A Month of Memories

Had to include a C. S. Lewis quote after returning from a weekend in Oxford!!

It has officially been a month since arriving here in Coventry, United Kingdom. My pre-travel in Ireland and Wales was incredible, but actually living in the same place abroad for an extended amount of time is a whole different experience! My day to day life isn't always something spectacular, but there are constantly memories to cherish. My weekdays include attending lectures and seminars, putting in internship hours, blogging, doing a little homework, cooking, roaming Coventry, and occasional day trip and much much more. My weekends have tended to drain my bank account with the traveling and hanging out with friends. It is amazing the amount of memories I have captured within this last month! I can't wait to see what these next 3 months have in store for me!!

My Month of Memories:

Touring Coventry

A day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon with the French

An evening in Birmingham

Kazbah and Hush

The Phoenix & Quids Pub

Starting school at Coventry University

Getting placed as Marketing Intern in the Sport & Event Management department

A weekend in London (staying with Kaitlin)

A day trip to Liverpool with the French

An evening at the Bucher's Arms Restaurant in Priors Hardwick with Tony and Sue

Joined the Coventry Women's Basketball team

Getting my ear pierced

Attending the Aston Villa v. West Ham United football match (stay tuned for a blog post)

A weekend in Oxford (stay tuned for a blog post)

and more...

Coventry University Welcomes a World Traveler

The first day of classes has always been a day that I both look forward too and dread at the same time. It is always exciting to figure out who will be in your classes, what you'll be learning, and to get in the groove of a schedule. Even though those aspects are exciting, the start of new classes also means the homework, studying, papers, and exams are soon to follow...

Bailey and I on our first day

This Monday marked the day that I was no longer just a world traveler. I am officially embarking on the adventures of an international student at Coventry, University. My lectures and seminars this week really opened my eyes to the differences in the university experience from the US to the UK regarding classes. At CSB/SJU we are graded upon many different elements including attendance, participation, assignments, group work, papers, exams, etc. Even though the papers and exams tend to carry the most weight, everything you do within the class makes a difference. Furthermore, the classes at CSB/SJU tend to be a few times a week for about an hour, more or less depending on the day. The classes at CSB/SJU are very small and often are discussion based with some lectures and group work. I am used to working on homework on an average of 3 hours a night. It amazed me how little we are assessed on here at Coventry University as well as how different the class schedule is. I will be assessed very similarly across my three modules here: 50% of my grade will be on a mid-term case study or paper and the other 50% will be from my final exam. That's a lot of pressure! With the assessment guide in mind, that means that we will have little to no homework and won't be graded on it.. I can deal with that! It just means that I am really going to have to work hard to prioritise my schedule to do further reading and study the themes discussed in the lectures and seminars. Beyond the difference in assessment from the US to the UK, the class schedule is very different. For each of my three modules, I have a lecture 2-3 hours long and then a 1-2 hour seminar each week. Simply, a lecture is a lecture. The seminars involve a small group of students from the lecture to discuss further in depth the themes of the lecture. This will definitely be a little strange to get used to within the first few weeks, but I am ready to call this University my home.

Cheers!!

Cheers!

The little orphan Annie was brilliant!! "The sun will come out tomorrow" is what we should have been singing yesterday because today was just a jolly good time! Everything about today was 1,000 times better than yesterday!!

We woke early and returned to the office of our first meeting yesterday. This time, we were welcoming into a room with packets, pens, and other gadgets on the table in piles for us. Now this is what I am talking about!!! Neville and our international director contact were both there to speak with us. We were able to confirm our modules and work out our possible weekly schedules. I will be taking Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, British History, and Sports PR & Media. We then were able to get a better understanding of our schedule for the week of orientation that will include some optional plans for all 8,000 or so international students, meeting with our department, field trips, and games. We will be going to Birmingham and Stratford-Upon-Avon within the next few days. We also got a better understanding of the major trips that we will be taking throughout the semester including a trip to Holland, Center Parc, and possibly Russia. We then got a real tour of the campus finally! I even connected to WiFi!! Also, after the tour, Bailey and I each bought a really nice sweater at a vintage sale in our student hub to weather the cold

The morning was just so grand! The five of us returned home with smiles! Even though our WiFi and ethernet at our apartment was still not working, someone had finally come to our apartment to fix the problem. It's about time!! We had some nice relaxing time and then we had to leave for our scheduled meeting at our workout center on campus. Once we went through a short tour, we were clear to work out. This workout definitely got ride of any tension that was still there from the last few days of frustration!

A family dinner of tacos and a night of cards was in order!!

A frustrating start to our time in Coventry...

These last two days have been extremely frustrating for everyone in our group!! All we needed at the end of the day was a giant group hug and hopes that tomorrow will be better...

