Edinburgh Exchanges

Six full days at Haverford has not been enough to inure me against the whooping enthusiasm of the American students here.

From Sunday until Wednesday morning, I lived in an international bubble of student from across six continents. We dutifully watched the video that would familiarise us with the American way of life (my favourite being when we were told that Americans can only have shallow, non-meaningful relationships), and traipsed from building to building, meeting to meeting, always accompanied by our cultural differences and incomprehension at certain aspects of American culture. On our last day together as an international group, we ran up the steps made famous in the Rocky I film, and had a slightly intimidating “dance party” at Bryn Mawr – an all-female college down the road.

And then, on Wednesday, the new batch of freshers began trickling in. By lunchtime, we were surrounded by American eighteen year-olds and their parents. We became different again – our internationality had brought us together, but now it marked us out, and the usual “cute accent” remarks were endured (okay, we all love them really).

Being an international student has taught me many things so far – that the Puerto Ricans have an independence movement, that you can’t walk more than fifty metres in Dubai because the heat is so hot, that Canadians watch BBC programmes, and that you can be tall, blonde and white and still call yourself Japanese.

Haverford somewhat removes its international exchange students from the incredibly well-organised chaos that is their Customs Week (what we know as Freshers’ Week, but without the alcohol). The team assigned to help us through the initial stages at Haverford has chosen to continue hanging out with us (thanks!), and we’ve been making our own fun in between the various seminars and workshops on everything from the Honour Code to how to get additional health insurance (every time I hear those words I feel an immense surge of pride for the NHS).

This week has been one of tradition and ritual, with everyone going mad for the Dorm Olympics (a riot of overt bribery, spontaneous gymnastics and games involving shaving cream and cheesy wotsits) and speeches by the President and other members of staff reminding us all how lucky we are to be at Haverford. And we are lucky – Haverford seems to me to be like a boarding school for the over-18s, and whilst some may not agree with the idea, it appears to be the reality of American liberal-arts education. The Scottish university system is as close as Britain gets to liberal-arts (where students study a variety of subjects and only choose their degree in the last two years), but anyone used to the English system would be perplexed by the PE requirement, or that English majors still take science and maths classes.

If my first week at Haverford can be so enlightening, I eagerly anticipate the beginning of classes on Tuesday. But before that, there’s First Drinker, the party that celebrates the end of the dry Customs Week and my first American keg party – I’ll report what I remember.

So it began. I had a mum crying in Heathrow terminal 5, 5kg of excess baggage, 13 hours in Mumbai and then lots of samosas and cigarettes later a turbulent landing in my new home, Singapore. Instant first impressions offered lots of ‘oohs and aahs’ mainly when arching my neck to find the top of sky scrapers and letting the humidity knock the air out of me. The images of tropical island paradise were quickly shattered when my strictly only mandarin speaking taxi driver Henry, drove me through the CBD to my dorm room. Singapore is buzzing; colours consume the streets while symbols of modernity and concrete cover the land. The smell of chilli crab and nasi goreng provide little breeze and pollute the air at almost every corner. I have never seen so many malls in my entire life, all about 6 storeys with international chains as well as the more fascinating Korean and Japanese stores. No mall is complete without one level dedicated to the thing Singapore is probably the most famous for...the food. International stalls with Vietnamese yam soup, teriyaki bento boxes to Peking duck. This year is the year I become obese and I’m going to do it in style.

The National University of Singapore is located on the south-west of the island in a bubble campus situation with 900 international students. My current location is a Pollock Hall style room complete with shared kitchen and shower room for 15. My ‘cluster’ or corridor houses the most interesting and accommodating people; from Ying the Chinese/Netherlander to Ng the Vietnamese travel junkie. Orientation week here, unlike Edinburgh did not pass by in a hazy drunken blur. It was 24-7 activities including float building, charity collections and general team building exercises, no one here really sleeps.

