Author Archives: ers5150

Introduction to Spain

A little bit about Barcelona: This may be a little bias being that I loved every second spent in this country. It was a wonderful time away from the current England gloomy weather. Barcelona was sunny and in the 60’s every day we were there (end of February), it was beautiful. If I spoke Spanish and had the opportunity to study abroad again I would study there! 

perfect spain pic

Some of the differences, there seemed to be just as many people (men and women) driving mopeds as there were driving cars. It was between 60 and 70 degrees for the five days we were there and most people were wearing parkas whereas in England, at the current time, it was rainy every other day. On Sundays the majority if businesses were closed out of respect of the country’s main religion, Catholicism, some restaurants and tourist things were open.  

I mentioned in an earlier blog about how America entertains other part of the world, well they entertain Spain as well. American music is played everywhere; most people have no idea what it is saying though. We were sitting in a nice restaurant and Cee Lo Greens most recent song came on ‘Forget You’ only it was not censored. The song just felt so out of place in a nice eating environment. The daily routine in Spain is much more relaxed than anywhere I have ever been. Breakfast doesn’t really exist, if someone east breakfast it is on the go and consist of a croissant or pastry early in morning. Lunch is typically around lunch time, noon. From about 2-4 during siesta time (which is a nap), some people go pick their kids up from school, some close shop and take a few hours off then they go back to work or open their business back up at 4 and are open until 6 – 8. Restaurants and super markets are a little different though. They are open during siesta so people can eat, get food and are open until about 11 since dinner doesn’t usually begin until 9 PM. What a difference in daily routine from England and America. 

198339_10150437562955501_745255500_17727196_2489740_n.jpg



Location: Barcelona, spain

Getting to Barcalona

Once again I apologize for the month and a half hiatus. Between traveling and getting coursework essays complete blogging just wasn’t happening. Now that I have a month off for Easter Holiday expect updates about twice a week.  This month will consist of blogs from Barcelona, London, and welcoming Spring =)

Getting to Barcelona we (Allison, Sam, and Chris all people from the States) took just about every form of transportation. We left the house at 10:30 AM. Went to town took the high speed train from Canterbury West to London St. Pancras. Its about an hour train ride. Once we arrived in London we had about an hour to kill so we got some lunch. While eating we realized that none of us had contacted our banks informing them that we were leaving England. Luckily I had brought my UK calling card and we managed to all get in touch with our banks back  home by the time we arrived at the Luton airport. That was an hour and half train ride. Then a shuttle bus took us to the actual airport. We checked in 2 hours early, made it through security, and took a 25 minute walk to our gate which was very surprising considering the size of Luton Airport. Then we waited as the only 4 people in the gate area and entertained ourselves for the next hour. Once the gate was posted on the LCD screens we noticed people coming in basically a herd to the gate. Turns out that no one knows the gate until it is displayed, however the kind lady that checked us in gave us the gate number so we were there very early and managed to be one of the first people in line to board the plane. Ryanair does not have assigned seating so we got lucky that we were some of the first people in line and got seats together.

It was a two hour plane ride to Girona airport which is outside of Barcelona.  We had to get a bus from the Girona  Airport to Barcelona which took an hour and fifteen minutes. The bus ride was rather interesting being that were chanting men. About every 10-25 they would chant something about football (not American football). It was about 10PM when we arrived at the bus station in Barcelona and had some trouble finding where the taxis were parked but we found them. Sam had printed off Colin’s address (Chris’s roommate from school at home) who we were staying with. She was our only hope of getting from point A to point B with her little bit of Spanish. The taxi driver was really nice and a little perk was he played American music; I’ll talk more about that later. In Spain they drive on the right side of the road, literally, not the left. Forms of transportation that were utilized in 12 hours were, bus, train, taxi and airplane. The metro was used daily after that.


Location: London, Girona, Barcelona, Spain

University Pubs

Many of the secular universities in the states enforce drinking laws and regulations but also promote safe drinking, as a large portion of underage students drink. However, that is not the case in England. The drink age in England is 18 and going out for a drink after most gatherings, whether business, society on campus, yoga class etc. it is very common to go to a pub for a drink. Heck, there are five pubs on this university (‘uni’) campus alone, plus a night club called Venue. Most of the pubs on campus are open during class hours and students can just “pop in” for a drink or some “pub grub” as they please. Now that is not something you would see in the States.  I have been to several of the pubs on campus when they have some form of entertainment happening. Rutherford has a Karaoke night on Tuesdays, I have only gone once and watched the good and the bad sing. I don’t sing in public, I prefer the car. When my new friend Allison was accepted to Texas A &M for grad school we celebrated by going to Origins for “Tex-Mex” night and having Mexican-ish food.

