STUDYING abroad

I am (finally) here to talk about 'study' part of my study abroad experience and not just the 'abroad' part.

I recently got my graded papers back and I am a bit frustrated and annoyed and mad but the rest of the academic life here is was satisfying. It is scary how much my mood depends on school grades. Hate to think that my (and everyone else's in the school system) intelligence is boiled down to a single letter that holds so much value.

My life right now in a single picture.

Update (2 Dec 2013):
I am so bad at finishing my blog posts. It is already the last week of classes! Well, technically classes go on for two more weeks but none of my classes are meeting for the final week because the professors want us to finish our essays.

Still a bit frustrated about the grades I got back. I went to go talk to my professors but everything works so differently here :( This was the first time I wanted to go back to studying at Middlebury...but just for how the academic system works. I don't mind staying at UEA when I think about the workload because I am doing SIGNIFICANTLY LESS amount of work here. I was so surprised at how much free time I have. Of course, I am in my room watching useless shows and scrolling through Tumblr during that free time, but it is very nice to not stress and worry about school so much...until I got back my grades...ahh! I guess the only thing I can do is to focus on my next essay and do so well on it that it cancels out my previous bad grade. 

Anyways...

I am going to highlight the main (academic) differences between UK and US that I noticed during my time here. 

• I don't know if this is just a characteristic of my school (UEA) but I didn't expect my classes to be so small in size. UEA has about 14,000 students so I thought my classes were going to be bigger. I was excited to experience lectures and seminars at a big public university class where I can take my computer to class and go on Facebook hehe. But all three of my classes have about 18 people, or more like 10-12 because almost half of the people stopped showing up after the sixth week of school or so. My flatmates who are first years did say that their classes are big lectures rather than seminars (which all three of mine are), so I guess it is because I am taking courses in the upper division! 

• First year of college (they call it Uni, short for university. College is actually the two-year period of schooling before they enter university) doesn't count. Let me repeat that for all of you. The entire first year of college does. not. count. (towards their GPA) I am still not sure how I feel about that. I guess I can maybe understand a semester but a whole year?!?!?!?! I feel like it would be harder to work and keep up the grades in the second year. 

• Financially, everything is so much better in the UK. I am still so frustrated at how a year of Middlebury cost over 60K. I am thankful for my amazing financial aid package but so many people (including my own sister, cousin and close friends) are in serious debt because of school. I think we have about trillions of dollars in student debt. Money that most students cannot pay back because jobs they seek after graduation doesn't even exist. From what I remember, every single public university in the UK costs 9,000 pounds (little less than 15K) a year. But everyone, regardless of household income, get a loan from the government. Students that come from a low(er) income get extra loans or stipends for housing and other uses. Students don't have to pay back the loans till a few years after they graduate and students that get post-grad jobs that are lower than 27,000 pounds (about 44K dollars) don't have to pay back the school loans, period. 

• I think everything is a lot more organized at Middlebury, especially when it comes to registering for classes. There are no waitlists for classes. So...if you cannot register for a class because it is full during registration, you have to check every single day until a space opens up in that class. Usually at Middlebury, very rarely you get denied a seat in class but it doesn't work the same way here. So it might be frustrating for a student who cannot get into their wanted or even needed class(es). 

Last but definitely not the least...

I am going to talk about my Do It Yourself: Punk in America class. 

I was super disappointed and frustrated that I was enrolled in this class and I tried really hard to get out of this class. However, I ended up staying...everything happens for a reason, right?! Right.

I didn't know anything about punk and the only thing I knew (or assumed) about punk was all the screaming and the not very musically talented sounds that people go nuts for. Some of that is true but the screaming and the shouting usually only applies to a subculture of punk known as hardcore punk. 

I learned a lot about punk, not only as a genre but also as an ethos. A lot of punk and its subcultures were invested in social movements like the feminist movement, anti-capitalist movement and more. It was a really cool and an eye-opening experience to learn and talk about issues I am so passionate about (sex, gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality and etc) within the world of punk. 

Props to my flatmate Klara for being an avid punk fan and helping me throughout the class! She even let me borrow her Bikini Kill t-shirt for my presentation on Riot Grrrl, a feminist punk movement.