On arrival I was given a list of rules, law like commandments which gave me my first pinch of culture shock; no drinking on campus, no smoking, a male and female can’t be in the same room with the door shut and no conversations about the government in groups of more than 4 unless it’s under the academic banner. Fine signs are frequent around the town; fines for spitting and littering are all highlighted boldly. However after now living here for a month it is clear that these rules are not in any way strictly followed, my cluster mate, a local Singaporean, ruined my illusion of adopting the perfect disciplined Zen like lifestyle by sharing some of her favorite vodka with me 1 week in. Additionally the open door policy doesn’t stop the couples from mauling each other, something I learnt on a shower visit passing my neighbors room.

So far, it’s incredible. Sunshine every day, amazing people, a vast array of cultures, different languages, everything is clean, more to report once assignments start and the holiday becomes lifestyle. Stay tuned.

1) I speak "excellent English" for an exchange student. My apparent skill and fluency level in English has been commented on more than once. Yes, well I am a native speaker...

2) Although I speak "excellent English" once people know I am a native speaker, they then say they find it very difficult to understand my accent.

3) When meeting new people, I am frequently introduced as "Emma, the native speaker" once we have got past the earlier stages shown above.

4) My own English seems to be deteriating rapidly. In order to be understood I have switched my normal expressions for more European ones and now say "maybe..." at the start of every proposition, and no longer abbriviate. Or say "like" every other word. Sadly this trait remains even when I talk to the other Brits.

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So, I've been in Helsinki for almost a week now and its different, to say the least. As I've mentioned before, I am sharing a room this week, but the girl I am sharing with is lovely. She is from Italy and is scared to buy the pasta and pizza here. Yesterday she experienced her first filter coffee... it wasn't a pleasant experience, apparently!
My room is equiped with a full on kitchen (4 hobs, oven, sink, HUGE fridge freezer) and is en suite, so I feel as though I've moved into the Chancellors Court of Helsinki. Its a tad unsociable though as I could potentially never leave the room! Had a trip to Ikea today to buy equipment for the said kitchen. I don't understand why they don't just give you shared facilities and then equip you with essential items such as a sauce pan or fork... but c'est la vie as my French friends would say. My courses start on Tuesday and registration has been 'interesting'. Everything I proposed in my learning agreement in Edinburgh has changed to a Finnish language course, so I've had to find alternatives. To get 30 credits this semester I only need to take 4 courses, one of which starts in October, meaning I have 6 hours of lectures a week. They seem to give credit for anything here- we've already gained 5 credits for attending the compulsary orientation course for exchange students! Although I don't think Edinburgh would be too impressed if I came back home with an array of such courses to my name, so I'm not counting being told where the nearest doctors is, or how to join the gym as part of my allocation!

Questions I've been asked relating to Scotland:
* can you buy vodka in Scotland, or is it just whiskey?
* as I am from Scotland, do I speak Scottish? So if I speak Scottish, how can I speak English so well?
* why do men wear skirts (kilts) all of the time if its so cold? surely its more sensible to wear trousers?

I've resorted to being Scottish for a year. Its easier than trying to explain that I go to Edinburgh University in Scotland, but I am from Nottingham in England orignially. But no, I am not an international student in Scotland as its still in the UK and thus my own country. And secondly, no, I don't commute back and forth for 6 hours on the train every day!

Hi Guys,

My name is Matthew, I’m 20 years old and I’m currently studying French and Spanish at the University of Edinburgh. At the end of summer I will be travelling across the channel for the first leg of my year abroad in Limoges, before moving on to Barcelona in 2009. Having been fairly relaxed throughout this holiday, I’d be a liar if I said that this year abroad wasn’t a daunting prospect. But don’t worry, having debated switching course in order to avoid it or even dropping out completely, I’ve come to the conclusion that such drastic measures are perhaps not necessary and that chances are I’m going to have an amazing year.

Like a lot of dual-language students, I have to split my year abroad between two countries in order to get practice with both languages. The downside of this has definitely been the amount of paperwork I’ve had to fill in! Keeping track of which form has needed to be filled in for whom and for where has been particularly tricky, but for the moment I’ve done all I can (as far as I know!). In fact, a lot of what I need to do for the Universitat Aútonoma de Barcelona cannot be done until closer to the time when I go there, so I’ve got that to look forward to late in the year.

