Every time my friends and I travel in Europe, we get some Europeans intrigued with the fact that Americans are actually traveling through Europe. They laugh at us because they say, “we travel all of these countries all of the time, yet Americans don’t take advantage of traveling abroad!” It bugged me at first that they liked so much to make fun of Americans and our traveling habits, until my tour guide in Scotland gave me a better perspective on it. He said that in America, we travel more within our country because we have every destination we need in one place. For instance, if you live in New England and want to escape the snow in the winter, you fly to Florida for a warm vacation! In Scotland, they don’t have that option in the winter. Hence, when they want to escape to some place warm, they travel to another country, such as Greece or Spain.
The weirdest part about being in London this semester is that I don’t feel homesick. I’ve had no inclination or urge to want to go home to the States. I don’t know if that’s because I’m studying with all American students, but I really love the place that I’m in right now. London is so different from the way of life in the States. After work or class, it’s more common to head to a pub and hangout with friends over an ice cold beer. In America, that’s highly frowned upon, and there’s a good chance people will think you’re an alcoholic. I don’t miss walking around campus to go to class – I love my commute through the city to go to my Uni building in Kensington. I don’t miss the food – I’ve grown to love the options that England has to offer. I keep feeling like I just got to London a few weeks ago, even though I’ve already done so much here. I’m dreading the fact that I have to leave in a little over a month, and I hope that our paths cross again and I can return to this beautiful city.
Since they obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in this neck of the woods, it’s Christmastime! On Halloween night the city started its transformation to Christmas, and lights and decorations are starting to pop up everywhere! they go big for Christmas, and they’re famous for all of the lights and festivals during this time of year. I’m holding myself off from strictly listening to Christmas music until after my birthday this weekend, and there hasn’t been more perfect timing because the biggest festival, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, opens a few days after I return from Barcelona! I’m grateful that I’ve been able to travel so easily through Europe, but I’m so excited to spend the last few weekends exploring London and all of its Christmas festivities!
Finally, the greatest things I’ve learned abroad are “how Europeans can tell I’m American.” I had traveled to Europe before studying abroad, but I had never paid any attention to my cultural identity. My favorite thing to do here is to strike up conversations with local people about their culture. And the most humorous thing that they’ve all taught me is how easily they can tell that I’m American. First of all, they don’t fold their money because it’s plastic. They keep their bills nicely in their wallets. They can always tell someone is American because the bills are always folded up to tiny pieces. I guess it’s because our money is paper and it’s not as pretty as theirs. Second, we always walk up to customer service people smiling. When I order a coffee at Starbucks, I walk up to the barista behind the counter and smile, and while Londoners have been very nice, they want their coffee and they want out. Third, we talk LOUDLY. The tube rides in London are always the same: people pushing to get on and then sitting staring at their phones or the newspaper. Nobody talks and they get annoyed if others do. Enter us Americans traveling home, and the looks we get usually aren’t pleasant. But we just like to talk about our days! Finally, singing along to songs in pubs. In Europe, people just sway to music very awkwardly and don’t sing along (when there are words to sing to). But us Americans love to dance and belt out the lyrics to our favorite Queen B song!