USA vs England

Over the past few days I have began to notice some major differences between England and America.

My house! All the houses here are adorable.

In my British Life and Culture class we have a seminar every other week (to anyone who is thinking of studying abroad at Kingston I would recommend this class). I have my seminar with Ellyn! The seminar is full of Americans... of course. But the lecturer (what we call professors here) asked each of us what we miss back home and what we will miss when we have to leave. That really got me thinking of all of the differences. One thing I do miss (besides my family and my dog)  is graham crackers. I didn't even think that they wouldn't have them here! When I said that in class the lecturer said someone in another seminar said the same thing.... good to know I'm not the only one missing them! Other people were saying things like driving and having stores open late (everything closes at 6 here except for restaurants and pubs). I do miss stores being open late but I can do without the driving! The only time I miss having a car is when I have to walk home from the bus stop at night when it is cold and rainy.

Speaking of buses, the public transportation here is all new for me! At Central we don't use buses. Our campus is small enough that we can walk everywhere and I lived in a dorm the past year and a half so I could easily walk everywhere. Now I have to make sure I leave my house an hour before my class starts, take a 10 minute walk to the bus stop, then a 20 minute bus ride (if the bus is on time, which is why you have to get there early. Sometimes the buses here can be unpredictable). When I first rode the bus by myself I was paying such close attention that I probably looked a little paranoid. Now I can listen to my iPod and not miss my stop... I am beginning to feel like a local! It's weird to think that seeing a double decker bus for the first time was a big deal to me and now it is what I ride to Uni everyday. Also at CMU I am use to getting to class about 10 to 15 minutes early, but here if you are even five minutes early people give you funny looks. In most of my modules the lecturer will not show up until the time the class is suppose to start. I can't help but be early when I ride the bus, though! I learned to always keep a magazine with me, though, so if I do get there too early I can go and sit in the library and read for a little while (which is perfect because according to my magazine journalism lecturer we don't read enough magazines).

So now onto the things I miss back home (mostly food.... I'm not a good cook so I've been living off of cereal and sandwiches lately). I already mentioned missing graham crackers, but going off of that I miss s'mores. I found out they don't have s'mores in Australia! Maddy and Sarah (both from Australia) were very confused when a bunch of Americans were trying to explain what it was. I also miss my mom's cooking. I know everyone says their mom is the best cook, but really my mom rarely makes something I don't like. The week before I left she made all of my favorite meals and it was amazing. I especially miss her homemade chocolate chip cookies! If you're reading this, mom, I want to learn how to make them when I get back. Fun fact: at the Bentalls Center in Kingston they have an "American Food" section. Home sweet home.... at a very expensive price!

Another thing I miss is always having somebody to talk to. Whether I was at my house or in my dorm back in the States there was always somebody around. There are people in my house here, but I am only allowed in my bedroom and the kitchen. The rest of the house is more bedrooms, an office or the tv room, which they use to watch tv as a family. When I am at my house I usually just stay in my room since I can't do a whole lot in the kitchen (remember.... I don't really cook). BUT thanks to skype, Facebook and Twitter I am always talking to my family and friends back home!

Now onto the things I am beginning to like (or become obsessed with) here! There is a drink here called a Lucozade. It's an energy drink but it is also carbonated. I don't drink a lot of pop, but this drink is amazing! My favorite flavor is the orange, but there are so many more to try! I also learned to listen to whatever Ellyn says to try. She kept talking about a Bueno Bar so I decided to try one. Best decision of my life (besides deciding to come to London, of course). It is made by the same company that makes Nuetella (if you knew my obsession with Nuetella last year then you would know how amazing this Bueno Bar is). I can't even describe how it tastes besides the fact that it is heaven in your mouth. Seriously. If you ever come to England get one right when you get off of the plane. As of today I am beginning to love the restaurant Nando's. When I first went I must have gotten the wrong thing because when I went for dinner today it was so much better! There is one in Washington D.C. I think but they need to put them all over the States!

My schedule got fixed (finally) so I now have one class on Monday night, two on Wednesday and one on Thursday and Friday. I am done earlier now on Friday, which I wanted in case I want to travel somewhere on the weekends. Also, in my magazine journalism class we got into groups to make our "magazine" for the semester. We had to think of an idea for what it would be about. The lecturer is kind of strict and wanted us to think outside of the box. One of the girls in our group came up with an idea of a magazine about coffee. Our other ideas were a teachers magazine and an art magazine. Thinking the lecturer would not like the coffee idea we saved that one last to tell her, but when she heard it she got really excited and said it was a really good idea. So now we are making a magazine about coffee!

One last story: Maddy's 20th birthday was on Wednesday! So on Tuesday Rachel, Kara and I went to the store (after doing laundry... it's a day long process here) to buy her a cake. Trying to find a "2" and "0" candle was quit difficult, so we ended up just getting a "1" and "9" because it was the closest to 20 we could get. A lot of our friends have British Life and Culture together on Wednesday so after class we went to Sarah's flat (apartment) and threw Maddy a surprise party! She had no idea and was so shocked by it! One thing I found interesting is that she was surprised that nobody let her buy anything on her birthday. You know how in America if it's your friends birthday and you go to dinner everyone pitches in to buy that person dinner? Well, apparently they don't do that in Australia! She didn't understand why we paid for everything.... we just told her that Americans were raised to be nice.