Now I’m no stranger to spending extended periods of time abroad, with my parents having lived in places like America, China and Dubai in the past, yet living alone in France and Spain will be a completely new experience. For the first time I will be abroad without the safety net provided by my parents, without my close group of friends and without the comfort of being able to communicate in a language I’m completely fluent in. I also feel a slight added pressure regarding how my language is going to progress and how easy it will be to make friends in the shorter periods of time that I have compared to students spending all year in one place. All in all, however, I’m extremely excited about the experience and cannot wait to go, as overcoming each of these hurdles will make hopefully make the experience all the more rewarding.

I’m finally going to get the chance to use and improve the languages that I have spent the last 7 years learning from textbooks in classrooms! Like everyone else, I’m nervous about the usual things – Are my language skills good enough? Will people understand me? What if I don’t make any friends out there? But ultimately, these are irrational fears. Of course my language skills are good enough – I wouldn’t have passed the last two years if they weren’t! Of course I’ll be understood – there’s no doubt that mistakes will be made, but one thing that I’ve learnt as a language student is that the only way to truly learn a language is by being willing to make errors and learn from them. Finally, of course I will make friends, as long as I’m willing to make the effort to get out there, meet people and get involved.

This at least is what I keep reminding myself every time I get nervous or worried about what’s coming (which seems to be happening a lot more frequently as the time draws closer!) Hopefully the courses that I’m taking at both universities won’t be too difficult either! That way I’ll get more time to really explore the areas I’m living in and to enjoy being independent and living abroad.

Good luck to everyone in a similar position jetting off on their year abroad. Not everyone gets the chance to have an experience like this and I plan to make the most of it. One week to go…

After a hectic first week (spent mostly exploring the numerous student unions, which are all amazing, it must be said), my classes have finally begun! Norwegian language, Norwegian Literature before 1900 (not really my cup of tea, my I need to improve my knowledge of age-old texts if I am to have any chance at understanding new ones, as Norwegian authors love to drop in various references to “classic” literature) and Phonetics. I had initially been looking forward to beginning classes to give myself something to do (eating pasta alone in my room in Kringsjå was beyond tedious), but changed my mind completely upon actually meeting real human people and gaining a social life. Having now begun my classes, I can safely say that I still echo this sentiment, though mostly due to the fact that I now know how hard people work here. After three days of teaching I am now of the opinion that I have successfully completed two years at Edinburgh University without having made any real effort in contrast to the massive level of self-disciplined study that goes on here.

An example: in Edinburgh, my contact teaching hours average 15 per week. In Oslo, I have around half that. Whilst some might make the claim that this makes Edinburgh a "better" institution, I have already noticed a far greater maturity in the students' approach to their studies here that I find remarkable (and, quite honestly, slightly intimidating!)

As I expected, all my teaching is in Norwegian, and I haven’t experienced any problems other than attempting to understand other international students speaking the language! Myself and C, from my Norwegian class in Edinburgh, are often complimented on our accent when speaking the language, and I’m not sure what it is but I think that, somehow, being Scottish makes it easier to adapt to the standard Norwegian pronunciation. However, German and Russian students, of which there are many, struggle with these pronunciations, and as a result we often struggle to understand anything they say! However, it really has been a positive experience meeting other students who chose to study Norwegian, as it goes without saying that we are a small minority.

I am in an incredibly lucky position to have classes only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (I really couldn’t have wished for a better timetable), leaving me with fantastic long weekends. Last weekend my friends and I partook in a very Norwegian tradition known as vorspiel (yes, the word is German, and yes it does literally translate as “foreplay”, I’ve heard too many crude jokes to find it funny anymore) which very simply involves gathering somewhere before a party and enjoying as many drinks as you can without falling over in order to avoid paying sky-high prices in Oslo bars. The following day we barbequed pølser (think hot dogs, but far more appetizing) in lømper (best described as a cross between a crepe and a tattie scone) in one of the park areas in the city centre until 8pm, and it was still wonderfully warm. The next day I scoured fantastic little local markets with a new friend before indulging in a lazy Sunday lunch in a painfully trendy part of the city. This weekend a few of us are considering going to Nordmarka for the day, one of the forest areas on the outskirts of the city, but as much as these plans thrill me, I have been scared enough by my workload to put it top of my list (for this week anyway). How dull, but strangely essential if my experience of studying here is anything to judge by at this point. In essence, I have encountered culture shock number one: the students are lovely, but fiercely good, and they don’t even appear to be trying. Oh dear.

