Distinct differences

So far, I've settled in quite well. My advice to anyone who decides to have a year abroad is this: 

If you don't believe that you're a foreigner, you're not a foreigner. This has kept me in good stead - the attitude I've had is that everyone here is in fact foreign and they've invaded my new university. 

However, I know that this isn't the case. Over the past few weeks I've started to pick up on things that are very different to home. 

1. Fanta 

In the U.K, Fanta is a light yellow colour - it almost looks slightly lemony. However, when I poured myself a glass in the cafeteria, I was almost blinded by the light. This light was so powerful that it could light the deepest oceans and the darkest crevasses. 

I can't even imagine what goes in it to make it such a colour... 

2. We don't do fire drills 

Well they do of course, but that's not the only drill I've had since I've been here. 

Last night we were all evacuated to the first floor to practice for a potential tornado...

You don't get many of them in Britain. 

3. This is stuck to the back of your bedroom door 

Very similar to the warning we have at Birmingham. Wouldn't you agree? 

4. People actually like the rain here... 

So I was in choir today and our choir director announced that there was going to be a 90% chance of rain. With that, the room exploded with applause and cheering. I looked around the room, stunned. If anything like that happened in Birmingham, the reaction would be 'and? It's raining now. It rained yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before the day before yesterday...' 

5. Class is dismissed. I have a cold. 

In Texas, your occupational health teacher doesn't go off sick for the week because of a cold. In Texas, your occupational health teacher goes off sick for the week because he was bitten by a snake and ended up in intensive care for a few days. 

Luckily they got there within ten minutes, so they didn't have to amputate his ankle... 

6. You can go outside in shorts without being honked at by every driver. 

Everyone wears shorts, dresses and skirts in Texas. In the U.K, it is such a rare phenomenon for the weather to rise above -6, that drivers cannot control themselves when they see a bit of skin for the first time in years. 

7. Low end supermarkets resemble British supermarkets after a nuclear war

So I went to this supermarket the other day called 'Sack and Save'. I should have known that from the dodgy decor and the name that it was going to be rough and oh gosh, it was. 

They actually kept gone off food on the shelves, the meat section was practically empty, the fish section was dirty... it was all just a bit dirty. 

To put it bluntly, I won't be returning in a hurry. 

8. Vegetables aren't vegetables if they haven't been deep fried and smothered in salt

I currently have a food card and can eat at any cafeteria on campus, as many times as I like. However, the food is pretty poor. There are many temptations: burgers, chips, pizza, pasta etc., but there are some healthy options. However, what they don't tell you is that it is covered in salt and I really mean covered. It's made me want to gag to the extent I don't actually get any vegetables anymore. 

I hope you like obesebrybry. 

9. The Military

'Yeah I was Afghanistan for a couple of years'. 

'I was in the navy, we spent a lot of time in Japan'. 

'So I'm going to become an officer once I graduate'. 

Never in my life have I met so many people with connections to the military and for the first time I have discovered how closely connected the military is to the education system here. The military pay for your education, so providing you've been in the military at some point or are definitely joining when you leave, your tuition fees are paid for. There isn't a lot of government funding here, so I can see why people choose the military as a career path. 

10. I'm a driver and I'm not trying to kill all the pedestrians. 

The cars actually stop for people here. I'm actually concerned that no one has tried to kill me yet. I'm clearly used to some very violent British drivers... 

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Education systems

So I have been here for just over three weeks now and feel like I’m starting to properly settle in. There are still a few things that I am still adjusting to (my schedule, the workload), but overall, I feel quite comfortable in my surroundings.

During the past few weeks, I’ve started to really think about the education system here in America and the education system back in the U.K. I cannot quite express how different the education systems are – it has been a real culture shock from that perspective. However, different doesn’t necessarily mean bad at all – if anything, there are some things they cover here that I had wished they had covered back home.

