My friend is from Birmingham and she was also telling me all about her hometown and what kind of place it is. She compared it to a smaller version of London, but a bigger than Oxford. So what I am picturing is something that reminds me either of Boston or maybe a little smaller, Charlotte? But anyways, she was saying how she is actually scared to walk around alone in the city, always holding onto her bag just in case for robbers, and her parents even forbid her from going out into town after dark because it is so dangerous. I find this such a funny concept because I have never lived in a place like that before. Back home, I live in a small town called Beverly Farms, where everyone knows everyone and it is very rare for any crimes to happen. Then I move to a place like Oxford where I feel more than comfortable walking around by myself anywhere because of the type of people that live here. It is a more upperclass, high-end type of place, especially with the types of shops that are all over the city. High Point, on the other hand, I would never dare step off of my campus without some sort of companion. That place scares me to the bone with how sketchy it is anywhere outside of the university's walls. Yet within High Point University, I feel as though I could walk around all hours of the night and not be once bit nervous.
It's unbelievable how many different things we have in America compared to here. Even the schooling here is so much different. Not only do we go to class just twice a week pretty much, but most of the classes don't even take attendance! It allows us to have so much freedom and independence on choosing whether or not to go to class or not. Which is sort of ironic because coming from a free country you would expect it to be the other way around. Maybe it's the university's way of giving the students more responsibility? Or maybe it has something to do with the actual teachers themselves not caring as much? Who knows. But all I can say is that there definitely are some days where I cannot wait to get back to the US, back to my old routine of class 5 days a week, and back to the old way of learning of which I have grown up with over the past 20 years.
Another aspect about England that I just cannot wrap my head around is the fact that it rains at least once a day every day here. It's as if I never know what to wear because one second it might be sunny when I wake up in the morning, but after my first class it could be down pouring rain. I understand that we are on an island, but what else could be the cause of this strange precipitation change? I know England is known for how much it rains, but I was definitely not expecting this.
It's funny that I have been here for over two months already, and I am still continuing to find so many differences between America and England. It's almost as if I find something new, or learn about something new every day. Another great example is the fact that they do not sell cookie dough in the grocery stores here. In fact, they don't even sell any sort of cookie dough mix or brownie mix! What is a girl supposed to do at that time of the month?! It baffles me how different the food choices are over here, which I am getting more used to day by day but I have a feeling I am going to go back to the United States and think that everything tastes so much sweeter and flavorful.
I am going to Scotland next weekend with two of my good friends, Courtney and Emily, and I am very interested to see how it differs from not only America, but England as well. I hear jokes all the time about how similar Scotland and England are "when they like each other", but I have no idea what they mean by that. They are attached, yet Scotland tries to make themselves different by having the scottish pound and a little bit of a different, more harsh accent than the English. Not that I have ever been there before or experienced it, but that is what I am expecting before I get there.
I love the fact that I am so close to all of these different countries and I am having all of these opportunities to travel all over the place. Its helping me find my purpose in the world, and making me feel much more independent. It gives me a chance to look at myself, and see how I react to certain things and how I handle being so far away from home without any of the resources or support system that I am used to back in the United States. I am learning how to better rely on myself rather than others and being more comfortable in my own skin. I think that I definitely come off as a more confident and happy individual than I actually am. With every new experience that I have here, I feel as though I am becoming a stronger, more well-rounded person. It makes me so happy to see how far i've come in the last 6 years and to be honest, although I would not have admitted this a few years back, I would not change a second of it for the world. I feel like as I find so many differences between America and England, I also keep finding differences in myself as time goes on as well.
On a side note today was election day in the United States, and President Obama was re-elected. Personally, I am not a hung fan of him, and neither is my family so we are all a little bit disappointed. I am not that huge into politics but I know enough to care and to have an opinion. Sometimes I do wish that I lived in a place like England that had a monarchy rather than a democracy, but then I would lose my voice in my country and have to have complete faith in the royal blood. It's a difficult concept because you feel as though you don't have as strong of a voice when the election does not go the way you want, but I guess you still have to have faith that the person who is elected is going to make decisions and do things for the betterment of the entire country.
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