Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
It was weird waking up this morning and not having the day off and without my family. Luckily I can celebrate friendsgiving instead with all my housemates. I have a busy day ahead with work, but will be making time for a nice dinner with my boyfriend at the Weyside. Our friend works there and it’s always fun to have him serve us 😉 The real Thanksgiving celebrations will be starting this Saturday though. My tickets for Top Gear Live will finally be used! We are going into London during the day to explore, have a proper fancy dinner, and see the show. Last year I had pizza and fell asleep, this year will be a step up.
I have booked my flights home for Christmas. I will be spending two weeks in beautiful Washington and spend some time catching up with friends. I have managed to make time to talk to some of my friends over Skype and Facebook this year which has been nice. It is easy to get caught up with life at University, so you have to remember to contact home and check in on everyone. I have to stay up to date with the gossip after all 😉
It is fascinating to see where other people end up going for their study abroad. From the things that I have seen of the short 6 week study abroad programs the experience is not the same as what I have. You will not get the same cultural awakening, you will not be able to integrate yourself into society, and you will not be able to truly experience what life is like in another country unless you actually move away for an extended amount of time. In my eyes, it looks like a vacation with your school. By going with your school you will not meet the local people and become their friend. Truly living abroad is such an amazing experience and the level of commitment that is put in is the level of experience that you will get out.
Beyond just living in England, I have the amazing opportunity to vacation in the rest of Europe quite easily. During Spring Break the majority of the sports teams will be traveling to Croatia for a week to party, compete in our sport against other universities, and hang out together on the beach. It is absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait. For all club entries, flights, hotel rooms, etc the bill comes to about £400 which is a fantastic deal when you look at it.
Check out last year’s video when the trip was in Salou!
Move to England and study at Surrey you won’t regret it!
Holly