G'day from sunny Australia!

Where to begin...I have been in Aus for nearly 7 weeks now and am already in the middle of semester! It's crazy since people back in Edinburgh haven't even started yet! I am having an amazing time though so I shouldn't complain!

Uni life here is pretty different from my life back in the Burgh... firstly, I'm living in college. It's alot of fun, there are always people that are doing something so you never get bored but it does make it hard to get any work done! There are about 350 students in my college (Union College), 50 of which are Internationals from all over the world. There are quite alot Brits, some Americans, Canadians and then people from France, Italy, Coasta Rica and even Zambia! The Australians are great fun too, some people stay in college for the whole 3 years of Uni because it's so convenient (a 2 minute walk to lectures!) so there aren't just first years which is good. Its really cool to have all the Internationals because they're always up for travelling at weekends and the Aussies are all such legends.

I’m studying Biological Sciences and I’m really enjoying the lectures here. Some of the content is difficult – my Neuroscience course for example is pretty hard, but I think that’s just because it’s Neuroscience! I’m doing some really interesting Genetics courses and one of the Physiology of Disease. The assesments are very different from in Edinburgh. They force you to work more consistently over the whole semester here by having group assignments, group presentations, weekly journal-review sessions and mid-term exams! I actually have a Genetics exam on Friday, and another one next week so I really have to start working and stop pretending I'm on holiday!

I’m really enjoying the night-life too. Again, it’s pretty different from Edinburgh. Since college is on campus, and there aren’t really any pubs on campus, it means you have to get a bus to go out which is pretty annoying. College is really good about organizing events though so it means everyone goes out together and it’s always a laugh. At the beginning of the semester, we had ‘Red Week’ which is kind of like Fresher’s Week. All the Aussies returned from their mid-year break and the fun began. We went out to different events every night and everything was organised by college. Buses would come and pick us up and take us to bars/clubs in the city or we'd all go to other colleges for parties. It was cool to see the different night-life in Brisbane. There are a mix of really relaxed pubs (where you can wear board shorts and flip flops), bars that are still pretty chilled but have dance floors and then clubs that are more strict with dress codes. College always takes us to the ones with student deals and they’re usually free to get in with cheap drink deals. It’s such a laugh because everyone from college goes and we always dominant an area where you can sit and chat or go and dance with lots of people.

I've managed to do quite a few travelling trips already. In the first week I went to The Sunshine Coast to a beach town called Noosa with 6 other Internationals. Noosa is a really lovely town with amazing beaches and a National Park on the coastline - where we managed to see a wild koala! We took a surfing lesson that was sooooo much fun and went sea kayaking which was great but going over the shark nets was a little scary! I really want to go back, it’s such a lovely place.

Noosa’s complete opposite is Surfers Paradise in the Gold Coast which I visited for my friend’s birthday.  The waves are crazy and apparently surfers don’t even like them that much because they’re too harsh, they’re fun to body-board on though. The party scene is great fun, lots of places to go out and it’s full of backpackers. It’s great being a study-abroad student because you get to go away at the weekends and feel like a backpacker living in hostels but then you get to come home and feel really comfortable back at college.

The weather here is really beautiful. It’s “winter”, but it’s pretty much sunny everyday and temperatures are around 23 degrees. All the Aussies think it’s cold but I’m loving it!

I have to go and revise for my mid-term now, but I still have so much to write! It will have to wait until next week ….

In four days time I am moving to Helsinki. In two days time I am going to Edinburgh for 24 hours. Yesterday, I returned back to the UK after 3 months in Mongolia. Am I ready to go? The short answer is no, and its kind of scaring me now.
Before today, Helsinki was just something that was happening in my life in the future. I've been doing a project with the Edinburgh Global Partnerships (EGP) society all summer which has taken me from Moscow to Beijing and back, hence the reason I haven't really paid that much attention to anything about Finland. My mum has luckily taken care of all of the admin and postal issues for me!

