Not only is this the end of this study abroad experience, but this also marks the end of my college career – so I have been reflecting a bit on all of the experiences I have had over the past 6 years. During this time, I have studied at 5 different universities, twice outside of the US. I’ve earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering. I’ve also earned a minor in Spanish language, taken a handful of courses at the Ross School of Business, and now dedicated a semester to English literature. I’ve been a residence hall advisor and a graduate student instructor (then went back to being a “fresher”). I have worked in finance in New York City and computers in California. I’ve taken sailing lessons and played water polo in Spain, gone caving and whitewater kayaking in Britain, and taken carillon lessons and placed in ice carving competitions in Michigan. I’ve acted in an MBA production, a student-run English theatre, and played accordion in an Engineering talent show. I have seen a US President speak and been to the Pope’s funeral. I’ve taken more exams than I care to remember, and even written enough to know that it’s the harder job. And I have been to four graduations – even speaking at one of them.

I do not intend for this laundry list to sound like some kind of boast. Rather, I often reflect on things I wish I could have done during my college career, opportunities I didn’t take – or didn’t seek out. Some of this energy is good, it makes me strive to learn more and take on new experiences. I remember my first day at Michigan, driving up to Mosher Jordan Hall with my parents. A part of me really wanted to stay home that day, where it is comfortable and predictable and I wouldn’t have to change or grow to keep up with my surroundings. I felt the exact same way when the taxi pulled up to Hugh Stewart Hall. And I’m starting to get that feeling again as I start this next phase of my post-college life.

But I also need to look back and be grateful for all of the accomplishments I have made. It’s a tricky balance, and something I know I haven’t mastered and will likely never perfect. All I can do is use what I’ve learned to keep going. To paraphrase philosopher Heraclitus, or football coach Lou Holtz, or management guru Tony Robbins, or countless others – you’re either growing or declining, there is no standing still.

I tried to pull everything off the walls last, that’s when the room suddenly feels so empty.

It was impressive how small I was able to pack everything. I still remember when Cindy Clementi was going to study abroad in Spain and packed months worth of shampoo and conditioner because she didn’t know what she could expect over there. I may have brought a typewriter, but at least I didn’t do that : )

All clean and lights off. Okay, now I’m proper depressed.

I love Borough Market. If I lived in London and could afford to, I would do all of my grocery shopping here.

Looking out the window of Risha’s flat. Yes, that is the London Eye. Ridiculous.

Here’s the London Eye from a more common angle – over the Thames on a stereotypically awful day. I wish someone would tell England that it’s June now…

I can’t help but smile when I see these driving down the street. I think someone should try to circumnavigate the globe on a Duck Boat.

Inside the “Luxury Goods Room” at Harrod’s. If I had enough money to buy anything in this room, I would go spend it at Borough Market instead.

Regent Street. Always a nice stroll if you don’t take the tube from Piccadilly Circus to Oxford Circus.

Victoria Station

I’ll take this question in 2 parts. First, I’d like to write a little bit about what I’ve gained from my English literature studies, then I’ll move on to the Britain bit.

Throughout my entire career as a student, I would say my primary focus has been mathematics & sciences – from early honors and magnet programs through my degree program at the College of Engineering. However, probably like most students, I’ve recognized that I have additional interests across the academic landscape, and have been fortunate enough to have had opportunities to cultivate those areas outside of this “primary focus”. I think the entire Roger M. Jones program contributes greatly to the vision of collaboration across fields and holistic education. Personally, I am honored and humbled to be a part of such an outstanding (and internationally unique) organization.

In my time studying a subject largely different than my own background, I have been able to reflect on the education process itself – similarities and differences in analyzing, communicating and retaining information. But most of all, I feel that in English studies I have developed a much more acute understanding of what it means to create an idea. This is not to be confused with the analysis of other’s ideas, although that is a critical element of education – and often the idea-creating process as well. This is also not to say that other fields are wholly uncreative, but that it is more evident in the “artistic” fields.

