Yesterday marked two weeks since landing in Leeds and beginning my study abroad adventure. My initial reaction remains that Leeds is similar to America in some ways, but also extremely different. Fashion-wise, I have yet to see a student not look completely put-together in class or on weekends. I’m not entirely sure you can even purchase sweatpants here. But then there are also trends present here that are not present at home, and it should stay that way. For example, the “scrunchie” is ever-present here and with every one I see I am reminded of my wardrobe circa second grade. 

But besides that, the culture here is very fun. And, of course, being legally allowed to drink helps that. However, I have yet to discover how to do laundry here or how to print (I’ll keep you posted on that progress). Eating here is growing annoying. I am lucky enough to have a meal plan, but it has a monetary limit that runs out daily, so if you don’t spend the full amount every day, it doesn’t roll over to the next day, which I feel like is a waste. And, the hours are odd, i.e. if I want food from the Refectory (dining commons) between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., I have to pay with cash, my plan doesn’t work. But, I’m adjusting.

Last weekend, I went to Liverpool with the “global” program here. It was only a day trip, but it was really cool to see a different city, especially one that is home to the Beatles. We went to the Liverpool Cathedral, where the nicest man, seeing that we were American, gave us a tour of the lesser-known areas of the building.  Not only did the cathedral have great architectural beauty, but we learned that Paul McCartney got denied from singing in the choir there and that they had a statue honoring Frederick Stanley, who not only was involved with the cathedral, but also originated the Stanley Cup.

While in Liverpool we also explored the museums and went to the Beatles Story, a museum documenting the rise of the Beatles. It was all very interesting, but my favorite part was when we went to The Cavern, a Liverpool pub where the Beatles first started out. Having grown up to the sounds of the group, it was enlightening and humbling for me. The Cavern was a really cool place, where a performer was playing cover songs to a packed house when we walked in and all I could think about was being there 50 or so years ago, seeing the Beatles and feeling like they were going to be something big – imagine, literal history in the making.

As for my time at Leeds, I’m finally beginning to feel settled in – though I did get lost for the first time on Monday when I went to set up a UK cellphone. Having walked through Leeds City Centre multiple times at that point, I thought I was fine to find the shop by memory. Nope. I got lost and I ended up going shopping for clothing instead. I’ve since ventured out again and found the store, which was an adventure in itself. The man at the store tried to tell me that I needed to buy a whole new phone and pay a fairly high price to maintain a pay-as-you-go plan. I ended up leaving and going to another store, where I got a way better deal. Sometimes I feel like employees at stores can tell as soon as I speak that I am American, and thus they try to sell me things at higher costs, because they think I don’t know the difference.  

This week, I took the bus again and only got slightly less lost than the lost time I did. (yay, progress!) I really don’t get how fellow riders know when it’s their stop. There is no voice telling you the next stop, or flashing marquee like on the White Loop. This week, we also went to a nightclub that used to be a church, which was interesting. It was extremely crowded and played awful music, but being able to say that I was there is a story in itself. A bunch of us here also discovered that we love The Library, which is a pub off campus. We watched the Super Bowl there on Sunday, though it was definitely not the American experience I was used to. Not only did I know more about football than the people around me (as most were not American), but also the commercials shown here are not the same as the ones shown in America, and they are always the best part of the Super Bowl. Also, the announcers were British for the broadcast, which was weird, too.

Besides that, classes this week were really interesting. I finally started my seminars, which are basically when your lecture module is broken into smaller groups and you meet at another point during the week to discuss topics more informally. In my Reporting of Politics it was a bit scary as my professor went around asking us questions about passing policy in Parliament – something I know little to nothing about. It is a bit nerve-wracking being expected to know about another political culture than my own, but I was surprised by how much the other British students did not know as well. The English girl next to me even said that she studied American politics more and knew a lot more about it than British politics. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting system, and next week our class is devoted to the Royal Family, so that should be interesting.

For my museum studies class we went to the Leeds City Museum instead of going to class, which was cool. The museum is small, but the exhibits featured, not only the history of Leeds (including recent things like the Leeds Festival), but also nature-oriented exhibits.

Today, I went to my Eighteenth Century Literature lecture and then seminar. The seminar has six other students beside myself, and we met for discussion in my professor’s office. It was a different environment than I’m used to, though Penn State does have relatively small English class sizes, but I liked it. It forced me to talk and I can tell it’s going to be a really active seminar for the rest of the semester.  

Tonight, I’m going to London with some friends for the weekend. It should be fun, but I really should pack, since we are leaving in about an hour (!!!).

Cheers (as they say here),

Kelsey