Yesterday I found out that I'm actually homeless until 1st September, which seems ridiculous considering international students have to arrive between the 23rd and 25th August. My mum has known for about two weeks but "didn't think it was a big deal" so didn't let me know whilst I was away. It turns out the university rents out my accommodation for June, July and August so I have to stay in a hostel until that is over. For which they are charging me 170 euros a WEEK, when I am only paying 300 euros a month from the 1st. And the 170 is for a shared room, if I wanted a private room I'd be paying in excess of 400 euros for the week. My seemingly complicated arrival in Edinburgh two years ago now appears perfectly acceptable.

Today I found out that hardly any of the courses I was assured would be running this academic year are actually running. At least, thats what I assume, but as the site keeps crashing I don't know for certain. If this is the case, my limited choices have become mandatory "options" as the anthropology selection gets smaller and smaller. I'm hoping that this can be sorted out when I arrive though, as we have a 6 hour (!!!) session scheduled with a tutor.

Right now it feels like tomorrow I will find out that the University of Helsinki is actually closed for the next academic year, given that I don't have a place to live or any courses to take!

On the positive side of things, to follow on from my last entry about feeling British and European- I think I found my Britishness at the Olympics. I have been in Beijing for the last week with the Union Jack on my face and my flag flapping everywhere. Having now sung the national anthem twice in 15 minutes when seeing the UK win 2 golds in the track cycling, I can safely say I have never felt prouder to be British than I did then. Which seems a great way to start an Erasmus year!

Hei fra Norge! As I sit in my new flat in Oslo for the first evening in a week, I feel that I can finally reflect upon the past few marvellously chaotic weeks in the Norwegian capital.

This past week is known here as fadderuka (a norwegianised freshers week) and has been packed with opening ceremonies, slightly awkward ‘buddy’ events and numerous long nights spent in the student union buildings. I have met people from both Norway and beyond, and have developed a circle of friends with whom I have met most days and evenings for coffee on campus, long nights in strange basement Oslo hip hop clubs, and trips to Oslo’s outer islands including freezing cold swims in the fjord (I have even been stung by a Norwegian jellyfish, which was far from a pleasant experience but allowed me to extend my vocabulary further: I now know not only the word for the creature and it’s horrible attack on me, but also a range of useful curse words that described perfectly how I felt at the time.) When out in the evening with friends, our language of conversation changes constantly in order to accommodate everyone (Norwegians, Scottish, American, French, etc) and I am relieved to notice my skills are, without a doubt, improving.

My room is situated in a student village around 15 minutes away from the centre of the city, and despite bearing a slight resemblance to Sighthill on its greyer days, is actually a fairly pleasant place to be. My flat resides in a nicer area of the place, and we are blessed to have an on campus supermarket, post office and gym (though I predict that my visits there will be few and far between, shame on me.) Although the garish pink bathroom tiles and shower curtain leave a lot to be desired (not to mention the mess left by my male flatmate before he departed for Africa for a massive length of time, judging by the build up of scum in my bathroom), my bedroom itself is a clean, empty space of around 12 feet by 8. I have visited the local IKEA, bought every item I possibly needed, explored the city a little further, met a few of my flatmates (none of who are Norwegian, which frightens me a little when I consider that I have just this one year in which to markedly improve my language skills, and all of whom are considerably older than me, hitting thirty years old) and rarely been home throughout all of this week. The only downside of living here so far appears to be the frequent fire alarm, set off by those unable to make toast properly. Waking up at 8am to the shrill bell and being forced to engage in awkward small talk with people-you-met-the-other-night-but-whose-names-are-a-mystery-to-you is not an ideal way to greet the day. However, despite the minor hiccups, my first weeks in Oslo have been far better than I could have imagined, and I am now beginning to look forward to beginning things here properly.

G’day!

I’m Sabina and this blog will be all about my life for the next year as a student in Australia. I’m spending the third year of my degree studying Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland in Eastern Australia..

I’m 21 years old, originally from London and have wanted to do this exchange ever since I found out about it while surfing the international section of the Edinburgh website while bored at work during my gap year! The prospect of living abroad for a whole year as a student was too good an opportunity to miss. Two years later, after lots of admin, I can’t really believe I’ll be there in under a week! I’m extremely excited but can’t help feeling slightly scared.

