Some expectations

T: -6 Days

Having never been to Europe, or England, I'm sure I'm quite misguided in what to expect, so I thought it might be kind of funny to write down some of my expectations here, and then see how wrong I am.

• Everyone in England has a fantastic (and hot) British accent
• It rains at least half the days
• The rain is mostly a drizzle
• Thunderstorms are fairly non-existant
• Despite the rain, almost no one uses an umbrella
  
• Americans are not popular
  
• There are fewer cars than in American cities
• Double-decker buses
• At least some cobbled streets
• "British humor"
• Breakfast is a bigger deal, dinner less so
• Fewer people at church play piano
• The church buildings there are architecturally different than buildings here
• Everyone drinks tea
• Less hamburgers
• Fewer jeans (are jeans an American thing?)
• Less severely obese people
• More Beatles-esque music (ie: less hard rock/rap/punk)
• More international films
• More controversial films
• More boarding schools
• Smaller houses, or maybe flats
• Soccer is a bigger deal
• Pizza is not a staple of the diet
• Nightclubs
• Pubs
• Fish and chips, sold by men on the street
• More traditional school systems
• Fewer people go to college
• Lots of going out to socialize and hang out
• More girls with short hair / guys with longer hair (not buzzed)
• Open markets
• Rolling countryside with stonewalls and sheep
• More TV shows, fewer movies
• Everyone drinks tea

I'm not really sure what to expect... I can't decide if it's going to be more or less different than I expect. I mean, it's still a western country, with the same language, and we have many of the same traditions and such, so maybe it won't be that different... I'll just have to see.

The beginnings of adventure

T: -7 Days

One week from today, I arrive in England to beginning a four month study abroad in London. Classes, culture, museums, plays, outings, parks, accents, Cockney, fish and chips, lorries... everything British, right out my doorstep, stretching as far as the eye can see (and quite a bit farther). I'm hoping to record here my expectations and discoveries--hindsight may be 20/20, but forward sight tends to be a lot more funny. It will be my first time in Europe, and my first extended stay out of the United States, and I fully intended to absolutely live it up. Let the count down begin!