In truth, Martina, Francesca, Heddy and I heard about a cute café in Stanmer, the tiny village next to the university. See Stanmer for more information. After I threw on jeans and a tee-shirt, a far cry from a dress and bonnet, we set off. Alas, we didn’t encounter any dashing heroes to save us when our carriage was stuck in mud, but aside from that, it was a picture perfect afternoon. We spent a good thirty minutes roaming up and down green hills, half-heartedly searching for the village, and when we found it, it didn’t disappoint. We were warned that there’s not much there, but the little that is there is charming.
We walked along an old road into town, and at the end of it was a seemingly ancient church surrounded by a beautiful and peaceful cemetery with moss-covered gravestones, some of which I like to think are centuries old. Beside it was an old manor house that I’m determined to infiltrate before the term is over. After snapping pictures (some of which I promise will make it onto Facebook one day!), we kept walking into what appeared to be the “busy” part of town, which consisted of stables full of cows, a handful of quintessential English cottages, and our long-sought-after café. We ordered hot beverages and pastries, and even though I drank hot chocolate instead of tea, it felt like a very English thing to do. It was warm enough to sit outside, and in addition to enjoying the nice weather, we amused ourselves by taking pictures with the stereotypical red telephone box next to our table.
When the warm beverages ceased to protect us against the chill (after all, it’s still winter, even if it was sunny), we walked through the rest of town, which was filled with small and muddy children crowding around the stables. English children are kind of adorable, just in case anyone had any doubts. I wondered if the families live in Stanmer, because someone has to occupy those cottages, but somehow, I doubt it.
We meandered back to uni (the university; I still speak like an American, but these British terms are slowly creeping into my vocabulary), and because I was present, we had to get a little bit turned around. Fortunately, it appears that all roads lead to Sussex, so despite nearly ruining my new black boots with mud, we made it back (I accidentally wrote “home” there…you can call it a Freudian slip, but I’m not consciously ready to call this place home yet). It sounds ridiculously sappy, but the walk and the afternoon in general took my breath away. The scenery is gorgeous, almost on par with Galena, and this is truly how I imagine some people, including Jane Austen, have occupied their time for centuries. It’s a silly thought, but there it is. It was a peaceful and delightful afternoon, and it was one of the rare moments where my long-ago created expectations matched up with reality.
That night, I ate mushroom risotto and aubergines (eggplants) with turkey and cheese, deliciously prepared by Francesca and Martina, and then we watched Sliding Doors. It was a great end to a great day.
In other news, it has been exactly a month since I dazedly stepped off the plane at Heathrow and began this little adventure across the pond. Despite many of your warnings against comparing my expectations to reality, this seems like an appropriate time to take a preliminary look at how the semester abroad in my head matches up to the semester abroad in the real world.
Because you know how much I love to complain, let’s start with the negatives:
-I did not expect to have so much trouble integrating with British students. I’ve been friends with exchange students at Wash. U. for two and a half years, and after observing them, I thought I knew what worked and what didn’t. I decided to live on campus, where British students live, and join lots of extracuriculars, where British students congregate. I assumed that with these efforts, things would fall into place. But the fact of the matter is, like in America, everyone already has their groups of friends, and so far, I haven’t found an opening.
-I didn’t expect to have to grow up quite so fast to deal with all the problems I’ve had with my dorm. From a black mold growth that my porter won’t get rid of even after four weeks, to problems with the internet service that take an eternity to get resolved, no matter how crappy my first apartment is, I don’t think any sort of repair will ever phase me again.
-I didn’t expect to have to work so hard in my classes. It's not that I'm lazy or not used to working hard (really, I promise, I'm going to grow up to be a workaholic!) but everyone told me that a semester in England was, academically at least, going to be the easiest semester of my life. Maybe it’s just my type A personality, but that is not what I have found at all. There is a ton of reading to do, and even though all of my exams are in May and June, I have massive papers to write, and I need to start at least planning them now. So much for a break from the Wash. U. workload…
-I didn’t expect to feel so cut off from my friends back home. For those of you reading this, please don’t take that as a criticism! It just means I miss you, a lot. Skype, e-mail, and Facebook are all great and make my life much, much better. However, the fact is, we’re all extremely busy, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for any of us to keep in touch to the extent that we would like. It turns out there’s something really important about actually being on the same continent as friends; who knew?
But I like to end things on a positive note, so let’s take a look at all the pleasant surprises that have come my way:
-I didn’t expect strangers to be so helpful. I (and probably you) have lost track of the number of times I’ve gotten myself lost and have needed to ask for help, and each and every time, whoever I have talked to has turned out to be a kind Samaritan. This extends to most of the people here at the university, who have been happy to answer my many questions and literally or figuratively point me in the right direction.
-I didn’t expect to find such a welcoming group of friends so early. I met a lovely group of Erasmus (European) exchange students a few weeks ago, and despite the fact that most of them have been here since September and knew each other long before I arrived, they have included me in everything from outings into Brighton, to parties and nights out, to daily lunches and dinners. Hanging out with them has been so much fun so far, and I’m looking forward to even more good times!
-I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to visit so many places. Sure, I hoped I’d be able to do my share of country-hopping on the continent, but it looks like I’ll travel to Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France before I leave. This completely justifies my choice of study abroad locations, if not the decision to study abroad itself.
-I didn’t expect the food to be so good. Stop laughing, I’m not joking! I haven’t eaten out too frequently, but everywhere I have eaten has been pretty good. True, I’ve mostly gone to Eastern-type restaurants, but even the little pub grub I’ve tried hasn’t been bad. And of course the chocolate here is far superior to American chocolate. My new favorite food is Cadbury’s milk chocolate spread. It’s like peanut butter, except it’s chocolate, quite similar to nutella, which is VERY popular in Europe (in fact, there’s a nutella commercial playing on the radio right now). You spread it on bread and eat it, although I’m happy to report that it’s also very good on cookies, cereal, Special-K bars and with peanut butter. In fact, I have yet to discover a food that isn’t improved with chocolate.
In summary, I didn’t expect the experience to be this difficult, and I didn’t expect to be able to actually handle it. But it is, and I am, and I’m learning a lot about myself and the world in a way that I know I couldn’t have back home. It remains to be seen whether I will happily count down the days until I come home or sadly mark off all the days that have already passed, but time is flying by, it will be June before I know it, so get exited, since I know you can’t wait for an even longer list of positive and negative experiences…
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