Author Archives: Kelsey Nicole Tamborrino

Sickness strikes

Within the month, I’ve traveled to many places (see previous post) – that’s probably the most interesting part of the last blog-less month. Classes, though, have kept me busy. The problem with having all of your final grades rely on two papers, for each class, is that eventually the due dates for those papers occur. I spent all of last week researching and writing two of my three papers due in March and the last is due next week. I’m excited to have those completed, though I’m anxious to see how my American writing holds up in comparison to these English assignments. It would seem like an easy transition, but the spelling of words here is subtly different, along with the way they grade work. Besides coursework and travel, life here has been normal. I finally feel like I live in Leeds, which is good because we’re approaching the two-month mark.

My friends and I have finally booked all of our travel for our month-long (!!!!!) Easter break which begins March 28. I’ll be traveling to Geneva, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and London throughout the month and I’ll be doing so with old friends from America and new ones from Leeds. I could not be more excited!

Currently, however, I’m suffering from the flu. It started earlier in the week. I had been feeling ill so I stayed in and watched Grey’s Anatomy (naturally) and of course it was an emotional episode, so I cried. When I stopped watching I noticed my eyes were quite red, but I chalked that up to the emotional toll that show places on a human, but when the redness wouldn’t go away, it dawned on me that there might be something wrong. And, after some intense eye flushing and a trip to the pharmacist, it became clear that I did in fact have pink eye… which until this week, I’ve never had before in my life. It is my belief I inherited the sickness from a train ride I was on the weekend prior. So that’s been fun, I seemingly cried myself into pink eye. Anyway, due to that I haven’t been doing much this week, but I am glad I got sick this weekend, of all weekends. Next weekend my friend from home who is studying in Ireland is coming to visit and the weekend following is the start of break. I’m also glad I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s for this, the meds the pharmacist gave me have been working perfectly. Though the school provides us with health insurance, navigating a hospital and answering medical questions, while sick and in a foreign country, did not sound like something I wanted to partake in at all.

But, if the last week has taught be one thing, it’s that when studying abroad it is extremely important to always be polite. At home I always try to be courteous, but here, just simply, thanking a person has gone a long way in making life easier for me. For example, when I was sick and traveling home from Stratford via train last weekend, I realized I booked a different train than my friend. I also realized the train made three transfers. Three seemed like a lot, and it seemed even more ridiculous when I realized one of the stops made me get off in Derby and get on another train to Leeds, while the train I was supposed to get off of was already going to Leeds. So essentially, my ticket had me get off of a train heading to Leeds, only to get on another train heading to Leeds (thanks Trainline…). I asked a worker at the station if I could just stay on the train and he said it was up to the attendant on the actual train. So after transferring once, I got on the train and asked the man working, who seemed annoyed before I even approached him, and he told me that I had signed the terms and agreements so I had to transfer like the ticket said. Though frustrated, I understood it was my own fault and thanked him for his help. I also asked how in the future I could avoid such a predicament. Then I went back to my seat. Eventually, the same man came around to check tickets. Upon seeing me, he smiled and told me I could stay on the train after all. He said that I was far more polite then most customers and thus he would let me stay. It’s moments like that when I realized that it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world, as long as you are kind, people will be as well (even if it takes them a moment to realize).

Besides that, the last month in Leeds has been filled with many new adventures. But there are still so many things I want to experience and places I want to go to. Planning for Easter break has been stressful. Even though I’m going to so many incredible places, I still can’t help but feel like there are so many more places to explore.

Our final exam tentative schedules have been released, and if all stays the same, I’ll be done with exams May 23. My flight back to America is June 20, so I have another month to explore Europe around that time. That is however, if I stay until June 20. I’m having a blast in Leeds, but I must admit planning for my life once I return has been a bit of a headache. Not only am I trying to figure out my class schedule for next semester without the close comfort of an adviser nearby, but I’m also trying to get a summer internship — most of which begin in early June. I’ve been applying and corresponding via email, and I even did two interviews via Skype, which was interesting, to say the least. It’s been a little challenging figuring out what I want to do when I return to America, especially when I want to focus all my time and energy to my time here.

