1) All the travelling!
To say America is a pretty big place is an understatement. It’s huge. So going exploring is the best! In a couple of hours you can be on a different side of the country experiencing different climates, food and entirely different accents. While I was stateside, I managed to sneak away from University for weekends here and there to get my fix of travelling America. I easily managed to get to Chicago, San Francisco, and Vancouver, as well as getting to see a lot of Minnesota thanks to being invited back home by my amazing roomie.
2) Meeting new people
Meeting entirely new people is always exciting, although this can be said of studying abroad anywhere. I feel like Americans get a lot of bad press, but all the people I met while away were nothing but extremely friendly. Even if someone you meet isn’t exactly the loveliest person, there will never be an awkward moment thanks to the guaranteed ice breaker of them asking you to say something in our British accents that they love so much (My life was eerily reminiscent of Colin’s from Love Actually during his adventures in Wisconsin). The most important lesson I learnt whilst away was that just because I had to return doesn’t mean that the awesome friends I made will disappear. Skype and Whatsapp are lifesavers for friends stuck on different sides of the pond. Besides, think how earth shatteringly epic that airport reunion will be.
3) Going hard with American cuisine
Upon heading out to the States, I rationalized with myself that it was totally acceptable to go hard in trying American food, despite the detriment it would have to my waistline. All part of the cultural experience eh? My friends took as much pleasure in making me try candy that they discovered I had never tried before (Mike and Ikes, funnel cake, Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and Cheetos), as I did in making them attempt to pronounce English counties (Gloucestershire/ ‘Glaw-sester-shiiiii-reyy??’)
4) No language barriers!
Although the absent language barrier is a gift, it was sometimes harder to communicate than I expected, whether simply due to different words, or more unexpectedly the issues of my friends trying to decipher my accent. There were the typical conundrums that everyone has heard of that became painfully true, such as clothing issues- the absence of trousers and jumpers in American wardrobes, instead replaced with pants and sweaters- food problems – the confusing translations of Fries = chips, Chips = crisps, and absolutely nothing meaning crisps to the Americans. However the most bitter disappointment was upon finding that asking for a biscuit would not reward me with the magnificent chocolate digestive that I was so badly craving, but would instead have me be given a form of bread roll. However, many of my problems were fixed by simply having to substitute some of my words for those used by Americans, if only to make sense to them. Petrol became gas, fizzy drinks became soda or pop, football became soccer, and so on. Alternatively, saying words or short sentences in an American accent in restaurants or at shops simply to be understood was a sure fire cheat to success. After being asked three times to repeat myself when asking for water, from then on I gave in and assumed an (admittedly awful) American accent.
5) Getting a taste of the American Sporting experience
In attending an American University, you will inevitably (and you definitely should!!) end up going to some sort of sports game. For me, I got football tickets when they went on sale as I had been told that I would be missing out if I didn’t. And I’m so glad I did. The experience of going to a game in itself is so much fun. Everyone gets dressed up in university apparel, complete with face paint, banners and flags. Watching the epicness of the marching band playing on the field and the cheerleaders do their terrifying looking flips and throws made me feel like I had stepped right into a high school film. Similarly was the feeling I got from going to ice hockey, basketball and volleyball games. I had decided that I would try out as many things as I could that I couldn’t do at home, and heading over to the sports stadiums was just the tip of that iceberg.
6) Experiencing completely different traditions and events
Depending on the time of year you’re out in the States you’ll experience different American traditions and events. During the Fall when I was out, I got to see what Thanksgiving and Black Friday were like. I had absolutely no idea (bar what I had gained from that one Friends episode where Joey tries to eat an entire turkey by himself) what Thanksgiving consisted of. Being a part of this day of celebration was such a great eye opener as I had never experienced any other family orientated traditions other than those that I had been brought up on in England. A big tick in the cultural enlightenment box!
7) Gaining almost an entire wardrobe of university apparel
This may just be me, but I got seriously excited about this. Wearing school colours and official school apparel is such a big thing over the pond that my friends thought it was weird how much we didn’t do that sort of thing over here. You looked a little bit out of place at sports games or any university event if you weren’t in University apparel, so I have subsequently gained a significant portion of my wardrobe that consists solely of clothes from my University. It doesn’t hurt that my University’s colours were the same as those of Gryffindor, thus making me look even more awesome.
8) The small pleasures of the American grading system
From what I gathered of it, the American grading system’s scale allowed for higher grades to be given for the same amount of work that at Exeter would give you a 70%. So it was pretty exciting for the first time in my university career to have gotten a 93% on something!? Never before had such a high score been spoken of in the corridors of the Peter Lanyon building. Although it equated to exactly what is achievable at Exeter, it was all far more exciting. 93%!!? Little things, little things.
9) You’re so far away from home that you have the opportunity to really create something of your own
The independence that being so far away from home gives you can’t be beaten. I’d only ever been to the States briefly as a child, a trip that I hardly remembered, so for me, I was completely starting over somewhere new. Yes, being so far away from home is scary, you can’t just go home when something goes wrong, or you want some of your Mum’s food, and having to remember to constantly carry around an adapter can be the biggest pain ever, and the time difference may royally suck, but the incredible experience you get out of the opportunity that you’ve seized is well worth it. Although saying goodbye to all of this and all of the friends you made is hard, you’ve got something amazing to go back to.
10) You’ve pretty much just signed up for the best time of your life.
Enough said, really. ‘MURICA