England hates its students

Why do I say England hates its students?  See the picture below:

It's currently 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 celsius) and there isn't a cloud in the sky.  Only yesterday did this weather start.  And according to forecasts, it will probably be like this all throughout the week.

In my almost 4 months here, this is the first time I've encountered such weather anywhere.  And best of all, it decides to arrive right when students are supposed to be studying for exams, which, by the way, begin in 2 days.  Yet as this picture shows, many students have other things on their mind, like finally getting that tan they've always wanted (frankly, a lost cause because the only tan people I've seen here are either not from here or are using spray-ons so thick you could wipe it off them with your finger).

I, meanwhile, am using all my willpower to stay in my room and read for my upcoming mechanical design exam.  I've got my window open and some concentration music playing softly in the background to get me in that proper study mood, but every time I glance outside, I just wish more and more that I could grab my football and play some catch outside.

Closing in on the End

It's May 17th now and I'm right around 3 weeks away from leaving this country that I now love to death.

As the realization of departure has been setting in amongst the internationals here, emotions have been running high.  People are suddenly unable to focus on their studies (though to be honest, no one ever could, but with finals looming, this can be a problem) and the inevitable sadness of leaving some of one's best friends is becoming a harsh reality.

However, as classes have essentially ended, many of us found a great opportunity to squeeze in one more small trip to explore the country.  For me, that trip ended up leading me to Dover and Canterbury with a few of my friends.

The funny thing about this is that most English people whom I told this to would reply "you're going to... Dover?" in a way that made it seem like the town was no place for a student to go.  However, the town was the exact opposite.  Between the white cliffs, the view over the English Channel, and the old Dover Castle, the town was riddled with amazingly interesting and beautiful things to see.  For those on Facebook, the pictures are up (for those who aren't, I totally understand why you wouldn't want to join with all their privacy issues, but I've run out of room on my Picasa account).

And although we only saw the massive cathedral in Canterbury, I can safely say it's one of the most intricate and spectacular ones I've seen in all of Europe.

We finally capped off the weekend with a massive party at the usual international party house, the supposed last one of the semester.  Needless to say, the experience was bittersweet.

So now, we've come to the final stages of the study abroad experience: exams, exchanging contact info, and making rather unfeasible plans to visit one another in our respective countries whenever we find time.  As sad and pathetic as it seems, all this only reinforces the positive experiences one gains by studying in another country.

Believe me, the sadness is worth it in the end.


P.S. Even though most plans to visit our new friends will never come to fruition, there are some things that I have learned in recent times that have definitely brightened my day.  For one, my good friend Steph from Australia is spending her next semester in Madison, Wisconsin, just a short drive away from Champaign.  Additionally, it looks like a few of the Texans plan on visiting Champaign for spring break.  And with the Minnesotans not too far off, it looks like we could have one huge "USA in Sheffield" reunion in the near future.  And oh, how awesome that would be...