Two Days to Go!

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I've been very busy seeing friends, finishing up Christmas presents, going to holiday parties, the whole kit and kaboodle. Not to mention attempting to pack up enough stuff to last me for six months in a foreign country with "unpredictable" weather (that descriptor is not my own, thank you Arcadia).

It's especially difficult when no one has a specific packing list anywhere. There are suggestions from both York and Arcadia, pretty much saying to bring a hat, scarf, and gloves and some boots and a warm waterproof coat. And one nice outfit. Well now, that's extremely helpful, thank you so much for helping me know what to pack for six months across three seasons. But since I've been to England before and I've traveled a fair bit in my life, I at least have a general sense of what I need to bring. It's just so stressful and messy- I've got piles of clothes on our dining room table and on chairs all over our living room. It looks like my closet exploded on our house. And then trying to get all my other things in order with the bank, my credit cards, getting British Pounds and Euros, figuring out technology and medications, toiletries, and everything else... there is stuff EVERYWHERE.

It's really difficult to choose what to bring though, especially since I'm only trying to bring one checked bag (the fee for a second bag is $100) and my carry ons. I've been stocking up on "real sweaters," as my roommate Nicki calls them, at the after Christmas sales because I own mostly cardigans which really don't fend off the famous British chill in the winter. I also had to look for some dress pants and nice shirts because I apparently didn't own any... oops. In general, students in Europe and the UK dress way nicer for their lectures and seminars than American students do. Yoga pants, sweats, and pajama pants are an absolute never to wear to class (not that I ever do that, but Wooster does have a sweatpants and yoga pants pandemic). I'm still taking a pair of yoga pants for sitting around in my room, but they won't see the light of day outside my building haha.

But I'm getting pretty close to having everything all set, which is good, since I leave so soon.

My mother is pumping me full of Airborne which is gross but hopefully I won't get sick on the plane. We hit the ground running once we land in London with our orientation, so I won't have time to get sick. Looking at my orientation schedule, I really don't have too much to do each day with Arcadia, so I'll have some time to explore London, which is awesome. Megan and I will probably check out the Imperial War Museum during some of our time off, because it relates to both our research projects at Wooster :-) The Arcadia London office is in Bloomsbury, near the West End theatre district, so we'll be staying in a hotel there and doing activities around the area. There's a British Museum Visit scheduled which I'm super excited about!

There's an organization called "Host UK" giving a presentation at our orientation. They are a program for study abroad students to do a homestay with a family while their in the UK even if they're living in a dorm or university apartment, so I'm definitely going to try to do that while I'm there. Last time I did a homestay in England in Bath, I was Johnny Depp's neighbor for three days! :-p But really, it's a great way to get in touch with the locals and immerse myself in Britishness.

I'm also working on reading through all the material from York and Arcadia. There's TONS of guides for international students and visiting students, academic support (there's a whole site about "academic culture shock" and how to prepare for the British system, which is what I'm currently perusing). There are safety guides from the British Council, guides for student services, the libraries, and countless other things. There is so much information (but no packing lists), it's kind of overwhelming.

I've been oscillating between super excited and feeling like I'm going to throw up from nerves and anxiety and being petrified. I've been abroad a number of times before, but that was always with an organized group of people I knew before I left (there are only four Arcadia students going to York for the semester from the entire U.S., and I know two of them, if I include myself haha). I've been going away to sleepaway camps and travel adventures since I was six or seven, so leaving home is nothing new to me, but this is so different from all those experiences- I'm going to be the most independent I've ever been, in a different country, at a different university where I'm going to have to start from scratch. I know where I stand in Wooster, academically, socially, and I know the secrets and the campus and everything. But I'll be like a first-year again when I get to York, whose campus is gargantuan in comparison to Wooster's. I won't know anyone other than Megan, I won't know where things are, I won't even really know how the academic system works- I'll have 4-5 hours of class a week, and a 70% on an assignment is considered "distinguished work" and is admirable. What.

So I'm terrified, but also so very excited. This is something I've been dreaming of since I was like thirteen, and it still doesn't feel like it's actually happening. Hopefully I don't have a freakout when my parents drop me off at the airport on Tuesday haha.

Vanbrugh College

A lot of York-related stuff has happened in the last two days, so I thought I'd update the universe!

Yesterday (6 December) I enroled online and updated my account with IT. I now have access to my York email and all the official student funness online.

Which meant I could apply for accommodation! It wasn't that exciting, especially because as a visiting student I had to just select "any college" and not choose from a listing. But I did write my top three college choices in the comments section of my application (Vanbrugh, Langwith, Halifax), which worked in my favor.

This morning I woke up and there was an offer waiting for me in my York email for a room in Vanbrugh! I wasn't expecting a response so quickly but I'm relieved to know where I'm living. I was very happy that I got my first choice for accommodation. I have a single and I'm in a catered dorm, meaning I'll have a meal plan of sorts but I'll still have access to a kitchen I'll share with my flatmates (hallmates in American) so I'll be able to cook for myself if I so wish.

I'm in Room A012 in Block A of Le Page Court, which is really great. Le Page Court is part of the Vanbrugh Nucleus, which houses the dining hall, college bar, computer facilities, and some of the history department offices.

AND CHECK OUT THIS DINING HALL. It's the Mondrian restaurant!! As an art history minor, I am so geeked out it's ridiculous. So pretty much I'm living in a really great location within the college itself, as well as on campus, since Vanbrugh is kind of right in the middle of things. It's about two minutes from the library and the grocery store, obviously the most important things haha. And since I'm studying history, it's really nice to be right by the department offices.

So, in case you couldn't tell, I'm extremely happy with my accommodation offer :-)

Here's a video about Vanbrugh (not the best quality, but you can get a sense of where I'll be living):

On top of all the accommodation excitement, I also received an email from the history tutor for visiting student about choosing courses, so that was exciting as well! I have to choose my top four choices of the courses being offered and email her a list.

I also gained access to the VLE (which is like the York equivalent of Woodle/Moodle/Blackboard), where I went through the "Welcome to History 2012" module, so I learned a lot about the history department at York. There were a ton of really helpful videos about how modules work, the difference between lectures, seminars, and tutorials, and advice from current students. It's really nice that the lecturers and professors have two hours of office hours every week, something American students can take for granted. I've heard a lot of European and British schools don't really do the whole "open office hours" thing, so I'm really happy to hear York appreciates the value of it.

Pretty much I'm getting extremely excited, more so that before, and I cannot wait to get to York in four weeks!

Some thoughts

Sometimes I just get really overwhelmed with excitement about this whole thing.

Like today, when I was talking with one of my favourite professors, about how soon this is all going to become a reality for me. It's less than a month until I leave on a plane for six whole months in England. It's something I have been dreaming about since I was 13, and something I've known was a possible reality for the past year, but the fact that this is ACTUALLY going to happen? It's unreal. Totally unreal. And when I land, I have no idea how I'm going to process that I'm actually in England, and will be there for months. This sounds really cheesy and sappy and all that, but I really am just so, so, so excited.

I'm trying really hard not to let my expectations from daydreaming for seven years about British and European adventures cloud my experience, though. It's all well and good to imagine the amazing things that could possibly happen, but I'm a little concerned that when things don't match up to what I've always wanted (because they never do, I've travelled enough to know that for sure haha), I'm going to get bogged down in that disappointment and not appreciate the experience I will be having. Which is kind of ridiculous to worry about NOW but I'm hoping that if I keep reminding mysel of that, my OCD crazy self will be able to still have a fantastic time, even when things don't go according to plan.

Part of why I think I'm alternating between excited, terrified, nervous, anxious (in a good way) and impatient is that I've only known that this is REALLY happening for about five weeks. My friends who were accepted to other programs have had months or almost a year to know that they're going abroad, and to mentally prepare, research all the different things that need to be researched, and get ready to go. I'll have had ten weeks when all is said and done and I'm on a plane. So amongst the insanity of hell week and finals week, I'm getting inundated with emails with information from York and Arcadia during the last four weeks of prep time, and I'm having to do all this reading and learning about the specifics and practical matters of living in York and traveling abroad.

I guess I feel like I'm overly mentally prepared in that this is what I've been dreaming of for years, but at the same time, I feel like I'm totally not prepared psychologically because it doesn't feel real. It's all very strange and confusing. And unnecessary when I'm trying to finish Junior I.S. and final papers!!

Accommodation

Today I've been looking into my accommodation options for York. I received an email from the Visiting Student coordinator saying I wouldn't be able to send in my accommodation forms until December 6th because of system maintenance, but I figure it's never too early to start checking things out! (let's be real, I've been checking out the colleges for months, but now I actually have to make some choices).

