The main goal for my time abroad is to gain more independence and possibly look at graduate opportunities within my field of study. However, while I'm in the UK, I don't want to live like a tourist the entire time. Honestly, that would defeat the purpose, and it gets tiring after so many days. One part of learning to live like a local is by being involved in the campus/community of my host university. While I don't believe many local students will still be on campus I do know that there is a community of international students from around the world that I'll have the chance to meet and acquaint myself with.
To me, living like a local means buying things locally, taking public transportation to and from places, and going places besides large tourist areas. I'll have access to a kitchen, so shopping at local grocery stores for food is also a large part of living local for me and going about life there much as I would be doing here while in school. It's important to live like a local because it may be cheaper at times, but it also allows you to get the full experience of what it's like to live in that country rather than just be a tourist while over there.
Cooking my own dinners some nights with people in our dorm can help us to fully immerse ourselves, as well as using and learning the Tube and bus system. If there are any local community events that happen on campus or in the near vicinity while I'm there, that would also be a great experience to take part in and give me an opportunity to break out of the tourist bubble.
Should there still be local students at the university while we're there, I'd like to think that I would talk to them and attempt to make friends with them. Perhaps there will be some enrolled in the summer school program that we're taking part in and there'll be an opportunity there. For friends in general, there is currently a Facebook group that I'm in for the students attending the program from across the United States, as well as from Australia. There will definitely be people there to make friends with.
As for my day to day, I imagine it probably won't be too different there than it is here. I'll wake up and go to class until around 2 or 3 o'clock and then be free for the rest of the day. Because I don't have a meal plan at the university I'm going to, I'll have to figure out lunch/dinner plans every day, but I'm sure it won't be too difficult with the different people I'll be with. On the weekends I believe we have some excursions planned, but on days we don't have anything, I think I'll probably explore and get to know the area where I'm staying.
While culture shock is a real and often crushing part of traveling to new cultures, there are things you can do to ease the transition, and I intend to do a few of them. Luckily I'll be traveling to the UK with two other people from this class and will be in class with one of them, so I can definitely utilize them when I may be feeling a bit homesick for Maryville. I also intend to call my mom a bit if I'm feeling off, because I know I have certainly done this in the past when I've felt homesick and been halfway around the world. Journaling is also a tactic I'm planning on using so that I can vent my feelings to the page without anyone necessarily seeing it that I don't want to. Over time the transition will start to get easier and before long, I'm sure I'll be coming back here and experiencing culture shock all over again for a country I've always lived in.
By living like a local while in the UK, I really hope to get a sense of appreciation for life over there and how students go through university schooling. I will also expand my knowledge and appreciation for culture in the UK overall by living like people over there. By living there for a month, I think it'll make my experience so much better than had I just visited for a little while with my parents as a tourist. While things will be similar there as they are here, there will be things that are different, and I'm really looking forward to experiencing those different things that I wouldn't be able to experience here.
No comments:
Post a Comment