Once I was eating breakfast at the Pink Pony on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and among eclectic works of art, the phrase “Please hold me the forgotten way” was painted on the wall. Even such a short phrase (come on, this is a blog, not Shakespeare’s First Folio) carries a significant amount of thought (what is a “forgotten way”?), semantic context, and emotion. The anonymous author successfully created an idea for others to enjoy, discuss, or use to reflect on additional ideas or perhaps their own lives. An even simpler example occurred in one of my Shakespeare & Jonson discussion sections. Another student was describing the language of one of the plays and used the term “highly stylised”. The phrase caught my attention and I wrote it down in my notebook, until the assonance hit me over the head. Small linguistic ideas such as this don’t have to be in verse to be effective. Although literary ideas are most commonly developed through the framework of poetry, plays, novels, etc – language is ubiquitous. The more we understand these ideas and cultivate them, the deeper our culture becomes.

As I wrote earlier, the creation of ideas is not limited to the “artistic” fields. I think this perception comes from how we are taught subjects like mathematics and science. We learn that a system of laws exists (2 + 2 = 4, “an object in motion stays in motion…”) and we are given problem sets that use these rules to come to one correct answer. Of course, these laws are only ideas themselves, and at the research level, all bets are off. Nevertheless, I think there is a tendancy to focus on the implications of an scientific idea and not the idea itself. It seems much easier to understand composer Aaron Copland as he appreciates the “musical idea” of a specific melody, versus mathematician G. H. Hardy describing Euclid’s theorem of infinite primes as a beautiful “mathematical idea”. However, I believe that as I have studied literary ideas during this term, my appreciation for this process in all fields has grown, and I am grateful to have been able to develop this valuable insight.

However, there was also a twist in this phase of my education – not only was a studying a “foreign” subject, but I was in a foreign country. To be fair, Britain shares a number of similarities to the US, but I think that the level of difference is just enough to appreciate the comparison and not be overwhelmed. Rather than seeking out things I found familiar (e.g. McDonald’s, Physics textbook – okay, I’m not that much of a nerd), I felt energized exploring and building new experiences. Coupling this mentality with my studies, I have recognized that all ideas come from experiences. Although it may be perceived as so, there is no such thing as spontaneous inspiration; and 1,000 monkeys with 1,000 typerwriters and 1,000 years cannot outdo Shakespeare.

Now, this is not to say that every idea directly reflects some experience in the originator’s life. And for many, the “experience” may simply be the act of studying another’s ideas. The more depth and diversity we can come across in our lives, recognize, and thoughtfully reflect upon, the more we can contribute back to society. Yes, more often than not we will carry the label “critic” or duplicate each other’s ideas. But if we can expand our world by creating something unique – bridging a meaningful synapse that didn’t exist before – what greater ambition could we have in our lives?

Buy me a pint and I’ll tell you…

As if McDonald’s wasn’t American enough by itself. I do get a kick out of these adverts though. Now I know what kind of hamburgers I should be eating when I get back!

Just hangin’ out at Shakespeare’s house. No big deal.

And his burial site was just on the other side of town.

As expected, a lot of the town centre paid homage to the playwright.

I bet the tourists really “eat this place up”. (I made a pun too!)

The Courtyard Theatre was a very interesting venue. Like other historic theatres, it had 3 levels going around 3 sides of the stage, giving it a very stately feel. The play had some modern overtones (costumes, music, dancing), especially in the opening scene (before any dialogue begins). When the first character spoke, the early Modern English almost sounded out of place.

Being from Michigan, I have Cedar Point amusement park as my baseline – so Alton Towers had big shoes to fill. And while it may not have been as big as Cedar Point, it was definitely a good time.

The park did have its share of first-rate rides.

Nemesis (b. 1994) was very similar to Raptor at Cedar Point. I got a kick out of the sign they still post at the front.

Air (b. 2002) was my favorite. You sit upright and then the carriage rotates backward, so you’re in a “superman” pose for the whole ride. It was really something else.

The park had a lot of green space as well – manicured gardens, forests, and the ruins of the namesake Towers.

And we came home to the rest of our block having a barbeque on the Downs. I love summer Mondays!

The countryside was quite pleasant on the way over. We actually stopped halfway and got these huge breakfast sandwiches at this place Ralph knew about. Bacon, sausage and egg (with plenty of grease to go around) on toast – definitely the breakfast of champions.

These sheep did not understand the concept of “right of way”.

Here we paid our £3 admission.

We hung a ladder to go down the waterfall.

And here I’m going through a pretty tight squeeze known as “Giant’s Windpipe”. At this point I’m wet through and through.

And here’s where all that wet kit dries out – inside the caving stores.

