It’s officially Spring Break here at UEA! Though the past few weeks have been reminiscent of a break with the lack of class meetings, I’m officially relieved of the responsibility of staying on campus in the event that the strike would come to an end. As a follow-up on my attempts at staying productive: I can proudly say that I did, for the most part, stay productive! Most of my time was taken up by mostly reading, writing, and some exercise to get me in shape for roaming–and possibly hiking!–the English countryside.
Several of my flatmates have taken this opportunity to travel outside of the country to destinations like Greece and Morocco. During my more ambitious moments in planning my travels, I contemplated going outside of the U.K. Maybe in the eventual future it will be nice, but there is so much here in England alone for me to see that I won’t mind at all if I don’t travel outside of the U.K.. I’m even finding that I can’t possibly fit in half of the things I’d like to do in England into a few weeks.
I have been feeling a little disappointed with myself that I’m at home in Norwich during the first week of my break, but as usual my mind is ahead of the rest of me. I am quickly finding that being here is extremely beneficial, not only in planning the logistics of my long trip, but also making sure I get the most out of my destinations. I can’t stress enough the importance of planning ahead as much as you can when traveling. Sometimes it’s exciting to get to a location and figure things out from there–that’s essentially what I did when I went to London for the day. However, on an overnight trip, especially one during a busy time such as Spring Break, it’s really crucial that sleeping arrangements are confirmed well before departure. I also want to avoid as much downtime as possible, so having a good idea of the things I want to do in my destinations is sure to prevent that. Here is a rundown of the agenda so far:
- Three nights in London with a flatmate. We’ll be stopping at some museums of course, and I intend to make it over to the British Library, where some of the nation’s most treasured artifacts lie for the enjoyment of the public– completely free!
- Straight from London to four nights in Liverpool. I don’t think it’s too much to say that my entire life will have led up to the moment I find myself in the original Cavern Club…
- Four nights in Leeds, where I will get to finally meet my mother’s friend of whom she’s always talked so affectionately. I’ll be sharing my great gratitude to her, not only for helping me in my travels, but also for making my family’s own memories of England so sweet.
- Lastly (so far), Newcastle-upon-Tyne for three nights. When I first expressed my plans to go to Newcastle during my stay here, many of the flatmates native to England’s reactions ranged from confused interest to warnings of hard-to-understand accents. Newcastle to me holds a lot of poetic and historic beauty that I’m certain will define my time there.
This will leave me with a little less than a week left of time during the break for me to travel, or to get back into the swing of things early on campus. Either way, this Spring Break is already the best I’ve ever had, as I’m typing this from a place I thought I could only dream of being. Now, it’s back to planning… and finishing the coursework that’s due upon returning so I don’t have to stress out over it later!
