This week was filled with fun activities with friends and a balance of both schoolwork and staying busy with others. On Monday, it was my friend Una's birthday. I had gone to Tesco and picked up a cake for her on Sunday and had it all ready. I had my animal cognition class that morning and learned about which animals have the theory of mind while doing my laundry. After finishing that reading and laundry, I went home and got ready for the day. An International Students Club on campus had offered all international students free Chai tea and samosas, so I went to eat and drink those for a little while before heading to Una's birthday with Laura. Laura and I thought it was funny that she had chosen an American-style restaurant. It was refreshing to be in the minority as all the girls at this birthday lunch were from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan while Laura and I were the only Americans. After lunch, Laura and I walked around until I had to return home to study for the MCAT. Around 6, I had my Intercultural Experiential Learning class and MCAT tutoring from 9-11 P.M. Tuesday was just as busy as Wednesday. I had classes from 9:00-3:00. In between that time- within an hour break- I managed to go grocery shopping for the week and paid a 10-pound deposit for a trip our class is taking to Moel Famau in Wales. I went with my friend Parker to pay this deposit at a Bubble Tea store and bumped into my friend Brooke there who is also on the women's soccer team at the University of Chester. An hour later, I had soccer practice and finally went to the boy's accommodation on campus to grab cookies with Brooke. Wednesday was exhausting. I woke up early to complete MCAT studies and headed on the train to Liverpool soon after. With my ICE class, we went to several museums and the Liverpool Art Gallery. Some of us students decided to stay in Liverpool later than expected and missed the last train of the day, having to wait until 6 A.M. the next morning to catch a train back to Chester (admittedly, this was somewhat planned). Due to being out so late in Liverpool, I slept until 3:00 P.M. on Thursday, went to the gym, and worked on more MCAT studying. That day, I was planning for France, as I will be going there over a week break that our class has in one week. I am extremely excited as we will be in Paris on Valentine's Day and get to see Brussels as well. That night, my roommate Hannah and I went to an Italian restaurant called Bella Italia with Laura, Parker, and Brooke. We all loved it and it had a large student discount. On Friday, I worked with my best friend from home, Connor, to do an Instagram takeover for the Batten Honors College, posting stories about a day in Chester. I went to study with my roommate Hannah for 3 hours, went to get lunch at a place called Naughty Badger with Brooke, and finished off the day with a wine night with some of the female international students. Saturday was extremely fun as I was able to see my first European soccer match, watching Manchester City play Fulham in the FA cup. I went with my friend Lexi and we had an amazing time despite the game being somewhat boring due to the domination of Manchester City early on in the match. We met an older gentleman who gave us 10-pounds to buy snacks after we had told him we were from the U.S. and that this was our first match. After the game, we were crammed on a tram. I joked with Lexi that even if our tram had gotten in a crash all the passengers would be fine as we were so tightly squeezed in the small space. Lexi and I headed home after the Manchester City game and went to eat dinner at the Bull and Stirrup, which was extremely good, cheap, and a historical place in Chester. Tired after our adventure, Lexi and I went our separate ways to spend the night in our accommodation with our roommates.
Picture Descriptions
Top Left: Sculpture Gallery in Liverpool
Top Middle: Lexi and I at the Manchester City Game
Top Right: Lighting Candles for Una's Birthday Celebration
Middle Left: Victorian Painting in Manchester Art Gallery, Depicting a young prince being questioned about father's whereabouts
Middle Right: By the Liverpool Docks and International Slavery Museum
Bottom Left: Streets in Liverpool
Bottom Middle: Me Staring at Portrait of a Nobel
Bottom Right: Statue of Queen Victoria
Overall, this week was uplifting as I feel like I balanced experiences abroad and school much better. I continue to be nervous about my MCAT exam and love calling my family and friends back home. As I miss my support system back home, I am forming extremely deep connections with the students here in the United Kingdom. Truly, I am thankful for the group that has come and stuck together. Meeting British people is somewhat more difficult and in the coming weeks, I will still attempt to form close relationships with the people living in England. This week has been a lot of planning and has allowed me to do lots of dreaming about future travel with my peers. I look forward to next week as I should be playing in my first soccer match for Chester, may travel to various cities, and plan to leave for France.