The flight home booked, suitcases packed, and tearful goodbyes said, this week marks the last of my semester abroad in the U.K. I don’t know if there’s a single word to sum up my five-month experience, so I’ll choose a few: chaotic, thrilling, unpredictable, and illuminating. I return home with a potent tea dependency, an expanded vocabulary that includes phrases such as “yapper” and “bevvy,” a love for surfing (yes, people surf in the U.K.), and a wealth of friends that feel like family dotted all over the globe. I also return to Canada with more memories than any piece of luggage could carry.
Prior to leaving for my semester at the University of Leeds, located just a few hours north of London, I had so many assumptions about the experience. While a few were met, for the most part it was one surprise after another. I thought Waterloo had an impressive student population, but Leeds brings a whole new meaning to the term “uni town.” With five universities and 70,000 students — almost double that of Waterloo — the city’s streets are constantly swarming with young people, making it an ideal place for newcomers like me to meet fellow students. In this youthful collegiate ecosystem, hilarious traditions have taken hold, such as Leeds’s renowned “Otley Run.” A pub crawl that is not for the faint of heart or stomach, this event requires willing participants to dress up in costume and complete a four-kilometre journey, visiting no less than 16 pubs located along Otley Road. Typically attempted on Saturdays, I first witnessed this unofficial Leeds student rite of passage during my first weekend in Leeds, mistaking this spectacle for some kind of massive costume party. The vibrant student life to be found at every corner of the city, such as this Otley Run tradition, quickly dispelled any concerns I had regarding meeting people and making friends.
Of course, when considering social life in the U.K., one cannot ignore the chokehold football (heaven forbid you use the term “soccer” in a British pub) has on the population. I thought Canadian hockey fans could get quite rowdy, but they are downright reserved compared to the charged atmosphere in the stands at my first football match in London. I was rendered speechless more than once at the debauched creativity of the insults launched back and forth between the rival team’s fans — and in the presence of children, no less.
Perhaps the only thing that amazed me more than the changes of British culture were the changes I experienced in myself while there. Considering my concerns about meeting new people and feeling comfortable living so far from home, I was more than a little nervous. But by the time I had gotten on my connecting flight in Amsterdam while heading to Leeds, I had already run into three other exchange students at the airport. By the time our flight to Leeds touched down, it was as if we had known each other for ages.
I also happen to be a first-rate advanced planner with a tendency to overthink every decision I make. Yet suddenly I was taking spontaneous trips with fellow students I hadn’t even known a week prior, but were now like family. One second it was Oh yeah, I really want to go there too! and the next thing I knew we were sitting in a circle on the kitchen floor booking flights. Who’s up for London this weekend? Next up, Paris!
All of us being far from home and occasionally feeling like a fish out of water in an unfamiliar place, we became bonded by this unique shared experience. Muddling through life’s daily challenges — how the transit system works, what the cheapest grocery store is, where to find the best coffee — grew us ever closer. Those small, shared moments were easily among the best parts of my exchange. We discovered this new world together, whether it was figuring out which train to board, trying new foods or helping each other decode the unfamiliar British slang.
Given that Leeds is just about as inland as possible, located at the virtual mid-point between England’s two coasts, it was the last place I would have expected to discover a passion for surfing. Yet, given that it is just a couple hours by car to the ocean, I found myself a part of a lively community of surfers brave (or crazy) enough to surf the less than warm U.K. coast. Though I have never so much as touched a surfboard in my life, I found myself risking hypothermia and surfing through a hailstorm in Newcastle in March and accumulating an impressive array of bruises from countless wipeouts, all while having the time of my life. This was just one example of the many ways in which I opened myself up to the spontaneity and wonder of new experiences. It was a good reminder that, to deprive oneself of such opportunities, means you are not taking full advantage of the student exchange experience.
Moving to a city I knew next to nothing about and into a flat with eight other strangers from different countries for five months away from home was undeniably an overwhelming commitment. Even though I never got used to cars driving on the left side of the road and will not miss the endless drizzle of rain outside, this place has truly become like a home to me. After all, what more is a home than a place where you find comfort in simple pleasures such as card games on all those rainy nights, trading recipes with flatmates, or sharing a few pints at Wetherspoons. For these and so many other small moments, I am endlessly grateful for my short but incredibly full time across the pond. I left home in January for one school semester abroad and am coming home having learned more than I imagined possible.