York has eight colleges, and each is known for its own personality and traditions. Students apply for their college separate from their program of study. Just about every room is a single, and some have en suite bathrooms, while many have a communal bathroom. Everyone shares a kitchen with their flatmates/housemates, and apparently they're centers of social activity. Originally I found the quaint town-house style of Halifax College to be quite endearing, and I thought I liked it best, but after watching the newer virtual tour videos from yusu on youtube (yusu = University of York Student Union), I REALLY love Langwith.

Here, you can take a look for yourself:

Not gonna lie, I really like the idea of having an art gallery near by. And the gardens around the college are beautiful! Some parts of York's campus are a little meh because it was designed and built during the period when minimalist architectural was all the rage, so it lacks some of the quintessential British atmosphere that old universities have. But Langwith has some of that charm! Also, HUGE kitchen. And it's a smaller college, which will make the transition from tiny little Wooster to huge tens of thousands of students York.

EDIT: WELL SURPRISE I just found out Langwith just moved to the Heslington East campus in October 2012, so it's now no longer in that complex near main campus. Those parts of Langwith now belong to Derwent. WELP. So much for that. I still really like the atmosphere and traditions of Langwith, and the new buildings are quite nice, so it's all good. I'll just need a bike :-)

(There's an updated video for colleges in 2012 here, to give everyone a better idea of what on earth I mean by all of this.)

I have no idea what my options for accommodation will be, but I'm crossing my fingers that Langwith will be an option. I do still like Halifax, but it's a walk from main campus. And Vanbrugh is cool too? Honestly, all the colleges have pros and cons to them, so I really will be happy wherever they place me (I'll be in England at the end of the day, nothing can be that bad!)

I also watched the video from their recent(ish) library renovation:

THEY HAVE A CoRE!! (Wooster people will understand this). Which is quite funny, because Wooster made such a big deal out of their innovative, Apple-store-esque collaborative working environment, when York has something almost identical. But what is most exciting is the bean bag area and the reading chairs with sound mufflers (Wooster's library needs those, people have no library etiquette anymore). And best of all, it's open 24 hours a day (Wooster, take note). I.S. is going to be a struggle coming back to a place where I have leave at 2 am! Oh well.

The campus is lovely, though, regardless of the excess of cement slab buildings. It will be a change to have to walk so far to get to classes and other dorms, or even take a bus, because Wooster's campus is so minuscule. It takes me ten minutes at most to walk from one end of campus to the other. I'm still excited, and it will be a nice change of scenery.

Offer Accepted!

Well, I'm exactly five weeks away from take-off, so I figured I could start blogging!

Today I officially accepted my offer from York! It was exciting and made me feel quite British, to say I'd accepted an offer (Americans don't usually use the word 'offer' when talking about acceptance to a school). It's been quite an ordeal working with Arcadia (the organization I'm study abroad through) this semester, part of which was York's fault, part of it Arcadia's. I knew I'd been accepted five weeks ago, but I never received my official offer from York, only a notification from Arcadia. But today I created my student account, found out what departments I've been accepted to, and accepted my offer!

I'm still not sure what classes I will be taking, but I know I've been accepted by the history and archaeology departments. York is known for its archaeology, so I really would like to take a course there, especially with the hands-on, practical course options, but I'm not sure it's going to work out with the number of credits I have to take each semester. Especially considering I've been accepted to only the practical on artifact analysis in the spring term, and not the group project section in the summer term, so I'm short 20 credits for the summer. The history course options are very exciting, though, and I'm looking forward to whatever I get to take while I'm there!

I'm getting very excited (and slightly nervous), I'm leaving so soon! It's all been such a rush since I didn't find out until quite recently I was actually going (given the multiple frustrations along the way). But I have my ticket booked, and I'm starting to think about packing, which will be an ordeal.

I've also bought tickets to see Patrick Wolf in Liverpool in February. For those who don't know, he's my muse and my everything, and one of my favourite and dearest musicians. I somehow managed to nab the tickets in the very center of the very front row! Hopefully I'll have some new mates to go along with me.

I have so many plans and hopes for my trip! York is such a wonderful city, Professor Hettinger told me it was a British Siena (one of my favourite places in the world, in Italy). It's also supposed to have tons of great museums and ghost tours. I'm looking forward to checking those out! I'm also hoping to get involved with some societies on York's campus, like their KnitSoc (for knitting and crochet), History Society, and Harry Potter society. And of course I'm looking forward to traveling all over the UK, as well as Europe. I'll have a five week break between terms and I'm going to try to get to a few places in Europe for sure, like Mont St. Michel, Siena, Switzerland, and possibly Berlin!