	The University of Birmingham	The University of North Texas	Winner
Assessment	In the U.K., degree classifications are the following (highest to lowest): 1 2.1 2.2 3 Pass In the arts, it is largely impossible/incredibly difficult to get a first. It requires a lot of dedication/not leaving your room and having a social life for the entirety of your university career. Bear in mind, a first is only 70% in the U.K, to get a 4.0 in America you need 90% + I found the work in Birmingham incredibly difficult and it would often make me want to pull out my hair and drink a bottle of vinegar. The academia was very intense and required extensive reading and critical analysis.	The American degree classifications are the following (highest to lowest): 4.0 (90% = A) 3.0 (80% = B) 2.0 (70% = C) 90% is an incredibly high percentage. However, what if I was to tell you that I have already had six exams here in the past three weeks and I’ve got 100% on four of them? Never at Birmingham had I got 100% on anything – it is simply impossible. I’m finding the marking system a bit too much like school here. Although saying that, even at school it was almost impossible to get full marks on anything…	Birmingham – the education system stretches you massively. Although it can be quite challenging at times, it has been incredibly worthwhile. It also prepares you for the fact that in music, you can only aim for perfection… depressing eh? However, this has reassured me that if I keep on the right track I’m guaranteed a 4.0 and then I can trade my degree in music and go to Harvard law school just like Legally Blonde.
Accommodation	I think it’s safe to say that in Birmingham, most landlords and companies do not care about the properties and will let the students live in squalor and still happily sleep at night. Although it was dirty and a lot of things were broken, your independence was established immediately, it was very clear that you had left home and that you could live by your own rules.	The standard of accommodation is better here with good communal areas and free laundry (we never had that in halls!) However, there are some rather ridiculous rules… = You cannot consume alcohol in front of your roommate if your roommate is underage. = Your underage roommate must not be able to see any alcohol you have in your room. = Freshers cannot have members of the opposite sex in their room after 1:30am. Luckily for me I’m not a freshman, so they can stay until 2:30am… = You will be in a huge amount of trouble if you are seen drunk by the RAs. = Room searches every few weeks. Whilst I understand the underage drinking rules as it is the law, some of the others are ridiculous – we are adults, we have moved out, but hey! Different culture.	Draw – the quality of accommodation is better in the U.S, but the rules are slightly ridiculous.
Ensembles	The quality of ensembles in Birmingham was high. However, the thing that I found incredibly frustrating at Birmingham was the lack of faculty involvement with some of the smaller ensembles and instead they were run by students. Yes this is a good experience for students, but as students, they were still learning like the rest of us. It was slightly frustrating to listen to someone who didn’t necessarily know any more than what you did.	All ensembles are covered by faculty which is incredibly reassuring.	North Texas – hands down.
Opera	I have always enjoyed doing the Summer Festival Opera at Birmingham as it is a nice break from exams in the summer term. However, like the ensembles I wish there was more involvement from the staff as it limits a lot of things. For example: you cannot do an opera in a different language as none of the students at Birmingham know how to read IPA (I’m learning very quickly) and it must be a comfortable student project (nothing too difficult).	Doing opera at North Texas is actually a module and I am currently rehearsing for Cendrillon by Massenet and the opera scenes in January (more Monteverdi?!) I have been incredibly impressed with the standard of the rehearsals so far. As a module, it is run by the staff and the MD is particularly proficient in foreign languages as we’re singing Cendrillon in French! My first time that I’m actually doing an opera in the original language! So far we have had one on one sessions, group rehearsals and group diction lessons with the French tutor. It is incredibly exciting to have such resources at my hands!	North Texas – no competition.
Timetable	Somehow with my six lectures a week (approx. one hour a day), my days felt like they were packed and that I was always tired. I was in a number of outside operatic societies, but even still, I still do not understand why I felt so tired all the time. I found my 9am lectures unbearable and I wouldn’t even be awake for most of the day.	My timetable is around 36 hours a week (approx. six hours a day). It’s weird that they actually believe in educating the students here… I have three 8ams a week, but the days do not feel like such a toll as they did when I was in Birmingham. I should really consider sorting out my life in final year…	North Texas
Knowledge	The students at Birmingham were very well-rounded on my course. The majority had extensive academia behind them and knew a lot about composers and performers. It was mildly intimidating at first that so many people were so intelligent!	This section isn’t talking about music specifically; this is a more general the education of young American’s. Whilst some people on my course do not have some basic bits of knowledge, that hasn’t been astonishing for me. What has been astonishing to me is some of the geographical and historical comments several strangers have made to me in the past few weeks.  = Isn’t Israel in South America?  = World War One and Two started in the Middle East.  = Oh. You mean Czechoslovakia isn’t in the Middle East?  = Europe is a country right?  = I watch Sherlock all the time. Do you? He’s my favourite historical figure. America. Seriously? What? Not like I’m generalising or anything…	Birmingham – hands down.
Work ethic	The students at Birmingham are… mostly rather lazy. Not everyone, but there are some that are incredibly lazy (and there are some that are very hardworking).	So I come to America and everyone has these ridiculously long days and are working part time jobs/gigging all weekend. It makes me realise that it really is not in your best interest to be bumming around when you really should be doing something productive…	North Texas
Homework	Incredibly difficult essays. Would take a lot of time to research and make a critical analysis.	A lot more homework, but the standard is lower than the work in Birmingham.	Draw

I feel that from these few weeks that I could set up the perfect music school from a mixture of the British education system and the American education system. I now realise how lucky I am that I am going to have such a well-rounded education after this year abroad.  

