T Minus 6 Days

Well hi! Welcome to my little blog. I'm going to use this thing to document my upcoming semester in England.

While there I'll be studying creative writing at the University of East Anglia, a university of about 15,000 undergrads whose alumni include authors Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan (my fave!), as well other prominent writers, politicians, performers, academics, and leaders. UEA is located in Norwich, which, with a population of 132,200, is the biggest city in the somewhat rural county of Norfolk. (Thanks for all that, Wikipedia.) It's located on the southeastern coast of England, right across the water from Amsterdam and an hour-and-a-half train ride (116 miles) from London. Here's a map where you can see Norwich's location within the UK:


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Since coming home from New York City a little over a week ago I've been getting ready for my trip in a number of ways. Most of it is kind of logistical preparation -- doing laundry, stocking up on toiletries, etc.

Typically students apply for a student Visa well in advance before going abroad, but as of last September that's not always necessary anymore. Last year Britain's immigration board instituted a new policy whereby students (from certain countries, the US included) intending to study in the UK for fewer than six months can get a Visitor's Visa upon arrival to the UK, right there in the airport. That's good news for me, because I'll only be there for three months. And while a regular Visa would've worked too, before I could get it I would've had to drive 175 miles to Nashville in order to get my fingerprints taken or my retinas scanned or something. This way I only have to show my passport and my UEA acceptance letter at the entrance checkpoint at Heathrow and I'm golden, baby.

One piece of documentation that I did apply for in advance is the International Student Identification Card, and I'm really glad I did. My Mexican friend Enrique (WHAT UP!) told me about it. The ISIC is kind of like a universal school ID card: it costs only a few bucks to make (I got mine at the International Studies Office here at UT), and then you're afforded all sorts of student discounts and special offers when you show it at certain places like museums, theaters, restaurants, hotels, and travel companies. Pretty sweet deal, as I definitely plan on traveling.

I've also been trying to prepare myself for the cultural differences between America and the UK. Since announcing my intention to study in Great Britain I've heard the expression "America and England are two countries divided by a common language" more times than I can count, and I don't doubt that it's true. I know that if I went across the pond expecting to see a mini-America I'd be in for the shock of a lifetime, and that even though I speak the language, there are probably plenty of things about British culture that I won't understand right away. For this reason I've watched a lot of "The Office" and Simon Pegg movies lately. (Actually, I'm serious. See "Shaun of the Dead" right now; it will blow your mind.)

I've also been reading through a couple of books that my mom found for me: Rules, Britannia: An Insider's Guide to Life in the United Kingdom by Toni Summers Hargis, a Brit living in America; and The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall, an American living in Britain. They're both kind of anthropological sketches of United Kingdom, both written from the perspective of someone who is familiar with both British and American culture. So far they're very interesting; I have yet to figure out if any of what they say is true, but I'll be sure to note here whatever I find.

Anyway, that's it for my pre-departure introduction. I'm off to England in 6 days (next Tuesday), and I've still got a bit of preparation left, so I'll get back to that, and I'll be back to this blog very soon. For now, I'll leave you with this gem from the Golden Age of British Comedy (i.e. the 1970s). This is Neil Innes and Eric Idle on Rutland Weekend Television: