Welcome to the Culture Shock

     After only a day and a half already so much has happened that it’s difficult to explain in short messages, so I thought why not blog the whole thing? For those of you who don’t know, I’m starting a year abroad of study at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, about 15 miles outside Washington D.C. I’ll be returning to the University of Leicester to complete my American Studies degree in just over a year’s time, but for now I’m an international student in the United States.

     And what a strange experience it is! I arrived at 3pm EST (Eastern Standard Time, 5 hours behind the U.K) and met my fellow American Studies students from Leicester, Joe and Georgia, at Washington Dulles airport. We took a taxi to the University which was pretty much deserted. The American students haven’t arrived yet, and the office we were supposed to check in at was closed. After a while of panic at being stranded in the middle of a HUGE campus (there is a car park that must be about a third of the size of the main Leicester site alone), we found some friendly staff who helped us find our accommodation.

     We settled in and unpacked a little, and I met my roommate, an exchange student from Tokyo. I’m on a floor with mostly international students and while I haven’t met many of them yet, everyone is incredibly friendly. To a cynical Brit it’s a bit of shock to be so welcomed, the highlight of which came in our epic trip to Walmart. With no bedding we provided and only a quick glance at the map, the three of us from Leicester tried to walk to the shop through a suburban area where we quickly became lost. It was incredibly surreal just to see the neighbourhood; the pop culture image of the big house with white fences, huge ‘yards’ (gardens), people sitting on their porches and kids running around unsupervised, and an American flag outside almost every home was on full display. We must have looked incredibly out of place, not least because we were walking- everybody seems to drive everywhere.

     Thankfully we found a woman to ask for directions, explaining we were students from Britain who had just arrived and were slightly lost. Immediately she decided to get her car and give us a lift there which completely threw us off- I was a very confused Brit at that point! But it was such kind thing to do and we were very grateful. We made it to Wal-Mart and picked up some bedding, and then were helped to find a bus home by a strange man who was friendly enough but a bit too conversational. Our conversation quickly jumped from Rifles to Scottish Independence to Mick Jagger’s marriage- and after 21 hours awake, I was completely lost! It was a relief to be finally getting some sleep.

       Day 2 brought international orientation. After a few talks and Domino’s pizza (which is huge here, although it can’t beat a 3am Leicester delivery after a night out) we split into groups and took part in a ‘scavenger hunt’, exploring the campus to solve challenges. It was a pretty fun way to get to know the campus and again, the international people I encountered were all incredibly nice. Among them were two Scots we met, and I have to admit it was refreshing to hear some of the sarcastic humour of home! We took a trip to find a closer supermarket, as well as finding a local comic book store (which may have made my day!). By the end of the day we were incredibly tired but had to stay up to fight the jet lag and adjust to American time, and ended up sitting in the entrance to one of the residences watching Top Gear on BBC America. Some things never change!

     I promise not every post will be this long, don’t worry! But I’ll keep this updated as the year goes by. At the end of the first night of failed check-ins, Wal-Mart troubles and exhaustion this experience seemed more daunting than ever. But its genuinely been great overall so far, and there’s still so much to see and do.

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