Let the adventures begin
SO WE’VE ARRIVED
After all the planning, packing and unpacking, Madison and I are finally all settled in our new home in Liverpool, England and we’re loving every second.
Madison (you can check out her blog here!) and I’s journey to how we ended up in England began about two and a half years ago when we were freshmen in college.
Freshman year can be a bit overwhelming and intimidating at times, so when I saw someone in my freshman seminar wearing a neon Chi Omega shirt, matching the one I was wearing, I was relieved.
At the time, I didn’t really know Madison (who I’ll frequently refer to as Obie), but I knew she must be a new member of the sorority I had just joined.
It’s possible I met her on bid day in the crazy excitement, but I also met around 60 other girls that day as well.
I sat by her and reintroduced myself. We found out we were both journalism majors, and that we shared a lot of similar interests. I immediately knew we’d be fast friends.
Since that day, we’ve had big dreams and big plans.
We stuck by each other through that awkward freshman orientation class, through several other journalism classes, through getting lost the first few days (actually first few semesters if I’m being completely honest), through really tough teachers, and through studying newspapers (literally highlighting them and quizzing each other about local and national events to prep for our news quizzes—WHICH WERE ABOUT EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING. They were almost impossible to prepare for, but I will admit studying for those quizzes got me in the habit of reading the news—so my professor did succeed in that.)
For the longest time, we’ve shared similar dreams as well. We’ve dreamed about working in big cities like New York City and about traveling around Europe.
I’m honestly not sure when the conversation about studying abroad began, but I want to say it was towards the very beginning of our friendship. It was almost as soon as Obie said she was remotely interested in studying abroad, I held her to it and have been planning on studying abroad with her since basically our friendship started.
I’m not going to lie—the planning was difficult. Madison and I are both busy and dedicated students, so we put the planning of this adventure on the back burner for a long time. When it was finally time to decide where we wanted to study, we had no clue. Madison had already been to France, but I had never been anywhere in Europe and I had no idea what I wanted to see, as long as I could see as much as possible.
Eventually we landed on England.
Once everything was squared away I began to get really excited. It was all I could think about. When something didn’t go my way, I’d just think about how amazing my life would be in Europe. Of course, I didn’t do much to prepare for this trip other than search on Instagram beautiful places I wanted to see while in Europe (lol).
And then in the moment before I got on the plane, I realized I was a little scared.
Thinking about how long I would go without seeing my family and friends suddenly made me nervous.
I never expected to be scared. I’ve always loved the idea of a new adventure and traveling the world. It’s what I’ve always dreamt of doing and here I was about to live out that dream, but there was that same feeling again—fear. I was afraid of being alone, missing my family, friends or home. All of these fears started to creep in; the things people had asked me if I was nervous about, which I had simply brushed off and thought, that’s not like me, began to intensify into something like a reality.
I’ve never been very good at goodbyes.
As much of a daredevil and thrill seeker I like to think I am, there’s something totally scary about goodbyes. No matter how many times I’ve done it, they never seem to get easier. Even though this isn’t final and I’m lucky enough to have my mom and cousin visit in March and then my entire family at the end of my term in June, I couldn’t shake the nerves of being so far away from everyone and everything I knew.
My carryon didn’t fit in the overhead bin because of course I packed a million shoes (which I should just throw away now because they aren’t even European anyway) and I started to tear up thinking about all of these fears.
The flight attendant seemed to think I was sad because my luggage didn’t fit. She kept assuring me that they could check my bag no problem (lol).
However, my fears began to fade away when I met up with Madison at the airport in Philadelphia, after patiently waiting for an hour for her plane to arrive.
I realized that while I’ll miss everyone dearly, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore and travel for four months and I want to take full advantage of it.
Obie and I had our last average (and that’s generous) meal in the airport before boarding our plane at 9 pm. The flight was overnight (even more generous). We were scheduled to arrive in Liverpool at 9 am, which would be 3 am in Central Time.
*Side note: Although we’ve been here over a week, this is still a really hard time adjustment. Six hours is a long time.
The plane ride began with some technical difficulties. Of course, the pilot was vague enough about the problems to make Madison and I a little uneasy. Fortunately, after a short delay we were off.
I was determined to get some sleep.
However, sleeping on a plane is almost impossible for me. It didn’t help that the man in front of me decided to recline his seat ALL THE WAY back to make my situation even more uncomfortable—who would’ve thought that was even possible?! I decided to take some Benadryl to try to knock myself out. It worked. So well that when Madison woke me up because we were landing I was in such a groggy state I was mumbling about the detective from Pink Panther? Not sure what that was about, but, hey, at least I got a few hours of sleep before we arrived.
Once we landed, Obie and I did our best at navigating ourselves from the airport to the train station, which, by the way, is right next to the airport. But of course we asked three people just to be sure. We waited about an hour for the next train to arrive to take us to Liverpool.
