I have developed the important skill of staying civil and finding common ground where there seems to be none.

I don’t want to make it sound as though study abroad is all sunshine and rainbows. It is true that my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but there are some regrets and things I want to do differently in the future. The culture in England makes it tough to reach out and make friends with locals because they can seem quite cold towards strangers. However, most are very nice when you get to know them a bit. Going forward, I want to talk to more locals. It would be a shame to live in London for five months and not do my best to get to know the Londoners. They are the people who make the city what it is.

Because of the way classes are structured in the UK, I only have a week of actual instruction left. After that we have a few months to turn in our final essays. However, I have a class that starts in the second half of the spring semester. The classes I have had were enjoyable, but I will admit that I did not always give 100% effort. Sometimes if I was tired or didn’t feel like talking I didn’t participate much in class. During the next few months as my last class starts, I want to really engage with the material and apply it. My teachers are experts in the material, so I want to really utilize them as a resource and be an active student as much as I can.

My third goal for the second half of my time in London is to be more intentional about my time. I want to make more of an effort to plan out my days and weeks in advance. This will allow me to get more done and have more time for everything I need to get done. I have implemented a no-phone-in-the-morning rule. I set two alarms: one to wake up, and one for an hour later. At the first one, I wake up and start my day; and I am not allowed to check my phone until the second one goes off. So now, instead of wasting an hour on Instagram in the morning, I have that hour to get ready and start my day off on the right foot.

I knew that the UK education system was different before I came to London, but it was different in a way that I didn’t expect. I had an idea in my head that British school was formal and stiff and serious. The reality is actually the opposite. Most university instructors are simultaneously conducting their own research or pursuing PhDs. They are called by their first names. There is also less pressure to attend class and a lot of students don’t seem to put a lot of effort into their studies. This threw me off at first because it made me feel like I stood out for participating in class, but I now understand that classes are more casual because of the emphasis on independent study.

Something that I didn’t expect to improve on, but did, is my general life skills. I go grocery shopping every week, I cook all my own meals, I navigate public transportation, and I make all those little decisions that are necessary every day. This has also improved my confidence because I know that I can be independent and live on my own.

I have undergone many changes in opinion in the past few months, but my opinion of myself has changed the most. When I was totally in my comfort zone, I never had a reason to have a strong personal identity. Now that I am among people who are different than me, I know who I am. I am an American, I am studying teaching, and most importantly, I am a Christian. I am sure that without being strong in these truths, and unashamed of them, I would not have the confidence or drive that I have now.

Academics in England are very different from my previous college experience. I am currently taking three classes, and a month and a half in, I still haven’t had any graded assignments. At MLC, our grades are made up of numerous small daily assignments and projects, as well as a midterm and a final. This means that I have at least a couple of hours of homework per day. In the UK and most of Europe, grades are calculated based on only a few assignments. Sometimes there is only one: a final exam. Because I am taking all literature classes, I have one big essay due at the end of the semester for each class. The only daily assignments I have are assigned readings, and we are expected to do our own supplementary readings to be ready to discuss in class.

So far, I am very much enjoying this format. As a study abroad student, I don’t want to spend a lot of time doing homework, so I am fine with not having so many daily assignments. There is also a lot of freedom in what I can focus on with my reading. Besides the core text, I can read critical sources that I am interested in and take it where I want it to go.

UK students that I have spoken to seem to find it strange that American universities require so many more daily assignments. From their point of view, college students are adults, and they shouldn’t need to be babied and monitored as much as high schoolers would. For the most part, I agree. However, I can see how some students find it really hard to be motivated when there is so little structure.

Another difference is my class schedule. Fortunately, my classes are almost entirely in person. Unlike my classes in the US, which met twice or three times per week for fifty minutes, my classes here meet only once per week. My classes last two or three hours. It was definitely an adjustment! We usually get a coffee break in the middle, but by the end, it can get a little hard to focus.

My three classes are Victorian Literature, Classical Children’s Literature, and Shakespeare. My favorite is definitely my Shakespeare class because it includes outings to live performances of the plays we are studying. We discuss the staging, costumes, and creative choices as well as the text itself. It feels like a theatre class mixed with a literature class.

I always get the question: Which is harder? US or UK college? It’s hard to compare the two because they are so different, but I think that US college is harder. However, this doesn’t mean that it is better or I learn more. Time management is definitely harder and the workload is much heavier. But I am astounded by how much I have learned already in my UK classes even with the lack of daily work.

A happy coincidence is that seeing such a different system has opened my eyes and given me lots of ideas for my future classroom. Each person has their own structure that they prefer, but learning can happen either way.

Culture shock is a bit of a misleading term because it is not shocking. It’s not one moment where you are slapped in the face with culture, but rather a slow realization. It’s like that moment in a movie where it slowly dawns on the main character that nothing is as it seems. I did so much research before leaving that I felt I could have taught a course on British culture. I thought I knew everything and I could not possibly be surprised or confused. But that’s the thing about culture: it’s so pervasive that it affects every single aspect of life. It is impossible to know it all, even for someone who was raised in that culture.

I like to describe culture shock as an alternate dimension. It’s like being in the twilight zone. A lot of things are similar, so if I wasn’t observant, I might think that nothing had changed. It’s just different enough to make me slightly uncomfortable.

The wildlife in the UK is different from the US. We have squirrels, birds, deer, etc. but they are slightly different from those I am used to. Many geese congregate around the lake we have on campus. They aren’t black and white Canadian geese, but multicolored Egyptian geese, which I had never seen before. On one of the first days that I was at Roehampton, I looked out my window and saw bright green birds. After some research, I found out that parakeets are actually native to England. That really was a shock.

The directions on the road outside my university are extremely helpful. Even though I am aware that they drive on the left side of the road in the UK, it will take some getting used to. The writing tells you which way to look so that you won’t get hit by a car (see picture). In areas where there is no writing, there have been some close calls.

While I am out in public, I am constantly thinking about etiquette and manners. Brits love to be polite, and I love to follow the rules, so I want to do everything in the right way. But following the rules is hard when you don’t really know what the rules are. Here are a few that I have picked up.

1. If you must speak on public transport, do so quietly and NEVER talk to strangers on the tube.
2. Always say thank you. To the bus driver, the store clerk, anyone. Alternatively, you can say ‘cheers’. It means the same thing.
3. Always say sorry, no matter how small your misstep.
4. Dress well. Gym or lounge clothes are not appropriate unless you are going to the gym or lounging.

While in some ways English culture seems more formal, and that certainly is the stereotype, it’s flipped on its head in certain aspects. Even though some of my teachers hold doctorates, they are addressed solely by their first names. It is very rare to see the country’s flag or hear the national anthem in England, while you can walk down any US street without knowing which country you’re in. Service workers are much less friendly and more informal. I’ve learned to be more vocal because if you don’t ask for something (like water or the check), they won’t give it to you.

Even though living in this alternate dimension can be confusing, and even scary, I love it. I am learning something new every day simply by observing and asking questions. I revel in adhering to each social guideline, knowing that I have met expectations.