I’ll keep you posted on my quest to balance it all.

-Kelsey

Location: Leeds, England

The past month: travel edition

Since it’s been some time since I’ve last posted I’m going to post two separate posts; one highlighting my travels since I last wrote, and another discussing my life in Leeds. This is my travel post:

Dublin, Ireland (Feb. 15 – 17): As all of my friends are flying to Dublin this current weekend, I opted out seeing as I went this weekend – the weekend of my birthday, to celebrate and visit a friend from home. Dublin was certainly not what I expected. I knew it was town of drinking, but to be honest I thought there would be more tourist attractions. We did the Guinness Tour (which included a free pint, overlooked Dublin, and was really interesting), as well as some of the other major attractions like Trinity College, but mostly we spent time in pubs.

I rang my birthday in at the Temple Bar, one of Dublin’s most well-known pubs, and it was really fun. The live band that was there played all of my favorite songs and everyone was so nice. The only problem I faced was flying back to Leeds the morning after. When I returned, however, my birthday was just as great. We went to our first afternoon tea since coming to England and then went out at night to a club we hadn’t been to before. All in all, turning 21 in Dublin (and also Leeds) was an experience I’ll remember forever.

York and Ilkley, England (Feb. 22 – 23): The following weekend was our attempt at staying in Leeds for a weekend the first time since arriving in January, but that didn’t really happen. Saturday, two friends and I went to York, which is under an hour away by bus and train. It’s a pretty town that has a man-made wall surrounding it. We walked the wall and visited some really interesting places. The Shambles is an area of York that still maintains its Old English buildings. So, when you’re shopping in the area it honestly feels like you’ve gone back in time. We also saw the birthplace of Guy Fawkes, which as a fan of history (and “V for Vendetta”) I found really interesting. The highlight of the day however came when we climbed to the top of the York Minster. It’s a beautiful building, but the stairs we climbed were treacherous. I think each of us at some point thought we were going to fall, especially since they were spiral, vertigo-inducing stairs. They warn you at the beginning it’s an intense hike upward, but we played it off until, of course, we were grasping the railing asking the person in front, “How much further?” Yet, reaching the top was really cool. You could see all of York, from a birds-eye-view. If only, they had an elevator to go back down.

After spending the night in Leeds, we travelled, also locally, to the Ilkley Moor. Ilkley is a spa town that highlights the English hillside. We hiked the moor for about an hour, stopping to enjoy the view and appreciate just how beautiful the English countryside truly is. Leeds is definitely beautiful and has its fair share of lush countryside, but when selecting to study here, the moor and its sheep were what I imagined England to be like.

Bath, England (Feb. 28 – March 2): This was a bit of brutal travel experience. We left Friday night around midnight after going to the Canal Mills night market in Leeds. We took a bus from Leeds to London, and then from London to Bath. But because it was a bus, I found it difficult to sleep, so when we got to Bath in the morning around 10 a.m., I was exhausted. But we had plans to attend to and no time for sleep. We checked into our hostel and explored a bit, before catching our tour bus to Stonehenge. The guide we had was great, he told really interesting stories about Jane Austen in Bath, as well as the history of Stonehenge (he was also really understanding when we passed out from lack of sleep on the bus ride to and from Stonehenge).

Stonehenge, itself, was really cool. We, of course, took a great deal of photos and marveled in its beauty. I also marveled in the immense amount of English sheep that were just grazing next to the rocks. It was surreal to me to see how Stonehenge is fairly close to a roadway. The juxtaposition of this ancient and historic landmark, next to a modern invention really brought things full circle for me. After that, our guide took us to Lacock, which was one of those trips we thought we’d do because it was included in our tour, but had no idea what it was. We were pleasantly surprised.

