Rugby World Cup 2015, Tennis & First Day of Classes

Hello Everyone,

My journey in London is continuing to be a life changing experience!!! And since posting last week I have a lot to talk about! I can truly say I am feeling settled in at my new home and University! Everyone here has been extremely helpful and kind regarding my questions and needs. But now back to the fun, crazy and exciting stories….

RUBY WORLD CUP 2015: Never in my life have I followed Rugby or even knew the rules of the game or what is was about. However, Rugby in the UK is like the Super bowl in Football for us in the U.S. I was sitting my room when one of my host brothers, John came running up stairs shouting my name…the conversation went as followed…

John: Ty! Ty! 

Me: Hey John! What’s up

John: Are you not coming with us mate?

Me: Ehh I don’t think so.

John: Why not?!

Me: I don’t know…do you want me to come

John: Of course mate, but only if you want to. It’s going to be really mad! Everyone gets mental! 

Me: Alright, I’ll come! 

John: Perfect, we are going to leave in an hour. CHEERS!

Now you have to understand that since I did not know how this game was played and I didn’t know the rules I was worried I would be bored and not have a good time. However, I thought to myself, “When am I ever going to see a pro Rugby game in the UK again?” My roomie, Ben and our three host brothers David, Peter and John all went together and it ended up being a great time! We joked around and took pictures with an enlarged world cup trophy and had a table in the front of the big screen for the Fan Zone viewing of the game. England beat Fiji and the crowd was amazing! Singing, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and throwing beer in the air for celebration. After the game we all went to MAC Donald’s as it’s pronounced here in the UK and then went home after a long night! (Pictures will be below) 

SIGNING UP FOR THE TENNIS TEAM!: Last Friday there was a big club and sport sign up event. All of the sport teams and clubs had little tables and booths for students to sign up and gather information about a particular sport. Of course I found the Tennis team right away and was excited to know that there were indoor courts available to the members of the team. Apparently, I had been the talk of the team seeing that I was from the U.S. and one of St. Mary’s study abroad ambassadors had bragged about me to the the tennis and said that I would make a great contribution to the team. When I went to sign up, a few of the guys were at the table and the first thing they said to me was, “Are you the American?” I laughed and said, “Yes!” They were excited and said that usually the participation for guys on the team was low and that they would be happy to have me. They gave me a schedule with the practice times and matches. 

The first practice was this Monday from 7am-9am…SO EARLY!! It was a great time though. Everyone was getting back into the game and it was nice to just hit around and shake some rust off. I look forward to knowing the guys on the team better and competing for St. Mary’s!!! 

1^st DAY OF CLASS!! RACE & REPRESENTATION: Monday was also my first class which is called, Race and Representation (Sociology). Originally the class was supposed to be from 10am-1pm but the professors pushed it back to 11am-1pm..YESSS!! It was also nice that we were given a thick and large booklet with all the course readings we would need! SO NO MONEY NEEDED FOR A TEXTBOOK!! I was loving this class already and we hadn’t even started anything! We went over the basic components of the class and the assignments that would make up our grade. Two papers and presentation is our overall assessment!! I am excited and curious to see how the conversation of race will go in the class. I am also very interested in the what the topic of race is like here in the UK. 

AND NOW FINALLY THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR…Peggy!:

Well you will have to keep on waiting just a little longer! The actual days of the funeral was this past Sunday and Monday. I am told Peggy is supposed to return home on Tuesday or Wednesday. I know I am just as curious as all of you!! The suspense is killing me! Everyday people are still asking me, “Have you met Peggy yet?” Haha. She has become famous amongst the fall study abroad students. I am also thinking about adding a part to the blog called “Tea with Peggy.” I’m told she enjoys tea and talking about everything!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!! I promise next blog I will introduce her to all of you! I hope she likes taking selfies, that way I can post the picture of us two on here! 

I wake up everyday and I am still in shock that I am here….in LONDON!! I am truly thankful for this experience! I can’t wait to share my next bundle of experiences! But until next time…

CHEERS,

Ty G. 

Landing in London, Lost Bags & "Where's Peggy?"

