My time here at Kent seems to be ending as quickly as it begun. In three days, I am jumping on a plane bound for Newark, and who knows the next time I will see Canterbury again. It’s a thought that makes me sad and nostalgic, even though I haven’t even left yet. But I am excited about seeing my family and my friends, and I am looking forward to my summer job working with kids at a summer camp. I hear that summertime has come back in PA; 90 degrees? I’d say it’s about 65 degrees here, and every day for the past two weeks has been cool and overcast. It’s not the greatest weather in the world, but this is England. And I will miss it.
After my long, grand adventure in April, I haven’t gone anywhere else. We got a month and a half for exams, and I only had three exams to take. So every day, I would study for only about an hour, then laze around, walk to town, visit with friends, cook different meals. It’s a nice life, and probably one of the last opportunities I will ever have to just relax without any responsibilities.
I suppose I cannot truly reflect on my study abroad experience without having left England yet. But I know some things for sure. The only way to truly understand different ways of life, and to see your own way of life in perspective, is to leave your home. Here in England, I have met and talked to people from all over– Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Mexico, Ghana, and Greece, just to name some. I wish I could say that I became close friends with many of these people from foreign places, but in actuality, my closest friends are American. This wasn’t just typical of Americans, though. The French like hanging out with the French, the Spanish like hanging out with the Spanish, etc. This doesn’t mean that people won’t interact outside their own language or nationality (quite the contrary), but really, people do find the most comfort in what is familiar.
I will miss many things about England. I will miss sticky toffee pudding, which is quite delicious. I will miss the relaxed, cozy atmosphere of pubs, which bars back in the States cannot seem to replicate. I will miss the abundance of public transportation. I will miss hearing British accents (and I am quite proud to say that I can now distinguish between Irish, Scottish, Oxford, Midland, and Southern England accents). I will miss all these things and more, except for the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound. Other than that, I can safely say that England is starting to feel like home to me, and now I need to leave.
For any Penn Staters considering study abroad, I would certainly recommend the University of Kent in Canterbury. The town is beautiful, the campus is lovely, and England has a rich and fascinating heritage. I have been lucky to experience it these past five months.
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