Lacock is this old-English town, where most of the residents are related to someone who lived there in the medieval days. In fact, in order to rent a home there, which everyone does (the trust of England owns the houses), you must be able to prove a blood-line and those who can get priority in living in the area. Lacock was also really cool because it is home to many filming locations for many movies. Because the town maintains it’s old English charm, it’s cheaper to film there than build a set. The most interesting film, in my opinion, was Harry Potter. The Lacock Abbey was home to many scenes from the film, including the scene with the Mirror of Erised and the classroom’s of Snape & Quirrell. Not to mention we saw Professor Slughorn’s home and the home of Lily and James Potter. As an HP fan, this was all very unexpected and exciting for me. Lacock was also a filming home to the BBC’s productions of “Cranford” and “Pride and Prejudice.” A church in Lacock was also where the royal wedding of Laura Parker Bowles and Harry Lopes occurred. So, basically the town is ripe with history.

Once, we returned to Bath we ate a fantastic dinner at Sally Lunn’s, the oldest house in Bath, which is famous for these buns. Naturally, they were incredibly good. After that we explored and had another excellent meal: a platter of desserts at a local pub. It was our intention to go out and explore the nightlife a bit more, but Bath isn’t really known for its great nightlife scene and we were extremely tired, so we ending up going back to the hostel fairly early that night. The following day we explored Bath, seeing the Roman Baths and taking a walking tour of the area. The Roman Baths were really cool and the museum that precedes entering it was enlightening. We got to taste the bath water too, which was not refreshing…at all. After the walking tour around Bath, which highlighted a lot of the area’s history, we went the Jane Austen museum, where we learned about how she used Bath to draw inspiration in her writing and we also went to the tea room there to have afternoon tea and taste the other popular bun of Bath: the Bath bun.

I personally believe Bath is a beautiful city that everyone should visit it once. All of the buildings have the same architecture and color-scheme, so it’s really unlike any city I’ve ever seen before. The architect also tried to mimic Rome, so there’s an area that is meant to look like the Coliseum.

Stratford-upon-Avon (March 8): The last of my excursions: a friend and I did a day-trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, or the birthplace of Shakespeare. As an English major and self-proclaimed Shakespeare fanatic, this was a trip I was looking forward to. The town itself was not what I expected, but I still enjoyed the day. We saw Shakespeare’s birthplace, his grave and the home of his daughter and her husband, as well as the site where Shakespeare lived before he died. All of it was really interesting and full of facts about the writer. His grave however, I thought would be tombstone outside…it was not. It was inside the Holy Trinity Church, the place he was baptized, and he was placed next to his wife, Anne. The New Place, or where Shakespeare lived before he died, had this really gorgeous garden, with sculptural representations of Shakespeare’s works. I could have honestly spent all day walking around it.

I ended up spending too much money on souvenirs and eating lunch in a place called “Othello’s,” but we also walked around and experienced the area’s beauty. It was certainly obvious that Shakespeare could find inspiration in an area such as Stratford.

Location: Leeds, England

LONDON

This weekend I went to London.

London has always been a place I wanted to go. Growing up around Philadelphia and New York, I was always interested in the other side of things. London seemed to be culturally more historic and when I was deciding where to study abroad, proximity to London was certainly a factor.

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We arrived at the hostel late Friday night, where we ran into a bit of a mishap with the receptionist. One of the girls with me had booked one bed, but the hostel was charging her for two. After arguing for a bit — and returning to see the manager in the morning — she eventually got it worked out. But after we finally settled into the hostel, it was around midnight. The hostel itself was really nice. It was clean and provided us with bedding, as well as showers. Not to mention the other people in the room where our friends and a random, really nice woman traveling alone. Location-wise it was in the Elephant and Castle part of London. Seeking a pub to go to, we went to the nearest one, suggested by a hostel employee. It was a bit sketchy, however, and seeing how we were being stared at upon walking in, we decided to leave and explore a little more until finally going back to the hostel and meeting up with the others from Leeds.