American Football

So on Saturday I went to my first ever American Football game. It wasn't really the best weather for it as it was a burning 40+ degrees in the sun and we were given the seats that didn't have any shade. 

However, there was a big group of the exchange students going and there seemed to be a lot going on outside the stadium as it was homecoming. 

We were thoroughly searched before we entered the stadium and were given lots of Mean Green merchandise including pompoms and stickers. There were a lot of people at the game including students and family members. It seemed to be a really big event for the university. I still couldn't get over the size of all the facilities. After talking to a few of the American students, they were extremely surprised that the British didn't have such a big following on university sports. 

It must be said, I didn't really learn many of the rules of the game. I learned that it was important to chuck the ball at the end of the pitch (this is known as a touch down) and that you were to try and stop the opposing team from doing the same. 

However, I learned some more valuable things during this time: 

1) I could sweat from places that I never knew I could sweat from. The only way I can describe the heat here is that it's like a hairdryer. It doesn't burn you, it just consumes you and sitting in it for so long was starting to make me feel really grubby. My lips were starting to taste pretty salty. 

Nomnomnomnomnom. 

2) American football is not just about the football. It is essentially one giant party. You have the marching band that plays throughout the game, during the half-time and before the match (by the way, they were incredible). You have the cheerleaders who perform during the game and run on the pitch with flags every time the home team has a touchdown. You have dancers that perform with the marching band during half time. You have cannons that go off whenever the home team score. You have members of the military bring in the flags at the beginning of the game. I have only been here for a week and I have already sung the national anthem twice. 

3. Fifteen minutes is never fifteen minutes in American Football. 

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Exploring... McDonald's

Being surrounded by fast food has inspired me and Inge to try every single delicacy before we leave the States. We have seen everything from McDonald's to Wendy's to Taco Bell and we want to try it and we want to review it. 

It seemed obvious to start with one of the planets most popular fast-food joints. 

Bryony and Inge explore.... McDonald's

So we have decided compare the Denton McDonald's to the British/Dutch McDonald's. Obviously we won't be able to compare every food place as many of these companies do not exist in our countries (Wendy's, Whataburger etc.) 

Anyway, this is what we discovered... 

Service: 

The service was fairly slow, but in England this varies wherever I go across the country. The one in Luton is fairly speedy, whilst the one that was a five minute walk away in Edgbaston took about fifteen minutes to order and another fifteen minutes to actually get the meal. We both agreed that we couldn't base it on one experience. 

Winner: Draw 

Food: 

Big Mac 

A few of my friends have been abroad recently and have told me about this 'double big mac' they had come across. However, I was pretty disappointed to discover that they didn't have one in Denton. They did have a few things on the menu that I had never seen before (the McRib, Chicken Club sandwich), but I decided to stick to a home favourite. 

I was pretty disappointed to find that the Big Mac was the same size as the British Big Mac. I was hoping for a mega burger, but I was rather let down! Initially the taste was very similar, however it was clear that the thousand island sauce inside was rather different, but pretty good in it's own way. 

However, Inge and I were pretty disappointed by the bun. The bun in Europe is a lot harder, whilst the American bun is softer and as a result, it was crumbling and I found myself gripping just the burger by the end. 

Thank God I had some tissues. 

Winner: Europe 

Chips 

The quantity of chips was American size. That is, I ordered a medium and was given a British large sized. They were pretty damn good, I couldn't complain. Enough salt on them and hot and tasty. 

Nom nom nom. 

Winner: USA 

Drink 

Again, I ordered a medium and the drink was massive - the size of a British large. I ordered a coke and like the home, it was largely watered down and disappointing for coke. 

McDonald's - sort it out. 

Winner: Draw 

Overall, I would have preferred the burger to have been bigger, just to complete the American experience. That and a harder bun, would have made it into the greatest burger on the planet. All in all, it was pretty good, but if I go back before I leave, I reckon I'll try one of the burgers we don't get back home and see how that tastes.

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