Hi everyone! You alright?,

The past five days have without a doubt been jammed packed with adventures, new discoveries and all around mixed emotions. Where do I even begin?? I guess I will start with seeing my AD for the “Be President” campaign at the Pittsburgh International Airport!!! It was surreal to see myself on multiple screens throughout the airport and knowing that thousands of other people would as well. I am truly proud to be considered one of the faces of W&J!! Go Presidents!!

Once I was finally on the plane to London it was exciting and nerve racking at the same time. I couldn’t stop thinking about EVERYTHING!! What will St. Mary’s University be like, what all will I get involved in, what’s the food like, Am I really ready for this, How will my host family embrace me and I can’t believe I am living my dream!! The plane ride itself was about 8 hours and time went fast between sleeping and watching movies. And finally, the time had come when I touched down to London! This was both scary and exciting at the same time. I had to first go through immigration and get my passport stamped. I thought this process was going to be worst than it actually turned out to be! However, it was fairly quick and then I was off to retrieve my bags...or so I thought!!!

Obstacle #1: Lost Bags!!

As I waited at terminal four for my luggage, I began to notice everyone else grabbing their bags and me still standing there anxiously waiting. After about a half an hour I gave up and went to baggage claim where I was told my bags were still at JFK airport in New York. All I could think was, “of course I had to be the one to have my bags left somewhere else.” I didn’t panic. The representative assured me that I would be reunited with bags more than likely by the end of the day, which was a relieve. Now of course we all know that didn’t happen right?! I must have called baggage claims a hundred times asking them the status of my bags to the point where they knew it was me calling. Thankfully my bags did arrive at my homestay the next day in the afternoon and all was well.

Obstacle #2: Where’s Peggy?

To gain the full cultural experience I chose a homestay for my accommodation. I was simply given an address and a name, Peggy Dean. What made me even more uneasy was while at the airport I began to spark conversation with the other international students about their living arrangements and almost everyone said they were living in the dorms on campus. I became a little concerned about my situation because I had not be in contact with my homestay. I just had a name. I began to wonder, does Peggy live alone?, what will her house look like? does she have kids, and I don’t know why but I just had this image of me and Peggy sitting at the table drinking tea and having conversation. Peggy became very popular in the group and once I arrived at the University I was told my homestay would pick me up at 3pm. Turns out Peggy was married and had five kids! However, it was not Peggy who picked me up, it was her husband! Unfortunately, Peggy’s mom passed away and she was handling the funeral. Still to this day I have yet to meet the infamous Peggy and everyday everyone asks me, “Have you met Peggy yet?” It has become quite the anticipated event.

The past few days have mostly been orientation stuff for international students. Meet and greets, tours of the campus and buildings, informational meetings about what is offered and all the fun we can have. I am beginning to settle in nicely. I have a roomie named Ben, who I actually met in San Francisco at a ice cream shop this summer while teaching and it was crazy that we ended up at the same homestay sharing a room. Initially when we talked about going abroad we didn’t realize we were both going to the same place at the same time. It was nice to see a familiar face.

Most recently, this past Saturday we took a walking tour of central London. My University is located in Twickenham, a nice quite area away from the city. The tour was amazing. Of course, we viewed a lot of the major attractions, Big Ben, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace, etc. I took many pictures and I will post some of my favorites! I look forward to exploring what all London has to offer and of course London Theatre!!!!

We still have the rest of this week before modules (classes) officially start.  Basically, this is time to continue to become familiar with the lay of the land and settle in nicely. There are also a number of events for the incoming first year students and international students to attend to get to know one another! I look forward to an exciting semester.

Fun Facts:

There is a bar on campus!! Yes! A Bar! The legal drinking age here is 18. The bar or “Pub” is open to students and faculty on campus and there are events held in this area such as, “Open Mic Night, Bingo and others social gatherings.

LONDON LINGO: 

MATE = Friend or Pal  

“You alright”= What’s up or How are you? 

PUB = Bar  

“Bunk class”= to Skip 

FAG= a cigarette (Smoking is very common in London!)  

CHEERS= Thank you.

Stay tuned for more exciting stories and updates on my journey here in London. I will also try to make post on Facebook and upload as many photos as I can.

Until next time!

Ty G.