The next day was far more exciting. We woke up early and did a walking tour around Westminster. We saw all the major tourist attractions, including Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben. The tour guide we had also took us to smaller, historic places and told us really interesting stories I would have never known on my own just walking around. We also got lucky and arrived at Buckingham Palace just as the changing of the guards was occurring — which we learned happens every other day at 11:30 a.m. during the winter.

After that, we ate lunch — and got warm — at a local pub. It was raining on and off all morning, which actually was a blessing in disguise, as we got to experience two beautiful rainbows over Big Ben.

We spent the afternoon walking around and going to the South Bank area of London, where I got to see the Globe Theatre. As an English major, with a special interest in Shakespeare, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We also went to the Borough Market where we sampled the most delicious locally grown foods, like cheeses, breads, mulled wine, truffle oils, and brownies. After that we walked back to our hostel.

By then our feet were killing us, so we all relaxed in the hostel for a bit. We took the tube a lot, but we still seemingly walked miles throughout the morning. (Side note: the tube system in London is far better than the subway system in New York. Not only was it cleaner and easier to navigate, but it was more comfortable.)

Earlier in the day we purchased tickets to a pub crawl in London, so we returned to the area for that later at night. The pub crawl consisted of four very different pubs and it ended at a nightclub. Each pub gave you a free shot and had special drink deals for those in the pub crawl. It was really fun, but extremely tiring. We started drinking at 7:30 p.m. and by 1:30 a.m. we were extremely exhausted. So, naturally, in typical American fashion, we went to McDonald’s before returning to the bus (the tube shut downs really early, we learned) back to the hostel. Fun fact: I learned that if you order a meal at McDonald’s and show your student ID card you can get free fries or a cheeseburger. Hopefully, that reigns true in the states as well (looking at you, East College Ave McDonald’s).

The next day, we woke up, checked out of the hostel and went to the Camden Markets. It was really cool — probably the coolest part of the trip. We started the journey with crepes from this amazing stand, and went to go shopping in the markets. We ended up in the arts and crafts area where I was enamored with everything I saw. There were so many cool and interesting pieces, ranging from paintings to jewelry, and I wanted to buy it all. (Hi mom, don’t worry, I restrained myself.) After that, we split up and some of the group went to an American-style diner, while another girl and I went to the Camden Village Food market. Basically, it was booths upon booths of various cultural foods…and it was all so cheap. After walking around, we paid 4 pounds (!!!) for a buffet-style plate of thai food and sat on the water to eat it.

After that, we went back to the Westminster area and explored London further and hung out in the Victoria Station for a while, before catching our bus home. (All in all, I loved London. I felt so comfortable there. For me, it is cleaner and more spread out than New York. I liked the old style of the buildings and the variety of things that I saw. I can definitely see myself returning in the future.)

As we were walking to the coach station to board our bus back to Leeds, one of my friends posed an interesting question. He asked us if we have started to think of Leeds as home yet. He is currently studying at Leeds for a year, and is in his second semester now, so for him Leeds is home.

For me, I’m not so sure yet.

At the question, I instantly thought, “‘Home’ is covered in a few feet of snow right now.” But then again, as we were rushing to the bus station my mind wasn’t on America, it was on Leeds and my flat, my room, and my bed.

So, I think maybe after about three weeks being here, I’m finally starting to call this place my own, (even if I’m still hanging onto the food and people from home).

– Kelsey

Location: University of Leeds

Two week mark

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

Location: University of Leeds

Life in Leeds

Well, it’s been about a week since I arrived in Leeds and it already feels like I’ve been here for longer.

