American Girl In An English World

1. Night Life

In England, university students hit the clubs Monday through Thursday and then head to the nearest house party Friday and Saturday when the older, professional crowd that works during the week overtakes the clubs. American students, we really have no idea of what we are missing. Frat Row does not count or compare. 

*Newcastle is known for being a party city so people are out in the clubs/bar Sunday-Saturday. And students go out more because they are at the legal age to drink than in America where only a smaller percentage are. (18 vs 21)

2. Co-ed Living

Boys and girls live together both in university housing and in off-campus housing. Co-ed living is more realistic and more fun than single-gender living, and despite southern beliefs, it is not uncomfortable nor does it create a hothouse of sexual tension and fury where cream has to be scraped off the walls.

*True. Most people I know live in co-ed flats. Mine happens to be all-girl.

3. Less Academic Output

In England, I put forth one-fifth of the work I put forth in America at BSC. Class met only once a week, assigned weekly readings, and required only one presentation and one essay at the end of the semester. Despite this reduced course-load, I learned and retained more from most of those classes than I have from many of my American classes at BSC, because I actually had time to learn and to process the material instead of constantly stressing about churning out relentless, unindicative results in the form of quizzes, tests, and the God-forsaken unending stream of papers.

*Also true. Though I hate the fact that my entire grade is on the final paper.

4. Blind-Friendly Notes

In England, what Americans call dollar bills are called notes, and in England, each note is a different size corresponding to its amount: a twenty pound note is bigger than a ten pound note which is bigger than a five pound note and so on. The indicative sizes make the notes blind-friendly, and blind-friendly makes the world a happier place. Yay.

*The twenty pound note is HUGE.

5. Pubs

Really? Does this one require an explanation? Okay, okay, here it is: food, drink, community.

*I used to think pubs were for drinking but they aren’t. I have a favorite one that is down the street from the university. Has the BEST steak pie ever in life. 

6. Drying Racks

What’s highly unnecessary? Clothes dryers. Why? Evaporation. I did not meet a single English house with a clothes dryer. All clothes were dried on drying racks placed outside during summer or placed over a radiator during winter. Saves electricity; saves money; better for the environment.

*Gosh, America, we are so wasteful. But yes, they like dryer racks here. I even bought my own. ;)

My weekends are pretty much booked.

Nov 5: Hexham Bonfire Night. Celebration about a guy who had a plan to blow up Parliament but failed. Hurray! England is saved! My first English holiday. :)

Nov 11-13: LONDON

Nov 18-20: Camping [staying in log cabins] on Scottish borders with Christian Union

Nov 26: Day trip to York for Christmas markets!

December: 5th - American thanksgiving!

9-11: Dublin!

USA: Undergraduates are marked on a 0-100 scale with 90-100 being a 4.0 (an English 1^st) and 69 and below being failing.

England: Undergraduates marked on a 0-85 (or is it 100?) scale with 70 being a 1^st (an American 4.0) and 40 and below being failing.

Verdict: Just different.

*Ok. The day I see a 70% on any assignment, I may just flip out. Unacceptable in America.

Took me over a month but I finally went.

Corned beef pasty. Apple creme turnover. Sweet heaven. The turnover was only 79 cents but they had a special where two were 1.00

I couldn’t not accept that challenge.

And there is a Gregg’s on every corner, it seems like. Kind of like Starbucks in Washington, D.C. Can’t escape them.

When I went to McDonald’s I ordered a ‘Mayo Chicken’.

U.S. Translation: McChicken Sandwich

When I unwrapped, I looked at it, wondering where the rest of it went.

Edited: So turns out that Mayo Chicken and Chicken Sandwich are two different things. Oh England.

I mean, who can blame them? The Bank of England one is prettier. haha

I found out (through my readers) that certain places in England and Wales will not accept the Scottish version of the pound even though it is technically the same currency (I think). I do not know if I should be:

A) Mad at Scotland for making an unattractive version of the pound currency.

B) Mad at those in England/Wales who are too picky to accept it.

Note to self: Spend Scottish pound in Scotland. Or just swipe my card.

—> Previous posts can be found by clicking the ‘lessons learned’ tag below.

When browsing through Facebook, someone posted in the CU [Christian Union] group that a girl had passed away from pneumonia.

She was only a freshman.

It really makes you think, though. How easily a person can be in this world and be gone the next. It just makes each day, each hour, that more precious. The world is changing - it is evident [watch the news] and things are falling into place. 

We never know when a day will be our last. I hope that I can leave a mark just like this person has. Everyone has a purpose and I believe that she fulfilled hers - maybe the reason God decided to call her home.

I just hope that I fulfill mine. And that you fulfill yours.

USA: Apart from specific upper level classes, students from all years take the same classes.

England: First years only take classes with first years; and second years only with second years; and third years only with third years.

Verdict: England wins on all students being on the same academic level. US wins on combining students from different backgrounds, allowing for more knowledge and intellectual diversity in the classroom.

*I found this to be true. In my classes now, all of us are on the same level versus at home where there could be a mixture of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th years (freshmen, sophomore, juniors, seniors). Depending on the class, of course.

Me: “For real????!!”

Friends: “You don’t do that in America?” [I always find this question amusing, reminds me that I am such a newbie]

Me: “No, usually it is first come first served.” [You can reserve tickets, but you are not assigned a seat  - there maybe exceptions at certain theaters but they’re in a slim majority. It is not as common as it is here.]

By the way, I spent the past five years working at a movie theater so I thought I was a movie theater expert. Imagine my shock - my mouth was dropped and everything. Never heard of anything like it.

But then I realized that it just saves the headache of people who like to save 5 seats at a time in a crowded movie. At least with a seat number it reduces some of the chaos.

I hope.

—> Previous posts can be found by clicking the ‘lessons learned’ tag below

Our tour guide in Scotland had told us that the Scottish soda Irn Bru can only be found there due to its INSANE amount of unhealthiness and that it has been banned from most countries. But I have just been informed that it has been seen elsewhere.

So he tricked me?? :(

Haha, anyways, I think he what he may have meant (and I am guessing here so I could be wrong) that maybe it’s original form (unhealthy ingredients and all) can only be found in Scotland/UK?

I know companies adjust products depending on the country’s health laws, etc. Like I said before, Orange Fanta in the UK, is NOT the same as U.S. Orange Fanta. Same for Mountain Dew - just a regular soda in the US; an energy drink in the U.K. I know UK has different laws when it comes to sugar content, so maybe Irn Bru does the same? Adjusts the ingredients? Feel free to add any input.

Added: Someone found the link to US distribution (thanks!) - but notice how it is independent stores not any supermarket chains (WalMart, Food Lion, Bloom, Safeway, Costco,  etc) : http://www.irn-bru-usa.com/distribution.html