Unfortunately this cell phone camera picture is all I have. Of all American syndicated television, I didn’t think “Fresh Prince” was really too popular over here, but everyone did seem to know the “Carlton Dance”.

Ben, Alex and I drove out (about a 40 min drive) this morning. It took a little arm twisting, but I guess I’ve been getting pretty persuasive with these tourist adventures.

Above is the Major Oak, Robin Hood’s main hideout.

There was a spot you could try your hand at shooting a long bow.

I’ll paste this photo of a bullseye under here to create the illusion that it was mine.

Alex and Ben trying on Robin Hood kit in the gift shop…

…Which we wore on the car ride home.

Hugh Stewart Hall organized its own end of year party.

Good music, good friends, good hall.

I think there are a couple small Tesco’s supermarkets near campus, but the majority of my limited shopping is over at Sainsbury’s. I’ve really grown fond of double Gloucester cheese, elderflower soda, scones with clotted cream and jam, crayfish and rocket sandwiches, milk chocolate HobNobs, black tea with milk. Ummm…

This is what the food court in the Portland building looks like on the inside.

And from “Chicken Joe’s” you can get a Peri Peri chicken wrap. Not quite as good as Nando’s, but still very tasty. And yes, I intend to dip those fries in mayo.

Also, at one point I got a care package from the US with stereotypical American snacks. All of my blockmates had heard about Twinkies on television and were very interested to try one.

Well I cannot possibly go 6 months without mentioning Nando’s, an amazing Portuguese chicken restaurant. I don’t know if “Peri Peri chicken” is really part of Portuguese gastronomy, but I’m sure they don’t mind taking credit for it.

My classic order is a half-chicken “hot” with spicy rice, corn, and grilled halloumi cheese.

It’s a little pricy (although they do have a good frequent customer card), but the quality is definitely a notch above most US quick service restaurants. I don’t think there are any (or many) stateside, but I imagine with the right marketing this could certainly be a success.

For £20, we got to a couple hours on a boat, equipment and bait. Plus we keep all the fish we catch…

It was kind of an interesting mix on board: half clichéd salty fisherman, half clumsy students.

This porpoise seemed to be begging for fish scraps.

We started out just dragging a line behind the boat to catch mackerel.

We probably caught a dozen or two as we trolled about a mile offshore. Then these fish were cut up for bait.

Most of the fishermen were catching pollock, which while decent in size, are not an especially good trophy or eating fish. However, I reeled in a sea bream.

Then I proceeded to get very seasick.

I probably fell asleep for an hour of the whole trip with my head between my legs. At one point I got sick over the side of the boat. Then it happened again, but since I didn’t have any food in my stomach, this bright neon green bile came out. I just felt awful.

Now that I’ve whet your appetite – we did end up taking home the bream, a few mackerel, and the fishermen felt bad for us and snuck a couple pollock into our bag. But as expected, the bream was the most delicious by far.

The caravans we were staying in were about what you’d expect for what we were paying (£180 for 5 days). The campground we were at had about 200 of these. It had a decent seating area / kitchen, small bath, and 2 bedrooms.

We didn’t eat Cornish pasties every meal. We actually stocked up on groceries and properly cooked a few solid meals.

And it only took about 2 days until the caravan looked like this.

I didn’t think we’d get everything back together, but on our last morning things cleaned up pretty quickly. Overall, I wouldn’t want to stay in a caravan much longer, but it’s certainly much nicer than tent camping.

It was incredibly breathtaking and peaceful. It may have to be a new entry in my top 5 runs.

The water was so clear, but still very cold.

The larger beaches were nice too. Most of the students and activities were at Watergate Bay beach.

I also ventured over to one of the surfing beaches, Fistral Beach, which was a bit nicer and more relaxing. I got some Cornwall clotted cream custard and could have posted up here all day…

I ended up joining in a caravan with some of my mates from the New Theatre. Here we are enjoying a nice English breakfast overlooking the water.

Now, the only time I’ve really been to an English beach before was in Brighton – where the beach is more like pebbles, not sand. Despite it being a little stereotypically cold and gray, this was significantly better.

Of course, lots of people.

Lots of bands. Unfortunately none I’d really heard of before.

Lots of trash.

Terrible trailer food just like at Ocean.

The whole thing went pretty late, and was a nice way to cap off the term.