Getting here was a bit hectic, as my original flight was cancelled due to snow. I ended up flying out the following day, but because that flight was delayed, as well, I arrived at Heathrow later than anticipated and ended up missing my connecting flight. Picture this: I literally ran through the airport, with someone who works their guiding me, just to miss my flight. Naturally, the next flight to Leeds from Heathrow wasn’t for another five hours after that, so I began my abroad adventure sitting in the terminal for hours, unable to sleep, for fear someone would rob me. Side note: Heathrow Airport is huge. It’s its own city, equipped with shops, restaurants, trains, etc.

When I finally arrived in Leeds, almost the entire flight were other study abroad students. Together, we figured out how to get a taxi to the university and discovered how to find our residences. Driving in England is terrifying, by the way. Not only is everything opposite, but everyone is extremely aggressive – the taxi driver, however, told me, this is mostly because the area is mostly student drivers. The area of Leeds where I am is home to multiple universities. Through the drive to campus, the taxi driver filled me in on the area and asked me plenty of questions about America. We bonded throughout the drive, him laughing at my confused face…me laughing to mask the fear of being alone in a new country for five months. You could say, he was the first friend I made.

Upon arriving, I was placed in temporary housing for the the first few days of my experience, which was a beautiful, hotel-like room, but it lacked other people around. I’ve since moved into my permanent residence (on Monday morning), have unpacked, and finally feel like I’m settling in. We have our own rooms, but I share a bathroom – if you can call it that – with one other girl, who is really nice and from Kenya. She told me she would have loved to study law at Penn State, but her country has different laws about where she can go. The bathroom is barely a bathroom because it’s ultimately a toilet and then a shower head. There is nothing to divide the two, and both me and my flatmate have access to the room from our own rooms. We have our own sinks, however, in our rooms. There are about 10 people who live, in total, on my floor and we all share a kitchen and living room. I haven’t met them all yet, but the ones I have seem friendly. There is also a dining hall called the “Refectory,” which I can eat in. Gathering from there, and the various restaurants I’ve eaten at outside of campus, the food here isn’t bad. It’s not great either. It’s different and I can certainly tell I will greatly miss Italian food from home already. The British also seem to eat less meals, breakfast and dinner. Though dinner seems to be earlier. This makes sense though, because the food is really filling.

Anyway, we also had orientation for the study abroad program. There are tons of students from all different areas of the world. Oddly enough, most of the people I’ve met are either from Canada or Australia…not America. But everyone is extremely nice. I also went to a meeting for my school of study: communications, where I learned about the system here and met my tutor, or adviser. Basically, learning in Leeds is extremely different from home. Each week, for my three classes, I have a lecture period, and a seminar period, though those two times aren’t necessarily right after another. The lecture is when the professor goes over the material and the seminar is used for discussion. We also don’t have exams, per say. All of my classes boast a lengthy essay as an assignment and then a final exam at the end of the semester. Classes, also, only run for eleven weeks, with a large, month-long Easter break in April. Classes end in early May, but the semester itself doesn’t until June.

Besides that, I’ve spent my time in Leeds meeting people, exploring the city, and going to class. I’ve learned that being American is enough to spark a conversation with literally anyone. I’ve also learned that the British say “literally” literally all of the time. The Union building here is like the HUB at Penn State, but ten thousand times better. Not only does it have clubs, pubs, and dining, but there is a theatre, offices, a cafe, stores, a market, and events occurring every day. The clubs and societies here are really big, and I’m currently looking into joining the English society and the hiking club, among other possibilities.

Nightlife here is really interesting, too. For one, I can legally drink here, by two years, (yet, still I look young enough that I’ve gotten carded twice already). Everyone seems to go out most nights of the week, and though I’m used to a flourishing drinking culture at home, is a bit intense, even for me. Music, being something I’m really into, is also fascinating. The other night, at a “pre-drink,” as Notorious B.I.G played through the speakers, one of the British boys discussed rappers, like Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky, which I find really cool. Music is definitely one of those things that crosses cultural lines always. At the clubs, I’ve noticed they love to play old American pop hits. At one point, the Jonas Brothers played, and everyone seemingly knew all of the words.