Do it Yourself, or now widely known was DIY, is a hugely important ethic in punk because punk movement was and is still about going against capitalism and big label records. They wanted to show that anyone can be a (punk) musician, regardless of money or status. Therefore, a lot of the outfits punk bands wore during gigs were handmade or simply found in their's or other people's closets!

One disappointing thing about this class / punk culture in general is the lack of academic work on punk bands made up of people of color. There were a good amount of punks who used zines and music to raise issues about race and racism, so I wanted to write about it for my essay. However, there was almost no academic work or even blogs or articles that really highlighted issues of race/racism/ethnicity in punk (sub)cultures. Although punk, for the most part, were not explicitly racist...it is still a pretty white washed movement/culture, much like the rest of the United States of Amurikkka. 

Well, that's it for now! 

So glad I was finally able to make a post of my academic life. Although I spend a lot of time watching television shows and eating ice cream in my room with friends, I have been learning and studying! 

Off to (not) writing my two 3,000 word essays!

I am headed to Budapest, Hungary in 2 days so I need to finish everything before I leave!
And...guess how much I have written?! One sentence... :) go me! 

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

As the title suggest, I was in Dublin from 15 Nov to 18 Nov. 

A really big shoutout to Jayhee for hosting me for the whole long weekend! I am really happy that I got spend your 20th birthday with you! 

I flew with Ryanair to get to Dublin. Ryanair is a budget airline that had really cheap flights all throughout Europe but they are known to be really strict with baggages. I was really worried because I heard so many horror stories about Ryanair! My flight was at 6:30 AM but because I have to travel to the airport on a coach, my journey started at 12AM. 

Long story short, I was really happy and shocked at how smoothly everything went. I was really tired but not having to go through any troubles with traveling. It really makes a different, especially after my previous experience with getting to London.

Everything from getting to the airport to getting my passport stamped in Dublin went so smoothly! Everyone was also really friendly as well. It really helps to travel in countries where there is no language barrier! 

When I arrived at Dublin, Jayhee picked me up and we walked to her college apartment. I knocked out as soon as I saw her bed because I was so tired from traveling all night long. I also had to register for my classes at 12PM so I decided to take a quick nap. I successfully woke up in time and registered for all the classes that I wanted/needed for next semester. I honestly don't even know how registered because I was half asleep while it happened. 

Then I proceed to take another nap...sorry Jayhee for being so boring. I think I finally woke up at 4:30 or something and we headed out to the city

4:30 is not late but the sun sets somewhere between 4-5, so it was actually really dark when we got into the city!

Had some gelato and it was SO good. My flavors were coconut and passionfruit yogurt. Only if it wasn't over 6 dollars I would have gotten it every hour or so. 

Then we walked around for a bit and came across The Ha'Penny Bridge.

Ha'Penny's attempt at Paris. 

For dinner...we had to go big ('cause go big or go home). We went to AYCE Mongolian BBQ. It was really good! They also have unlimited steamed rice, which was a good variation from eating noodles all night long. Their shrimp (or prawns, as they call it) was really fresh and juicy and meaty! I was so satisfied!

Following day, Laura, a friend from Middlebury who is also doing the exchange program with me arrived in Dublin and we went for the Dublin walking tour! It wasn't the most exciting tour but our guide had a lot of knowledge on Dublin! 

Dublin Castle!

I don't like wine too much but...yes!

This is The Spire of Dublin. They wanted to commemorate the boost in Ireland's economy...but people did not realize that the boom in the economy was because Ireland borrowed a lot of money from other countries. I think they spend about 4 million euros (about 5.5. million dollars) on constructing this. Needless to say, it does not seem like a worthy investment...

Trinity College, where the Book of Kells is kept! 

Wikipedia says, "Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament"

St. Stephen's Green! You can say this is Dublin's Central Park. 

Fun fact: we ran into the Ireland National Rugby Team. It was surreal. We thought our tour guide was joking when he was talking about how the rugby team was stealing his thunder. But ahh! Unfortunately I was too late in taking a picture so 'pic or it didn't happen' rule has to be waived for me! ;)

And...now the highlight of my trip to Dublin! Guinness Storehouse/Factory. 

I was really excited that the first time I get to try Guinness was at their storehouse! 

I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had at Guinness! 

The storehouse is so well made and I highly recommend it!

Me n Arthur, da creator of Guinness 

Picture reads: "Everyone's Irish on March 17th"

One of the floors of the storehouse is a tasting room where you learn how to properly drink Guinness. 