The semester dates are the opposite for Australian Unis because they’re in the Southern Hemisphere so it means I’m joining in their 2nd semester which starts in two weeks time (July 21st). It’s a bit surreal thinking about it because it feels like I’ve only just finished exams, but the three month vacation of Christmas will make up for it.

I’ve already picked all my courses and am pretty impressed by my 4-Day-weekend timetable! Hopefully this will allow lots of long weekends at the beach or visiting other Aussie cities though it does mean my Wednesdays and Thursday are majorly crammed with lectures. I even have an 8am lecture which is far from impressive. Hopefully I’ll get into their outdoors lifestyle and embrace the early mornings!

I’m enrolled on a Marine Biology course which should be amazing since it has a field trip to the Great Barrier Reef! It’s really cool to have the opportunity to study completely different courses to those offered at Edinburgh and UQ has loads of Biology options. I’m especially interested in Immunology and Infectious Diseases and am taking some great courses in them, as well as some in Neuroscience and Pharmacology.

I’m going to spending the first semester living in college accommodation which is on UQ’s campus in a town called St. Lucia – 10 minutes outside of Brisbane. College life should be a lot of fun, especially since the one I’m staying in is known as the “party” college. It will be a great chance to meet lots of Aussies and get involved in student life down under. Most of the other Edinburgh students on the UQ exchange are staying in my college too which should be a laugh. I’m planning on renting a house for the second semester which will be good since I’m sure college can get a bit overwhelming at times. The independence of living in a house will be great and I’ve heard they often have swimming pools which would be amazing!

Once I’ve spent a few weeks getting used to my courses I’m going to look into getting a part-time job. I have some overly ambitious dreams about travelling round Aus and New Zealand and am going to have to seek out some funds to support myself if I want to live the dream. I’m not planning on coming back to the UK for Christmas either so it would be good to arrange an Internship or work experience over the Christmas vacation. I think this is going to be pretty hard though since I don’t have permanent residency.

My next entry will be written from Down Under during Fresher’s Week! Can’t wait!

Hey all,

My name’s Hannah and I’m a 21 year old about to embark on a bit of a mission across the pond to study my third year of Biological Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. When I say mission, am hoping it’s more of a painless transition from one continent to another. By all accounts there will be many similarities to help me feel at home; a common response from people having heard about my plans usually includes some reference to the excess of rain Vancouver receives (two thirds of the year apparently.) Usually this is followed by something rather more positive along the lines of “it’s beautiful” or “you’ll love it there.” Fingers crossed eh!

This time last year I had no intentions of leaving this city behind but when the international applications time came round curiosity got the better of me and a few months later I found myself with an offer to study in Canada for a year and thus with a decision to make.

Turns out it wasn’t that hard a decision and six months down the line I’m nearly ready to go…. Ish. Not quite got myself the all important visa yet but it’s all in the pipelines. Whilst the international exchange brings with it an excess of paperwork, fortunately, it’s not all in one go and something that has been relatively manageable. The geek in me is pretty excited by my course choices; Mammalogy and Zoogeography would surely appeal to anyone?! Although the lazy part of me is slightly daunted by the prospect of 8am lectures Monday to Friday of my first term.

It’s been an odd few months as on one side I’ve been dying to talk about every stage of the planning for next year (I’m quite a talker so people generally know what I’m up to most of the time, whether they want to or not.) But at the same time, whenever UBC comes up in conversation it’s a reminder of the year in Edinburgh I’m going to miss and more importantly the friends I’m leaving behind. I’m at the 6 week stage in the countdown and honestly there is a part of me that’s wondering if I’ve made the right decision. Spending this summer with the folks I’m going to have to manage without for the next year has so far been amazing but occasionally the little voice in my head asks “why would you go away and mess this up, dive in to the unknown and become a fresher again?”

I think the most reassuring thing anyone’s said to me was something along the lines of “you’ve done it once before and come out on top so at least you know you can do it again.” I’m also thankful for the fact that everyone around me has been incredibly supportive both in and out of university. Whilst I think that my failing exams might have been good news for some people, those same people smiled and congratulated me when I learned I had passed (another obstacle overcome making international exchange more of a certainty.) My genius plan to combat any feeling of indecision is the use of the lonely planet guide to Vancouver. A quick flick through the pages to read of the three beaches on campus (one nudist – not sure I’ll be found on that one), the mountains, ocean, and, of course, the snow…. Well I guess it explains itself and it’s pretty hard not to get excited.