Sunday had an amazing start with a group run around Coventry. We even made it back without getting lost. Round of applause everyone! Then a few of us attended Holy Trinity Church for a nice service. I think we were the only students at the service with a bunch of old geisers. It was great though! Everyone was so nice and welcoming. When we were seated waiting for the service to start, an old man even came up to us and said hello because he was told that we had just arrived from America. How cute!! After the service we got some much needed free coffee, cookies, and squash bread before leaving. We then were able to go grocery shopping for the first time. Can't wait for another semester of cooking! After eating and resting up, we met up with Nev (our Coventry director), Ian (one of our professors), and some international MBA students at a pub before the Coventry Blaze hockey game. This team is the top team in Europe, but I would compare it to Juniors in America except that the players were much older. The size of the arena was much smaller than I expected and the players didn't even have their own box.. haha.. it was just marked off by a fence. The hockey game was very fun though! While in line to shake hands, a full out brawl started between the two teams. I have never seen anything like it! It just wouldn't stop.

Then the frustration started. When arriving back at our apartment, WiFi and our ethernet cords went completely out. So we went to bed early. This morning, everything was still shut down. So we got our day moving and went to go pick up our ID cards which let us into every building on campus and all of the information we needed for WiFi, email, and other student administration material. Well, we were not given the correct information and ended up standing in the wrong line at the international office for about 2 hours... Once we got everything figured out, it was time to go to our first meeting. We thought that we were going to receive our module schedule and more information about the week. We did not... We were under the impression we were supposed to have orientation this week but haven't heard anything.. I don't think we were even expected on that day for the meeting... Everything became more confusing. Then our second meeting to learn more about the details of the modules and academic stuff we found out wasn't even scheduled and the person had left. I bought some chocolate and felt just a wee bit better:) So, we returned home frustrated to find our WiFi still not working... Things may have been blown out of proportion, but I think we were just expecting a much different first few days with more organization and smoothness like the Coventry students had coming to CSB/SJU. Gotta stay positive though!!

Welcome to Coventry!!

This morning we woke up excited to finally get to coventry and not being living out of a suitcase! After getting ready for the day and packing up our things, we went downstairs to find coffee and breakfast prepared for us by the Beach Hut owner. What a great guy!! He gave us some directions to the train and we lugged our bags a few miles to make it with just 7 minutes to spare. Close one! Even though the train ride took about four and a half hours, it was a nice ride! The countryside of Wales was absolutely beautiful!! We also played many games of Estimate. Ha the five of us all had different names for the card game, so we have renamed it Dublin for the trip.

Views from the train:

When arriving in Birmingham, we stepped out of the train to find our Coventry director, Neville. Together we jumped onto another train to Coventry. We have arrived!! It was so nice to unpack and begin getting settled into our apartment for the semester. The five of us CSB/SJU students and a Coventry student that was at CSB/SJU this fall for the exchange all share an apartment. We each get our own room which is beyond perfect!! There is also 3 bathrooms and a kitchen. My only complaint is that there isn't a common room for us all to hang out. Oh well, I am happy!

Coventry Cathedral

In the evening we went to dinner at a pub and then later we went to a different pub for a drink. We didn't last long, we were exciting to get back and sleep in our own beds.

Oh The Places You'll Go!!!!

1. MORE. DAY.

I repeat..

1. MORE. DAY.

Just one more day until I pack my bags, say my goodbyes, and take off for the adventure of a lifetime!!! For the past year and a half I have been preparing, applying, interviewing, planning, and becoming insanely excited to study abroad in Coventry, England. I will be enrolled at Coventry University within their sports marketing & management program. 

This is not a normal study abroad program, this is the best!! 

Most programs accept around 30 people from their university that they already know, they take classes with those 30 students and their program director, and travel in a huge group around the world. My program differs greatly. I am apart of a brand new exchange program between CSB/SJU and Coventry University. There were 6 Coventry students that studied at CSB/SJU this past fall and now there are 5 students, including me, from CSB/SJU that will be studying at Coventry University this spring. We will be completely embedded into Coventry University with students and professors from around the world! This difference will give me the opportunity to make new friends and really expand my understanding of the world. I will be completing three courses: British History, Sports Marketing, and Sports Management. Furthermore, I will have an internship on a preprofessional sports team or sports related field. We will be finding out our placement within the first few weeks of arriving at the university. Can't wait! Finally, I will have the opportunity to travel the world! The 5 of us are pre-traveling in Dublin, Ireland and Holyhead, Wales. With the sports marketing and management program, we will be attending conferences in Holland and Germany. A Prague trip is planned with the Economics Club. My family is visiting and will be traveling around England and France. My mom and I will be spending a girls week together in Italy. Many other trips are being planned, but I can't wait to plan quick weekend trips with my new friends!

Stay tuned for pictures and stories from my travels. 

Stay classy!!