The city, itself, is gorgeous. The buildings are a mix of modern and antique — and they all are beautiful. It’s amazing to think that there are homes around here that are older than all of America. The shopping here is also a dream. There are tons of stores and a great deal of variety. No matter what you are in need of, I think it’s impossible that you wouldn’t find it downtown.

I also started my classes on Tuesday (I somehow managed to not have classes on Monday). I’m taking an English class called Eighteenth Century Literature, a communications/journalism called Reporting on Politics, and an art class about museum studies, which allows for multiple trips to local museums. So far, I’ve only attended the first two. English taught here is really enlightening and has already changed my perspective. The major authors at home, aren’t necessarily major here. My professor teaches in almost the same way as my professors at Penn State, but the base knowledge you are expected to have is very different. He makes references to famous and well-known authors and poems, but they are all, obviously, British. There are no Hemingway mentions or anything of the like. So, it’s going to take a bit of research on my part, especially to write a well-crafted 1,700 word essay for the class. My reporting class is also very different. I know enough about British monarchy and politics to get by in American conversation, but now, I’m learning the intricacies, from a new perspective, and learning about how the British see American politics.

All in all, there are plenty of other things I could probably write, but this is already quite long. Following this, I’m going to try to write more often, as I don’t want to overlook things in trying to encompass one week in one post, like I’m doing now. But, if the first week has taught me anything, the next 4 months and 3 weeks will be extremely interesting!

– Kelsey

Location: University of Leeds

The final countdown

Six days stand between England and me. Although, it’s been years since I first decided that I wanted to study abroad, it’s all come down to less than a week.

Oddly enough, it all came full-circle for me today at the dentist. I was getting a cleaning in preparation for my 5-month hiatus from America, and I was telling my dental hygienist about my trip: how I was studying abroad at the University of Leeds in England for the spring.

It was in that same office that in my junior year of high school my same hygienist talked to me about applying to college and what I was looking for in a university. Among academics and a beautiful campus, I was quite sure even back then that it needed to be somewhere with a great study abroad program. As a liberal arts student, studying abroad is almost necessary. Most of my friends within my college have studied abroad, are currently studying abroad, or plan to study abroad.

So, on some level, I’ve been preparing to leave for a while. Yet, it’s now six days away from my flight and I’m not entirely ready.

Mentally, I think I am. I’m over the nervousness – for now – and I’ve moved on to the excited phase (though, I do think the day of my flight I will mentally be a mess). Physically, however, I have not packed. Since I was accepted into the abroad program I knew it was going to be an issue, but packing really is an extremely taxing task. First of all, I will be in Leeds for five months, which means I will be there when the seasons change. I don’t know what I want to wear to sleep tonight, let alone what shoes I want to wear in the spring, four months from now. Not to mention, suitcases are very limiting. My parents and I have already agreed to pay for a second suitcase, because there is just no way I can fit everything in one, especially if I plan to bring things back with me when I come home.

Besides packing, I believe, I finally have completed everything I need to do. Luckily, for Leeds I don’t need to apply for a visa ahead of time, I just need certain paperwork when I land, and I have compiled all of that. My housing is taken care of and my classes are finally scheduled. I say finally, because that was a bit of an ordeal.

Leeds full-time students are required to have at least 60 credits of class, and for a while I had 30. Mainly this was because I was trying to figure out what classes would be helpful to my two majors and what would work in my schedule. After talking to many, many different advisors it has finally been solved.

So right now, I’m in the waiting period. All of my friends have returned to school, and I’m spending my last days in America with my pets, my parents, and my own anticipation.

Location: Pennsylvania

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Author Archives: Kelsey Nicole Tamborrino

Sickness strikes

The past month: travel edition

LONDON

Two week mark

Life in Leeds

The final countdown