So my plan is to make the most of the month and a bit I have left and then set off on a whole new adventure. Am pretty convinced that Edinburgh’s not going to vanish over the next 12 months and it’s comforting to know at the end of the year I’m returning to a place and people I know and love but hopefully having had a truly memorable year.

The list of things I absolutely definitely have to do before I leave for Haverford College is ever-growing.

One thing is joyfully crossed off, only to be replaced by three more: Will I need a bikini? Should I take travellers cheques? Where the heck is my health insurance form?

But before I launch into a spiel about my hopes and fears, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Hannah Jaenicke, an English Literature and History student from Manchester (you’ll discover later just how much I love my hometown) who is currently both terrified and excited about what will happen in (less than!) a month’s time.

Luckily for me, I’ve got three weeks in America before Haverford starts, as I’m visiting the American half of my family. My American passport exempts me from visas and immigration queues, and I’m lucky in that I’ve got relatives scattered across America from West Coast celeb-ville, to the rural Deep South.

However, I’m not going to be dependent on them – instead, I want to strike out on my own, forge my own path and all that jazz. And at Haverford, I’ll truly be able to do this – I’m the only student from Edinburgh there and, judging from the international students’ mailing list, one of only six exchange students. Argh!

I chose Haverford partly because, as the only Edinburgher there I can’t become trapped in the exchange-student social scene as many do. But I also wanted to go because it’s both totally different to Edinburgh – tiny (only 1169 students!), suburban (although Philadelphia is nearby), and with very small class sizes; but also familiar in that it has many active societies, a similar social make-up and is academically rigorous. Hopefully, this mix of the familiar and the alien will provide for an interesting and exciting year ahead.

Despite my excitement at making new friends, exploring new places, and living the American college dream, I’m going to really miss a lot of what I’ve taken for granted at Edinburgh. How will I cope without the fantastically handsome architecture and views about which I’ve become blasé? Will I lose my enthusiasm (almost as good as talent, right) for ceilidhs? And, most importantly, will I become Americanised – gaining an accent and an attitude which I’ve always tried to avoid? When I return, will I think everything historical is “quaint”, and refer to Britain as England? Please, no.

Of course, I have slightly more practical concerns, too, regarding how to call home, the cost of airfare, and whether I should get a job or not whilst over there, but I’ve pushed those petty wonderings to the back of my mind, whilst I contemplate an existence without the BBC, decent national newspapers, and nights that end in chips and kebabs.
Until I get to Haverford, all of my questions will remain unanswered, and all I can do is hope, speculate and wonder about what awaits me in Pennsylvania.

A student’s life at Edinburgh University is beautiful; lush green of the meadows, epic heights of Arthur’s seat, drunken windy cigarettes with fabulous bohemian idealist students. As an anthropology disciple I am particularly fortunate, having moved from London at the tender age of eighteen, I stumbled across this Scottish capital with vast dreams and explorative eyes.

These years at Edinburgh have been better than the most moving Radiohead song or that amazing feeling you get when Humphrey Bogart looks at his lady in Casablanca, even better than the thrill of insignificance front row at Manu Chao at Exit festival in the blistering heat of Serbia. It is this same feeling of insignificance that inspired me to embark on my most exciting adventure yet; a year abroad in Singapore.

Edinburgh’s been good to me, but the world is massive and in my lifetime I am likely to not even cover one tenth of it. Thousands of different languages, different ways to make tea, different ways to express love, hate and respect; all things my academic contemporaries seek to explore, understand and explain.

My summer since exams has blinked by and despite working at the International Film Festival and travels around Eastern Europe to slow time, two weeks today my life as I know it will change. I will be plunged into Southeast Asia onto an island with around 4 million inhabitants, into a world of Buddhism and cleanliness, a country associated with the exotic, the distant and the sling; a gin based cocktail. The exchange fair lured me with ideas of island hopping and a previous student of Singapore convinced me with tales of every night being lady’s night. Mostly it was the passion with which he spoke of all the sunrises he’d seen that exemplified to me heading out to Asia was an opportunity I could not walk past.

