Hi there,
I'm not sure if anyone remembers me but I was quite active on the boards this past summer. I hope no one minds me coming back since I've been a crappy participator here for the last 6 months.
I moved to Cheltenham, England from the end of September up until 2 weeks ago. I attended the University of Gloucestershire with a major in Int'l Business Management & French. The college was not affiliated with the American Financial Aid system so I took out a personal loan to pay for the $12,000 one-year tuition fee.
I worked 20 hours per week at Gap. (I've been in retail most of my life.) I really enjoyed it there; Gap is considered a bit more 'upper-class' in the UK then America. It is mostly due to the prices jacked up from Gap being an import to the UK. I loved working retail in England; the customers were always so nice.. They even took the clothes they tried on in the dressing rooms back to the proper rack on the store floor. That amazed me! And I adored the early closing hours (6pm.) Here in NY, I am used to closing a store at 10-11pm and not getting out of there until 1-2am.
I lived off my savings from home and basically wore all of my savings thin. I got paid maybe one pound more then minimum wage and that was barely enough to cover groceries for a week. I was paying rent, bills, etc. off my savings from home.
Needless to say, I realized there would be no way I could survive another 2 years there. (And I went there STRICTLY to be with my English boyfriend.) Again, since the college is not affiliated with the American system, none of my 1st semester credits would have transferred back to any American college. So I decided to get 50% of my tuition back and not attend the 2nd semester.
I stayed in England until 2 weeks ago... Spent alot of time walking around the parks and enjoying the town... and of course, being with my wonderful boyfriend.
While I was in England, I got to travel around the country. I went to London a few times, Birmingham, Manchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath, Bristol, allover my county (Gloucestershire) and the Cotswold's. I also went to Mumbles, Wales which I really enjoyed alot! I got see many friends from my Disney internship last year, that worked in the UK Pavilion at EPCOT.
I had such an amazing time there. I learned (learnt?!) about how to take life alot slower and to enjoy it. Most everyone I met was very friendly... I had a couple of bad experiences but I didn't let it get to me. There are jerks allover the world. The country is beautiful. I would love to go back and make it my permanent home.
My boyfriends family and friends are amazing. His family treated me like one of theirs. His friends are now my friends. I am an extremely outgoing person (with a typical NY accent) so I think I frightened alot of people there
but most people were curious why I was there and how I was enjoying my experience.
My one and only complaint was the weather. How I missed blue skies and sun while I was in England. I am a warm-weather girl; if its under 65F I am *freezing.* I need the sun and warmth so I was very unhappy with the weather there. The first month I arrived (Sept) was beautiful though. NY does get cold during the winter (more due to wind chill factors then anything) but I find it quite mild the rest of the year and summer is gorgeous. I am not used to back-to-back cloudy cold days... But oh well! That's England and I love it.
My boyfriend and I are going as strong as ever. We have been together for over a year now. He will be graduating this coming May. We are trying to find him a job in America right now. He can get an 18 month work visa thru the British Council. He needs to be hired by a job first and then we can process the visa paperwork. Keep your fingers crossed for me please! We have plans to get married in a few years time but right now we want to save money and build a home & career. We would like to make either NY or CA (my birth-place) our American home and of course England our European home (altho both of us love southern France too!)
As for my plans, I am going to train to be a yoga teacher. It will take me a year to become certified. After that, I will be self-employed which has always been a goal of mine. Then I will be able to work in England and America. I would love to divide my time between the two and have our children experience both countries. (And yes, I plan to make enough money to be able to have homes in both countries!)
I want to thank everyone again for their support this past summer. I didn't have my own computer in England and strictly had to rely on the Uni's slow computers. After January, when I wasn't a student anymore- I didn't have internet access, except the rare time I would use my boyfriends parents computer. So I apologize for not being here; I really enjoy this board and I hope you will welcome me back to it.
Best wishes to all and thanks again! (Sorry if I bored the hell out of you!)
ny_2_uk
