Back in the U S S A
Got back from England on Thursday! I'll probably make a longer friends only post about it in a bit, but here's the jist:
1. Bradford and Durham are unfairly different. You can cut the racial tension in Bradford with a knife. It's economically depressed, and there's little to do without going on a bus or train (other than an abundance of admittedly excellent curry places). Durham is a bit like Hogwarts, with its Norman castle and Cathedral, tiny winding cobblestone streets, and beautiful winding footpaths along the River Wear. Socially it's too far the opposite of Bradford - not very ethnically diverse, and the university seems to be populated by gorgeous people with unlimited clothing budgets.
2. England is a foreign country for me. Some alert guy saved me from being hit by a double-decker bus in Bradford, because I was looking the wrong way for traffic. I had to look tipping practices up at the library, because I realized I had no clue whether one tips in bars (no), restaurants (only sit-down ones, and 10% is standard) or taxis (you can, 10% max).
3. I love English trains. Expensive they may be, but they go 120 miles an hour and seem to have relatively sensible schedules to Durham, slightly less to Bradford because it's in the center of the country and not as frequently serviced. Apparently there's always repairs going on, though, so I probably had a better experience than some.
4. Apparently the fee system for British universities has changed a lot in the last 20 years, and not even British students are guaranteed to have their fees paid anymore (my parents' families only had to pay a living stipend for their child, according to their ability to pay). There's going to be some soul-crushing debt to come out of this venture, sad considering that I only started making money for myself three years ago. Breaking even is such a nice feeling...
5. Getting Elliott a work visa might be more interesting than we'd anticipated....
6. Man, I'm looking forward to studying in the UK. Terrified, but excited...
7. My family there are really interesting folks, and it will be good to be closer to them.
1. Bradford and Durham are unfairly different. You can cut the racial tension in Bradford with a knife. It's economically depressed, and there's little to do without going on a bus or train (other than an abundance of admittedly excellent curry places). Durham is a bit like Hogwarts, with its Norman castle and Cathedral, tiny winding cobblestone streets, and beautiful winding footpaths along the River Wear. Socially it's too far the opposite of Bradford - not very ethnically diverse, and the university seems to be populated by gorgeous people with unlimited clothing budgets.
2. England is a foreign country for me. Some alert guy saved me from being hit by a double-decker bus in Bradford, because I was looking the wrong way for traffic. I had to look tipping practices up at the library, because I realized I had no clue whether one tips in bars (no), restaurants (only sit-down ones, and 10% is standard) or taxis (you can, 10% max).
3. I love English trains. Expensive they may be, but they go 120 miles an hour and seem to have relatively sensible schedules to Durham, slightly less to Bradford because it's in the center of the country and not as frequently serviced. Apparently there's always repairs going on, though, so I probably had a better experience than some.
4. Apparently the fee system for British universities has changed a lot in the last 20 years, and not even British students are guaranteed to have their fees paid anymore (my parents' families only had to pay a living stipend for their child, according to their ability to pay). There's going to be some soul-crushing debt to come out of this venture, sad considering that I only started making money for myself three years ago. Breaking even is such a nice feeling...
5. Getting Elliott a work visa might be more interesting than we'd anticipated....
6. Man, I'm looking forward to studying in the UK. Terrified, but excited...
7. My family there are really interesting folks, and it will be good to be closer to them.