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Pre-departure reflections (getting ready for American football, cheerleading and Chipotle)
By Elizabeth Pace (Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) So it’s less than a week before I set off to the USA for my year abroad and I’m currently sat printing out every single email I have ever received from my partner university (as per my mum’s instructions) and trying to sum up my feelings about going.
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Working Abroad in the USA
By Nicole Rankine (University of Toronto, Canada) Hi everyone! So, whilst my semester in Toronto has sadly come to an end, the adventure has continued. Since leaving Canada I have found work in San Francisco for a marketing internship. This has so far been an incredible and valuable experience, though admittedly a little daunting at times. To help you decide on whether working abroad during the summer is right for you, I will go through some crucial points worth considering. 1. How do you find a job? Whilst you may find the idea of working abroad attractive, it can be hard to find the right job, and this can be…
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Manchester beanie takes on North America
By Ros Harwood (Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada) To finish up my blog posts about my year abroad, I have some photos to share giving a snapshot of the five weeks I spent travelling to mark the end of my year abroad. It was a fantastic trip and I ticked off a lot of places I have always wanted to visit! I attempted to mark each place with a Manchester beanie picture. Travel is such a key part of study abroad, make the most of the opportunities! Canada Toronto > Rocky Mountains (Banff and Jasper) > Vancouver USA: Seattle > Portland > Yosemite & Sierra National Parks > Death Valley >…
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8 THINGS YOU ONLY LEARN FROM STUDYING IN THE US
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) 1. You always seem to have some kind of test – whether it is a midterm or pop-up quiz, these are so frequent that after the first few tests you stop being surprised when your professor issues you with a test. 2. You have to submit papers via hard copy – for those of us who are used to staying up all night before an essay is due and submitting it online with only minutes to spare, this is quite a hassle. 3. Attendance contributes to your final grade – most professors take attendance every class to monitor students attendance and usually…
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My Experience Studying Abroad – A Year On
By Madeleine Taylor (University of Maryland, College Park, USA) I honestly cannot believe that it has been almost a year since I left Maryland and College Park. My time studying abroad sometimes feels like it was all a dream, and when it doesn’t it certainly feels a lot more fleeting than it actually was. When I think about it in relation to my whole three years at Manchester, the six months I spent abroad seem like a minuscule slice of time. But somehow those six months have managed to represent some of the most prominent and enjoyable of my time at university. At first settling back into Manchester was a little…
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JAMAICA JAMAICA
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) So I went to Jamaica for spring break and the first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane was the heat. Everyone working at the airport were super chilled and friendly. After the tedious task of getting through immigration and customs, I was picked up by my airport transfer. I would recommend this method of getting to your hotel as taxis are known for taking people to the wrong places. It took about an hour and a half to get to Negril from the airport, but the journey was relaxed and the driver was very talkative so that made it seem…
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Bagels, biscuits, and basketballs
By Stephen Fulham (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) stephen.fulham@student.manchester.ac.uk I arrived in Chapel Hill just under three weeks ago and it’s safe to say it’s been one of the busiest, and most exciting, times in my life so far. Yesterday I represented Manchester at UNC’s study abroad fair (complete with my ‘pie boy’ beanie hat) and thought it might be a sensible time to reflect on how I’ve been settling in. My flight from Heathrow to Raleigh-Durham was the longest one I’ve ever taken, and felt like it. But it already feels like so long ago. After Orientation on my first full day, I went for…
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The Country from the Air
By Sam Thoburn (University of California, San Diego, USA) San Diego is a long way from most places, and this year in America is precious time to be used diversely, so in the last three months I have flown more often than ever before in my life. And when I fly, I usually fly at night. That hasn’t been a conscious choice, but it has held true for the past few months. A break has come in that pattern now, though, and it has left my nocturnal partiality as nothing at all. For Christmas and New Year, I was in New England with my parents and my brother. It was…
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UNC Chapel Hill: Pre-departure Reflections
By Stephen Fulham (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) stephen.fulham@student.manchester.ac.uk I’m writing this while back at home in Bristol during the Christmas break. I’ll be flying from London Heathrow to Raleigh-Durham in a few weeks time to start my semester abroad in North Carolina. I haven’t even started packing yet, but my folder of travel documents is already meticulously ordered. I can’t help but think how fast this has all come around. I still remember writing my application and then finding out that I would be going to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill as if it were yesterday. I thought for this blog I’d…
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A Month at UCSD
By Sam Thoburn (University of California, San Diego, USA) I wrote my first entry for this blog weeks ago, when I had only been here for a day or two. When I wrote it, I was spending nights on the floor of my half a room and feeling, perhaps unsurprisingly, terrible. Aside from the barren nightly arrangements, every time I noticed that a turn of phrase or a product in the supermarket was even slightly different from what I know it to be at home, my assumption was that this was a change for the worse. I maintained rather longer than I should have the arrogance of the traveller, who…
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Final Reflections on Maryland
By Maddy Taylor (University of Maryland, USA) Leaving The University of Maryland was really hard. I knew it would be difficult to leave new friends behind and to let go of the travelling bug I’d caught during my time abroad. But what I didn’t expect was to find it so difficult to understand leaving. It felt almost as if I had started over and built a new university experience because everything was so different and exciting. So when it came to the end it was hard to comprehend the fleeting nature of my time abroad, and to let go of everything I had enjoyed so much. I’m the type of…
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Arrival and first two weeks
By Lucas Smith (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA) So I have touched down in Massachusetts, got settled and started classes. On one hand, it seems to have all happened so fast. However, it does seem a long time ago since I last sat down to write a blog piece just before my departure. The first two weeks here have been amazing. As to be expected, the first few days were a shock, and this probably was not helped by the continuous travel from Manchester to Amsterdam, then Boston and finally Amherst, all in the same day. However, in the following days I got out and about the campus. The campus…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
