Expect the Unexpected

     After an exhausting journey, I have finally made it to Newcastle. My first week at Newcastle has provided me with a lot of new insights into the unexpected things the UK has to offer. I had never experienced jet lag before, so going from non-stop traveling to a full day of activities was rough, thanks to the five-hour difference. While I spent a few days with my study abroad group exploring parts of the city, the first unexpected thing that happened to me was that I got sick with Covid and thus had to stay in my dorm for the remainder of the week.

(St Thomas' Church, Newcastle)

    Since I was sick in my room with not much to do, I was able to reflect on the few days I had spent in Newcastle and think of all the unexpected things I had discovered about the city and its residents. Newcastle is filled with steep hills, monuments, different architecture, interesting shops, and sheep. Besides the abundance of historical monuments and statues, there are over 100 statues of the character "Shaun the Sheep" across Newcastle to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice. This was one of the first unexpected things I noticed when I arrived in Newcastle because I kept seeing one sheep after another.

(Shaun the Sheep)

    After walking around in the city, I started to notice the number of cafés everywhere in comparison to tea shops. I also noticed that many people smoke cigarettes rather than vape. I became aware of some subtle differences. For instance, the brand Walkers is like Lays and the store Poundland is like our English Dollar Tree. I was interested to learn more about these small differences and found out that lemonade is carbonated, eggs aren't stored in the fridge, and ac isn't really a common household appliance due to the colder weather in the UK. I want to learn more about Newcastle and see different things once I recover from being sick. I plan on trying the local cuisine and speaking more to the locals to hear the Geordie accent. But for now, I've learned very quickly to expect the unexpected here at Newcastle.

(Renwick War Memorial Statue, Newcastle)