{"id":6991,"date":"2019-05-07T11:32:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T01:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/qut-exchange-students\/?p=6991"},"modified":"2019-05-07T11:32:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T01:32:25","slug":"quintessentially-british","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2019\/05\/07\/quintessentially-british\/","title":{"rendered":"Quintessentially British"},"content":{"rendered":"

Katherine Thelander<\/em>
\nBath Spa University, England (Semester 1, 2016)<\/em><\/p>\n

Going on exchange is a chance to see the world and at first I found that England, apart from the weather, was no different to Australia. It took a mere twelve months for the United Kingdom to change my mind, to convince me that there was more to it beyond cloudy skies and posh accents. I now present to you my findings, my discoveries of the most quintessential ingredients that make up Britain.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Double deckers are ridiculous forms of transport.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There is nothing sillier than two double-decker buses facing off on the narrow road leading to Bath Spa University. Nothing more tense than them sliding past with inches between them, two tiers of students anxiously watching the debacle. Staying in a residence hall meant that my only connection to town was via this long and winding road, and this was altogether far too much effort. Why leave campus when all I needed \u2013 friends, food, and (ugh) class \u2013 was within walking distance. In Australia we\u2019re used to commuting into uni but in Bath I could leave for class minutes before it started. The university is much smaller than QUT but that was a good thing for me \u2013 it meant my classes were small and focused groups, and it meant that you formed close connections with people who had the same interests. Living on campus and having my friends within easy reach is one of the things I\u2019ll miss the most from my exchange experience (and I admit, the double deckers were pretty adorable too).<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Europe is a stone\u2019s throw (almost literally).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      We\u2019ve learned to balk at the idea of booking flights, knowing that a vacation\u2019s feasibility hangs on the whimsy of Jetstar and Virgin. Well worry no more \u2013 once you get over the initial flights to England you\u2019re treated to flights cheaper than Australian intercontinental travel. Travelling Europe is appealing because vastly different cultures are close together in a small space, so you get a high concentration of \u2018culture\u2019 for a relatively small amount of money. More bang for your buck. It\u2019s common for Australian travellers to string these countries together, embarking on months-long journeys so they\u2019re not wasting the flight over, but living in Europe removes that worry. Exchange gives you the chance to take your time with travel, to not worry so much about increasing your \u2018countries visited\u2019 tally. Europe is also the perfect playground for beginner solo travellers (which I was and still am), so go get lost.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Quaint rhymes with England (figuratively speaking).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Ah, England. Not an unfamiliar country. We\u2019ve seen \u2018Love Actually\u2019, we\u2019ve seen \u2018Harry Potter\u2019, we\u2019re pretty sure we know exactly what England\u2019s about. You know, it\u2019s not that far off. London\u2019s cool and all, but in my year in the UK I grew to adore the tiny towns that dot the countryside. Bath is the culmination of the English dream to me, the dream of retiring to a town with easy access to scones and spas. The buildings are stone, the roofs are thatch, and there are sheep on my campus. I never would have thought of Brisbane as a big city until coming to England, but now ensconced in town-living I realised what I\u2019ve been missing. A friend in Oxford showed me one of the colleges of Oxford University, with two distinct stone walls. The first one, the inner one, was built in the 1200s, and the outer one was built in the 1600s. We stood between the two and were struck by the fact that our country was younger than the difference between them. I ruined this moment somewhat by smacking the 1200s wall, but it was a reminder that England is old, almost unfathomably old, and that there\u2019s so much history to discover for yourself.<\/p>\n

        I can talk about my experience on exchange and everything I learned, but that doesn\u2019t cover what\u2019s possible. Every exchange is different because everybody is trying to answer a question they\u2019re asking themselves. I don\u2019t know if I found that answer while I was abroad, but I\u2019ve gotten a whole lot closer. If you have a question, if there\u2019s something you need to find out about yourself, then exchange is the time to ask it.<\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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