Living in England has definitely been a huge culture shock for me, at least more than what I expected. Not only has it been hard living away from everyone that I am comfortable with, like my family, best friends, and boyfriend, but it has been hard adapting to the ways of the English. For example, when I am out to eat, or I get off the bus, or someone holds the door open for me I always am used to saying “thank you” and getting the reply “your welcome”, except in England they tend to use the word “cheers” in replacement for all of that. Driving on the opposite side of the road has also been a bit of a struggle and as funny as it sounds so has walking around because when you pass people, do you go left? or do you go right? In america, you always go right, here, (at least what I have experienced so far) you always go left. Starting classes today was also a bit of a culture shock for me because I am so used to living on the small HPU campus and waking up 5 minutes before my class because it was only a 2 minute walk out of my dorm room. Here, I have to take the bus places and walk about 15 minutes to get anywhere from my flat. One thing that has really made me feel like an outsider is the fact that the staff has keys to come right into our flat without even knocking. The amount of times I have walked downstairs to people cleaning at 8 in the morning is ridiculous. I thought the English were all about being polite and courteous to others, the staff here has definitely not shown me that so far. On the other hand, there are definitely some things that I have been able to get used to in the past 3 weeks. For example, knowing how to navigate downtown, counting out the change when paying for things, and even using military time. 
The fact that I already speak English gives me an obvious inside perspective as well. I could not imagine going to Italy, France, or Spain and trying to communicate with people when I barely know how to say anything besides “my name is” or “where is the bathroom”! Although we have only been here a few weeks, I have already learned so much about myself and what kind of person I want to become. This is a process that I have been looking forward to for a long time because it allows me to appreciate what I have at home and all of the opportunities I have to experience here. Feeling like an outsider in a foreign country is not always as bad as some people make it out to be. I actually find it fun and interesting because of the amount of stuff that I get to learn about people and their culture. It allows me to see what else there is out there besides the ways of Americans. Also, being an outsider can be fun because people always comment on your accent, your gestures, even the way you may eat and it opens an awareness of yourself that would not have been possible in a country where you are surrounded by so many familiarities. I plan on visiting quite a few other countries while I am studying here, and although it’s going to be an adjustment to adapt, once again, to a different type of lifestyle, it’s going to be a great experience that I will remember the rest of my life and will create more awareness and respect for myself of the diversity of the people in this world. 
Today was the first day of classes, and let me tell you, this is definitely not going to be as easy as I was expecting. Theres a lot more reading and independent study involved than there is in the US. I am excited to finally be starting school and having a routine though, I was getting a little sick of having too much free time on my hands. I am also starting to book a lot of the trips for the upcoming few months. This may be the only time that I have the chance to come to Europe and I definitely don't want to spend the entire time in England. We have Oktoberfest coming up in a few weeks, Italy right after to visit one of my friends, and hopefully Denmark not long after that. It's stressful to book these trips because I can see my money balance declining, but I know it is going to be soooo worth it to be broke when i get back to the states.
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