Texes Day.jpgTexas Day at Origins, Congratulations Allison!
Allison, Sam, Ellie and Frankie (English mates) and me


Location: University of Kent, Canterbury, Origins

Recall, Superbowl

For the Superbowl, ONE bar on campus, K Bar, stayed open for the entire event. As Americans’ in England the Superbowl happenings started much earlier for us than most. It began with Sam cooking an array of American football foods, nachos, twice baked potatoes, pizza, and cupcakes. All of the food was delicious!

superbowl ya.jpg

After dinner we went to Woody’s (one of the more homey pubs on campus and only a 3 minute walk) for a Pub Quiz. Now I recently found out that a quiz here is fun. That is one of the reasons it is not used as a word to asses students knowledge in the classroom. You might be asking yourself, what is a Pub Quiz? Well you get into teams of six, usually with your ‘mates’ or friends, each person pays 1 pound to play and each team gets an answer sheet to write on. The winning team gets all the money at the end.

pub wuiz.jpg

This pub quiz happen to have 3 teams that were in line for 2nd place which receive a free drink. Well one of the teams was short one person and the ‘Quiz Master’ called me out with my American Football jersey, GO STEELERS!, to join a team for a little competition. Everyone on the team had to chug a pint of water and the team to finish first got a free drink of their choice. Surprisingly, the team I was added to won!!! Then we headed to K Bar an hour and a half before the Superbowl started, at 11:30 PM.

Superbowl pool pic

After Woody’s we went to K Bar and when I walked into K-bar I was shocked at how full the place was and the amount of other American Football jerseys I saw. However, I was the ONLY person with a Steelers jersey on in the place, a rather unusual feeling for me being from the Pittsburgh area. The game ended at 3:30AM and we headed back and ate grilled cheeses before going to bed. It has turned into a tradition after late nights.

P.S. There was not one Greenbay jersey at K-bar.  


Location: University of Kent, Canterbury

Differences Between Educational Structures, Part 2

In Europe, after students successfully complete college, at approximately age 18, most apply to universities; others take a few years off or end their structured education. They refer to the time spent attending a university as ‘uni’. European universities offer 3 year programs to earn a degree in a course of study.

The majority of words we use in the States to describe parts of college are different in Europe. For instance, a class is called a ‘module’, your major is referred to as ‘your course or program of study’, a schedule is the same thing as a ‘time table’,  and their forms of assessing students is through essays and written essay finals. A uni semester has reading weeks and a month break (Christmas or Easter holiday) before a month and a half of final exam time.

Their modules are structured very different then most U.S. classes. Most modules here consist of a lecture ( 1-2 hours long) with a convenor ONCE a week and then a follow up seminar, which is discussion, based  on lecture material, once a week depending on year and module.

The area I had the most difficulty adjusting to was the fact that I was not getting 5 assignments a week with quizzes and exams to study for as well, uni is very focused on individual learning.  As in the States, each class has a syllabus which includes core text readings and optional readings plus assignments. Keeping up to date on the weekly readings is critical because, there are very few small assignments, essays and quizzes to assess your knowledge.  For the majority of my modules the assessment of students knowledge is through one or two lengthy essays due at the end of term  (for me this is the beginning of April), which accounts for a small portion of the final grade or ‘mark’. The larger portion of the final grade comes from the final exam. Most final exams consist of another hand written essay within a 2 hour time slot.  

Another huge difference is when holidays are taken and when reading weeks occur. A reading week is a week without lectures or seminars as a designated time to catch up on readings. Reading weeks differ depending on the course of study.  

Just this past week was my reading week along with some friends and we ventured to Barcelona, Spain for 5 days. Next blog will be all about beautiful Barcelona.


Location: University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent

Differences Between Education Structures, Part 1

When applied to study abroad in England I knew the educations systems were different, but I did not realize how different they are until I started talking to people from England before I departed.

First, I will be a comparison of Europe and The United Sates then I will go into more detail about European universities.

In England full-time education is compulsory for all children aged between 5 and 16 (inclusive). Students then have the opportunity to continue their secondary studies for a further two years. They call these 2 years ‘college’ or ‘sixth form’. During this time they take higher level classes that are equivalent to America’s 12th grade.

In the States we define our level of education by ‘grades’ and they range from 1st to 12th with students between the ages of 5 and 18 years old. Then they are often categorized (terms vary within school districts) beginning with elementary school, middle school and finish with high school.  In Europe they refer to a ‘grade’ as a ‘year’. When they are approximately 5 years old they begin year 1 and around age 16 they finish their compulsory education in year 11. This would be similar to U.S. students ending their education after the 11th grade.


Location: University of Kent, Canterbury

A quick rewind

I found my first blog and it happens to be the most recent as well. Oh how technology can confuse me.