During the train ride from Manchester to Liverpool, my eyes were glued out the window, trying to take in as much scenery as I could. I noticed that all of the houses are brick and many houses look exactly the same. Very old fashioned, quaint and adorable.
After taking a taxi from the station we arrived at the check in center for our room.
Getting settled in this past week has been a little crazy and hectic.
Where do we get food? Where do we get bedding? And kitchen supplies? Also, why aren’t the eggs in the fridge section…can we eat them? (Still uneasy about this.)
This all took a bit of time to figure out and we’ve made several trips to get all of the essentials. I still have yet to buy a backpack, pencils or paper. BUT – the first week of class is over and I survived, so maybe I’ll get some later? …We’ll see.
Our flat mates are from all over and it’s been fun getting to know them. We have two flat mates from Austria, one from France, one from China, and another from Texas. The other night our French flat mate made us all amazing crepes because apparently, she eats them at least once a week back home. Which is crazy to think about because I’ve probably eaten like four crepes in my life.
So, I know what you’re thinking, doesn’t it rain all the time? And actually it’s not bad at all! I’m not a big fan of the rain, and I was half expecting/ dreading being freezing and wet 24/7 here. But honestly, when it rains, for the most part it’s on and off. There hasn’t been a terribly windy, pouring rain kind of day yet (knock on wood).
However, it did snow this morning and it was quite lovely. I walked around with my head up smiling on my way to class like a dork, but I couldn’t help it. It kind of felt like a fairytale. (That’s cheesy, I know. Feel free to laugh.)
As I mentioned earlier, Madison and I had our last average meal in the airport – literally everything we’ve eaten here has been SOOOO GOOD. I’m a big brunch girl now. Big. HUGE. The traditional English breakfast is amazing. (Except the black pudding.) (If you don’t know what black pudding is, it’s blood sausage. Gross, right?) Well I had to try it, because ya know it’s an English thing to do. So turns out I’m not a fan, but hey, I tried it. Also, Obie and I are tea drinkers now. Doesn’t quite have the same effect as coffee, but it’s what everyone does here so now we do too.
Obie and I have quickly learned that the Scouse accent is no joke. It’s not your typical posh British accent—it’s unique to Liverpool and frankly sometimes hard to understand. I find myself asking “what?” several times, clearly distinguishing myself as an American. (Funny story, someone recently told me they liked MY accent. I was like um, what accent? Lol. Also I’m trying to pick up on the cute English phrases like calling people “love” and saying “cheers” instead of bye and calling a drink a “bevvy” which I think is just adorable.)
Also, the shopping—AMAZING. I hate that this is a major thing for me, but the styles are so trendy. What I would think is a slightly extra look at home, is very standard here. Obie and I are totally geeking out about how everyone always looks nice. Even for class people will stroll in with full on makeup and a killer outfit. If I did that at K-State everyone would ask me why I was so dressed up. But if I wore sweats and a hoodie to class here, I’m sure someone would ask me if I was sick, or think I was a hobo or something. Even the boys dress nice all the time. It’s truly a neat thing. The deals are brilliant as well. Zara and Primark are my new favorite places.
It’s weird because the population of Liverpool is smaller than Kansas City, but Liverpool feels like a much larger city. Especially when you head downtown to the city centre. I’m not sure if it feels larger because it’s more central or because everyone walks everywhere. (Yes I’ve been meeting my step goal every day in case you were wondering.)
Another thing I love about this city is all the buildings and the cobblestone streets. It is gorgeous. The architecture is grand looking and every coffee shop, restaurant, and pub we’ve discovered has been so beautifully decorated. The city is also scattered with several cathedrals that are so exquisite and filled with history. I sometimes call them castles because they make me feel, again, like I’m in a fairytale. (Which is basically a childhood dream come true for me.)
So far Madison and I have visited several historic landmarks. We’ve been to the Albert Dock, which was a former massive port for slave trade; we’ve visited a church that has bomb damage from WWII, as well as the longest cathedral in the UK. We’ve also been to the Royal Liver building, which apparently has the largest clock face in the UK, even bigger than Big Ben—WHICH I’LL GET TO SEE THIS WEEKEND BECAUSE WE’RE GOING TO LONDON!!!!!
Obie and I recently scheduled our first trip outside of Liverpool and we’re pumped.
Trying to figure out a hostel was a little challenging for us, partly because we’re really indecisive, but also because hostel reviews can be really all over the place.
One review will be like “this is the best place ever” and the next will say, “I wouldn’t even stay here if it was free. Awful experience.” and we’re like, well which is it lol (???).
I’m sure this will get easier for us the more trips we plan, at least I hope so.
Anyway, I’m really excited. I feel like London might be somewhere I want to visit twice because there are so many places I want to see. You should see our itinerary for the weekend. It's pretty ambitious.
Thanks for following along with me in this journey and checking out my blog! There will be many more posts to come detailing my future travels and more about my new home city.
Until next time.
Cheers love,
Isabel