Everyone got a shot of Guinness, very cute

How to (properly) drink Guinness: Take a deep breath, drink a good amount of Guinness, and swallow as your breathe out. 

Free pint of Guinness with entrance! 

I know it is hard to see but on top of the pint is a shamrock!

BEST FISH N CHIPS, EVER.
Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips. Holy moly. So good. 

On Sunday, we went to the beautiful Howth. Howth is a peninsula located in NE of Dublin. 

It only takes about 20-30 minutes on the DART rail system to get there.

Famous poet William Butler Yeats lived in Howth and 

resided in the house below called the Balscadden House

Just. look. at. the view. 

 I ate some raspberries and blackberries during the hike! 

Was a bit afraid that it might be poisonous, 

but Jayhee said that she read online that other people were doing the same 

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY!

Laura and I had some time before we had to head back to the airport, so we decided to look around Dublin a bit more and do some last minute souvenir shopping, if needed.

These sculptures are dedicated to the Great Famine that took place in 19th century Ireland. The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration. 

Last but definitely not the least...

I wanted to buy this wig I found in Dublin and still kind of want it, 

but it is definitely not worth 11 bucks!

Norwich and Halloweekend!

Domino's delivers till 5AM and they don't charge a delivery fee, so I naturally ordered some at 3AM. Twice.

This is my fancy UK phone. I realized how much I don't need to sell my organs every month to pay Verizon...cause with wifi, I can talk, text and snapchat all for free! And...there's wifi almost everywhere I go these days. 

    Before I got wifi in my room, I used my UK phone to play this game called Jewel Quest and I beat all the levels and became Lord of Super Jewel Quest! Aw yeah! 

Hehe saw this in a friend's flat and thought it was super cute! 

It is actually super annoying to cook all the time. Not because I don't like to cook, but because how much of a hassle it is. I am only here for three months, so I try to keep all my purchases to the bare minimum. And...unlike home, if I want to cook something, every single ingredient needs to be bought...down to basic spices and other utensils, if needed. So, it is so much easier to just eat PB&J sandwich and crisps (chips) every day. Sighpie. All I want is some 순두부찌개, Daikokuya and In N Out! 

These pictures are from a chain restaurant called Nando's! They specialize in everything chicken and it's so good! My flatmates told me I should have bought the chicken wrap but I will definitely going back, so I will get the wrap and the burger next time I visit. Their sauces are da yumz and da nomz. Also, one of my flatmates' aunt is the founder Nando's...meaning she's technically an English celebrity! 

Had a simple brunch with Monica! She prepared banana French toast with honey and I made sangria! 

Also, Bitstrips is so fun. I'm disappointed in myself for not recognizing the THREE rolls of toilet paper right behind me! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEKEND! 

Four of us from Middlebury found a Groupon for ghost walk tour around Norwich! It was not as fun as I expected it to be but I wasn't stuck in my room all day like usual so it was worth it. 

What I am doing with my life in Norwich when I am not traveling to different cities....

I won tickets to go see UK X-Factor finalist, Lucy Spraggan. So Monica and I were super excited! Monica also bought us some tasty ciders to take into the venue. But...most disappointing concert ever. We left the concert without seeing her and we were there for about two and a half hours...granted there were two opening performers but they did not even perform for a very long time. And while the music itself was nice, I got really tired real quick. We both decided that leaving early was one of the best decisions, ever! 

Left the show early but still had plenty of time for selfies!

No artist.......

Went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant with some new friends I met at UEA. It was good but the portions were so disappointing. I miss food in LA. Honestly, no ones does food and portions like LA. 

After dinner, we went to a cool bar called The Bicycle Shop. The vibe of the bar is super hipster and cool with Christmas lights, bean bags and board games! All the board games were boring and/or confusing, so we ended up playing charades using the app on my phone and it was so fun(ny)!

The beer I bought (Leffe Blond) was a bit disappointing but the aftertaste wasn't too bad. At least I got a special cup just for my drink!

Learned to French braid my own hair all by myself! Hehe I don't know why I felt so proud, so I wanted to share! #humility

I have highlighted some of the things I've been up to living in Norwich! 

I still have to make my way over to visit the Norwich Castle and other historical places! Four more weeks left here...I can't believe how fast my study abroad experience is coming to an end!