"The greatest empire the World has ever seen"

Somewhere south of Ireland, the immensity of my journey abroad finally hit me. I think that in the weeks leading up to my departure for England I became so used to having people ask me, "Are you excited?" that I had became a bit saturated towards the emotion. If anything, I was more laid back and calm during this epic-length flight from Houston to London (I'm usually pretty nervous on flights) despite not having my new laptop get shipped to me in time due to the ice storm sweeping across The South.

Back to the flight though. I'm not good at sleeping in uncomfortable places (read: airplanes, buses, standing, anything that doesn't start with a b and end in -ed) so as I was looking out my window and watching daylight break over the horizon, the roller coaster ride of emotions hit me suddenly as my stomach wretched up. Laura, my UT advisor, had briefly explained about the highs and lows of going abroad, but she didn't explain how painful they could be. What this pain most likely signified was leaving my comfort zone and the realization that for the next six months or so I wouldn't be seeing my family, friends, watching TV shows I enjoy such as Entourage, or living the life I've grown accustomed to. It truly is a sickening feeling when the immensity of what you've signed up for finally hits you but at the same time the realization that outgrowing this feeling and maturing as a person is a major portion of WHY you signed up for it. It's not just for the partying, traveling, and cultivation of culture, it's about getting insight outside of what you can get in Austin or America and learning to deal with the ups and downs and build up yourself as a support system.

The other major importance of going abroad for an extended time appears to be having the ability to really lock down and compare other countries and cultures to your own. I've only been here two weeks, and a long two weeks it's been with lots of lessons learned of both important and goofy natures.

• First, in England remember to look right or you'll end up squashed like some poor Londoner did under a double decker my second day here.
  
• Secondly, bring spices for cooking with you. For the life of me I can't find Cavender's or anything remotely Cajun and the cafeteria food wears you down fast.
  
• Third, don't bother with a TV... especially in England. Since the BBC channels are both free and void of commercials they have this silly licensing fee which is about $250 for students.
  
• Fourth, take it easy on the partying and go at your own pace. Two factors about drinking that I've noticed sneaking up on Americans here. With the drinking age being 18 (or younger) in most of the EU the kids here are more experienced drinkers than anyone under 21 and thus can handle their liquor better. The second thing to mind about drinking is that drinks are typically twice as strong as they are in America. So learn your limits, you don't want to be that hungover/sick guy at the university orientation like my friend Nick was.
  
• If you do choose to go out, learn to turn in early. In the first few weeks you don't want to miss any classes as they truly are different from anything I've seen Stateside. Part of acclimating to the new area is getting comfortable in both your living and educational sectors. As unfortunate and unlikely as it sounds, your job here is to make grades above all else.
• Don't be afraid to go up to people and introduce yourself. As a foreigner natives are typically more than willing to help you and meet you as well. My accent has gotten me so much help at local stores it's ridiculous. I had an employee literally walk me around ASDA (England's Wal-Mart) and help me pick out everything I needed and then top it off by hooking me up with free hangers from the clothing department. So don't be embarrassed about being American and play it down, just be honest and upfront about who you are and what you're doing in their country and I guarantee more times than not people will be more helpful than they are back home.
• Make sure you have your computer ahead of time. I never realized how dependent upon the internet I was until I had to suffer through my first two weeks here without my laptop and scrounge to use a neighbor's or ride the bus to Uni and go into the library.
• Get your passport way, way early. I put in for mine in October, got it back with the birthday being listed as 55 instead of 85 and honestly couldn't get it repaired until the week before I left for England.
• Don't try to ship things from home or back to home. To get my laptop sent here cost over $120 and took forever. British customs had a heyday with extra forms I had to fill out upon it's arrival and on top of that they kept it for the maximum time allowed.
• Get involved in a club. I get all giddy at the notion of bragging to my best friend back home that I'm on the University of Leicester basketball team. There are tons of sports or common interest groups to join and they give you a group of friends outside the other Americans and neighbors in your residence that you'll meet.
• They talk funny here. There's no way around and many Brits even admit to having trouble understanding each other at times. Accents are the main signifier of social status and location in a person. If you're like my friend Charlie from Oxford, you have a posh and proper accent with a funny laugh that puts anyone in giggles. Or if you're like our other housemate Allister from Yorkshire, you have a rough-almost-Scottish accent that even sends Charlie for loops despite being a native. The other thing is we really do pronounce things different. For instance aluminum is pronounced ah-loo-min-ee-umm here. They really got a kick out of me saying it the was it's said in America so just be cognizant of the fact that when they don't understand you it's because of how it's pronounced and not your accent.
  

Ok, so the first blog is out of the way and up and running. If you do read this and are considering going abroad or already have signed up to do so you can email me from the email listed in my profile. I highly encourage anyone toying with the idea of studying abroad to do so and especially in Europe. It may be expensive, but it really opens your eyes to how different America is from the rest of the West. If at the end you come out thinking the US is the best or worst country in the World, at least you have some real experience to make that belief instead of the people who base their opinions off of CNN, Fox or what some well-traveled anchor says about the World's opinion of America. Contrary to popular belief, hardly anyone seems to hate Americans on a personal level in England or France (from my experience) and Denmark from a friend's experience who is studying there at the moment.