Wow, I can’t believe I am leave for England in just 19 days. Still have the details to work out (banking, phone, and some paper work) but the most important things are taken care of. No turning back for me! I’ll be flying out January 11th and returning June 19th. You know how the little things in life can make it so much better. Currently one of the little things for me is flying on an airbus which I’ve never done before. The furthest I have ever flown was to the Republic of the Dominican. I’m also looking forward to being on my own and seeing how I well I handle airports and transportation in England


Location: Butler, Pennsylvania

Late Update

I apologize for the late update.  I published this in January on a linking blog to this one and I just realized that my blogs were not being posted on Penn State GeoBlog.

After 9 months of planning and doing paper work I am finally in England! The story of how I made it to England would probably make others not want to travel but I made it through customs and made it here safely .
I love the apartment style living arrangement I have, which they call a house, there are 5 single bedrooms, a full kitchen and bathroom, and one water closet. There is no living room, so the pubs on campus are where the majority of “hanging out” occurs.

Figuring out how to work foreign appliances on your own is frustrating. I have been here 3 weeks and just figured out how to work the settings on the heater in my room. The on/off symbols are different then American symbols.  I still do not know how to turn the oven on (there are buttons and dials that have to be pushed and turned in a specific way, i think). A fellow student showed me how to use the stove several days after I arrived.

As I said above I have been here 3 weeks and feel like I have adjusted well. The food is beginning to taste better, I know how to use most the appliances in my house, homesickness has dissipated, and I have a “family” of new English and American friends.

Our English house mates have been very kind and informative. We are constantly asking what their ‘slang’ words mean. They often ask us similar questions, they usually stem from American TV shows that they stream to their computers.

Last tid-bit of information, America provides the majority of entertainment in the UK. American’s hit songs are playing through the radio’s here, along with movies and TV sitcoms.

family pic.jpg
  Here is our family on the stairs in one of our house’s.


Location: University of Kent, Canterbury

The White Cliffs of Dover

A group of 5 friends and I took a mini excursion to the White Cliffs of Dover this past Friday. The reason I call this an excursion is because we walked from Dover Priory Train Station to The Castle of Dover and then to the White Cliffs of Dover. Apparently almost no one walks from the train station to the castle and cliffs but we made it and plan on doing the trip again in April.

Once we made it up the very steep hill from town and up many stairs it was unfortunate to hear that the castle was closed for the day due to strong winds (over 83 mph) around some parts of the castle. We then proceeded to the Cliffs. The booth clerk at the castle made the walk to the cliffs seem like it was less then a mile away. Well she was wrong. We walked on a windy road without a foot path for about 2 miles. Our group made the winding walk very memorable by playing silly games that made time passed quickly.

We made a pit stop at the tourist center for their coffee cafe. After our bodies warmed back up we had just a little further to the top of the cliffs.
Dover Castle
This was the best view of the castle we could get since we weren’t allowed on tour for safety reasons.
cliffs.jpg

It was very windy and we pretty much had to shout in order to hear each other. We only lasted 10 minutes at the top. We did get to see how busy the port is with ferrie’s constantly going back and forth to France.


My friend Liz took her video camera with her and documented the majority if the trip. It give a good sense of the windy but fun day we had. Thank you Liz for letting me use your video to share this experience with friends and family!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=10150402655705179

Be looking forward to hearing about Barcelona in 2 weeks then Paris and London in the near future.

Location: Dover Castle, Dover Priory Station, global citizenship

Canterbury Cathedral

My new friends and I will eventually be going to Paris and Ireland. I am holding off on several small trips in order to take them with people that come to visit me.

The lovely town of Canterbury served as a great tourist location for a day and a shopping center many other days. Some of my friends (Sam and Allison from Michigan S.U. and Ellie from Leicester) I have exhausted tourist agenda.

Friends infront of the Cathedral

(Angie, Allison, Sam, Me, Ellie)

We started the tourist day off with a visit to the Canterbury Cathedral, its the largest in England and free for students. Unfortunately there was a graduation taking place at the same time so we did not get to go in the Nave (the main area) but visited other parts of the Cathedral such as the Great Cloister, Presbytery, and Becket’s Crown.

After we took pictures of the Cathedrals grandness and admired the massive stain glass windows we went to an Italian Cafe about 3 blocks away. This was not out of the ordinary for us. We love the cafes here which are privately owned and very quaint.

cafe chambers.jpg

(Allison, our coffee blogger and I)

We returned to the Cathedral for an Choral Evensong/ Mass was mostly sung by the young boys from St. Edmund’s school up the road. It was about an hour long and a was a good rest for our legs.

Cathedral at night
Catheral at night


Location: Canterbury, Kent