It feels distinctly like my first scuba dive, with a lot of equipment to sort out; a heavy oxygen tank filled for survival, cloudy goggles so you can’t see perfectly and big flippers for ultimate freedom and mobility.

Yet when you’re sitting on the edge of the boat all alone your filled with a large knot of excitement and fear you can only imagine what lies ahead. The smell of noodles sometimes gets my heart racing and talk of the Olympics in China makes bright colours and loud music seep through my senses. I could read every lonely planet guide and Wikipedia entry on Singapore but the knowledge I seek can never be read in a book.

As cliché as it seems I’m looking for excitement and adventure, looking to take the kind of photos you’d show your kids with pride and looking forward to relaying stories of the impossible and unimaginable. I’m ready to jump now.

Hello prospective readers of my blog! My name is Kate Roberts, I’m originally from York and this coming year (08/09) I will be studying at potentially one of the most exciting (and hot!) universities offered – the University of Miami in Florida. To couple this with the sort of idyllic symmetry one wants in life, I will be studying potentially the most exciting subject in the world… geology and physical geography. The study of not just rocks and fossils, oh no! But of other fascinating phenomena, such as dinosaurs, volcanoes and soil.

OK, fine, my degree sounds hideously boring. My host university will hopefully make up for that! Although I truly LOVE to study dinosaur fossils on a daily basis, I realise that it is not everybody’s cup of tea, so I will be concentrating on other more exciting happenings in this blog. Thus, all of you readers who study more socially appropriate subjects, such as medicine or veterinary, can breathe a smug sigh of relief and continue reading.

Miami, Florida… When I first applied for the exchange, the idea of spending my geology practicals in crystal blue lagoon seas and colourful coral reefs completely clouded my judgement on any other factors and it was only a few days before the deadline that I really thought about why I’d come to my decision. On a family trip to Miami many years ago, we were driving along Key Biscayne (a famous Floridian coral spit offshore from the city) and were surprised to come across the marine and atmospheric science school for the university. It was poised on the most beautiful white beach where a number of small boats were taking students out to study dolphins offshore, and I remember turning around in the back seat of the car and gazing longingly at the students. As the building disappeared into the distance I remember feeling a pang of sadness that I had the misfortune to be born British, where the closest university experience I could ever hope for was a chilly field trip into the North Sea!

Now, even with 6 weeks until I leave, I still can’t quite believe that I will be studying in the building that I gazed at with awe so long ago. Although petrified at the idea of going through another freshers week, and living so far from home, I can’t help but feel thrilled that I am lucky enough to be spending my third year in such an amazing place! Next year is just an unwritten blank page in my life and I am so glad that I get a chance to completely relocate myself for a year; something that I know is harder to do after full time education.

Being a Christian, I am both excited and nervous to find an American church that is vaguely normal, whilst no doubt experiencing what may be some extremely excited American preachers along the way…! Loud, fundamental Christianity is really not my cup of tea, and right now I’ve read that there is some kind of crazy revival going on Florida – something which I’m sure will be mentioned in my future blogs!

More about me: I love to dance and do sport, so all-American university passions such as cheerleading and baseball are looking very attractive! In my first two years I competed with the Edinburgh university trampolining team (which had its ups and downs…!) but I’ve found out that Miami do not have a bounce squad and so I may have to settle for dancing and gymnastics. Miami also has a professional American football team, and apparently social life at the university revolves around their games, so watch this space – I may come back singing all kinds of cheesy football anthems!

Another fact about me - I love ACTING! I loved being part of the Bedlam theatre (drama) and Footlight (musicals) societies whilst in Edinburgh, so one of the first things I’m going to do is sign up for the Miami University winter musical (High School Musical, anyone?)

So, that’s all from me on my first blog. For the time being all thoughts of next year are filled up with visa applications, housing applications, roommates and meal plans. I’ve been choosing my outside courses this week and there are some crazy ones offered. Cheerleading…? Ballet…? Mormon studies…? It looks like I may come back from the US with a little more than an increased knowledge of soil erosion…

From York (but not for much longer),

Kate x