Jett's Study Abroad Experience
Spring 2023
Spring 2023
It's shocking to think that I have already been here in London for 3 weeks, as it feels like just yesterday that I arrived in the Heathrow airport feeling super nervous about living in a new country. While the excitement has set in and I'm certain that I want to live here someday, there are a couple things that I realize you must get used to throughout day-to-day life in the United Kingdom.
The first very important part of local life that takes getting used to is public transportation everywhere. While this is really convenient, and quite honestly, preferable to owning a car for me, there are also problems that arise here in the form of strikes. This week was my first time experiencing a train strike, which I didn't realize are actually very common here. It essentially means that workers who are responsible for running the National Rail Services and Underground services all take days off at the same time in order to protest for better wages and working conditions. By striking, all train services are interrupted and shutdown till the workers come back to work, which sends a message to the government. While I believe that this is an extremely important cause, there are huge repercussions when hundreds of thousands of people rely on train services to get around. I experienced my first train strike on Friday, February 3rd (which happens to be my birthday), when my group was on the way to see a show on the west end of London. This strike shutdown the whole rail system going north/east and caused the rest of the rail lines to get very crowded. This turned a trip that should have taken 45 minutes, into a trip that took close to 2 hours. I can't complain about the strikes since I agree with the reason, but I also strongly sympathize with all the people who are affected by the shutdown of public transportation. The next day-to-day life aspect that I realize is important to get used to is that London is a very multi-cultural city. I knew this coming into study abroad, but it became very apparent to me as I sit in my classes. The moment I really realized just how diverse this country was, was in my global marketing class when my tutor (essentially the same as a professor in UK universities) was showing the class different examples of advertisements coming from around the world. Some of the advertisements would be considered extremely offensive in the United States, however when we were shown these ads in class, many people found them to be quite logical and acceptable. I won't give any specific examples, but these moments were eye-opening for me, as it set in just how different cultures can be. I always knew that cultures were very different around the world, but it does not always feel entirely real until you experience it yourself, and I truly wish that everyone could have moments where they get exposed to experiences that connect them with the rest of the world on a whole new level. While these were just a few examples of day-to-day life that are different between the UK and the US, this week also consisted of my 21st birthday which was a super fun. Of course, students come out to different countries to study, but it's also important for them to go out and see the world and connect with people, so they can see the world through other lenses. This being said, aside from seeing the rail strike, a big group of students from Hawaii went out with me to celebrate my birthday. We ended up going to a small mom and pop shop to get some of the best fish n chips that we had ever had, and then we traveled all the way over to Wembley Stadium to see an amazing performance of the Broadway musical Newsies. This night in particular was really special because it took us very far out of our way due to the train strikes, and also having fish n chips at such a small little pub allowed us to be much more exposed to the British culture and just have fun with all the people that came out from Hawaii. While this week went by very fast there were so many fun moments, eye-opening moments, and moments that I will never forget. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked this week since a big part of being here has just been living in the moment, especially with all the strikes that have been happening (there were strikes every day that got frustrating and confusing). However, I did take a picture that I will leave here at the end of the post, of a gorgeous street that I came across when I was out on my own one day.
1 Comment
KitsMom
2/13/2023 07:50:38 pm
I don't see much green in the city pics, though I must say the city looks pretty clean!! Is recycling big there or not?
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July 2023
While I attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I was born in Littleton Colorado and grew up in a rural area. When I moved out to Hawaii for school, I quickly found my groove in Shidler College of Business as a triple major studying Marketing, International Business, and Quantitative Economics, and I was later chosen to be one of the Shidler Global Leaders. This and several other scholarships, including the Johnson Scholarship, gave me the amazing opportunity to go spend a semester abroad in the United Kingdom.
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