UVMsickness

Published February 5, 2008

By Lauren Foley

According to studies that have been done, most students who study abroad encounter several stages in their travels. The first stage is an initial rush of exhilaration. When you first arrive in a foreign country, everything is exciting and new, kind of like your very first day of freshman year, when the unorthodox nature of a lofted bed seem like the best creation in the history of man.

However, this stage, usually lasting a few weeks, is followed by an even longer stage that is characterized by intense homesickness and culture shock in which the cozy lofted bed suddenly capsizes, throwing an unsuspecting student overboard to fend off the sharks of an unfamiliar country. In the whole spirit of ocean metaphors, I currently consider myself to be drowning in England.

I imagined that the exhilaration phase detailed in these studies would last a good couple of weeks, at least. It was not until I left the comfort of my cozy dorm room, familiar campus, and company of my friends that I realized that this experience was not going to be all tea and crumpets.

First of all this so-called exhilaration phase lasted about two hours. I was met at the airport by some representatives from Newcastle University and ended up waiting there for about two hours for more international students on a delayed flight. Sitting there drinking tea from Starbucks (which is oddly enough internationally universal) I was as excited as could be. I had been awake for many hours and was ready to conquer not just Newcastle, but the entire country of England itself.

Upon reaching my dorm, or “accommodation” as they call it, I was suddenly thrust into the reality that I was not here for a few days before returning to my family and my cat-I was here for 6 months. Cue the pitching lofted bed. Suddenly, I am not an excited study abroad student but a weepy, disoriented mess. Never would I have thought that I would be having cravings for the luke-warm chicken parm subs at the Simpson store, or that I would be missing the prerequisite sight of UGGS and sweatpants–but I was. It was pathetic–even the tiny UVM sticker on my laptop caused my eyes to well up. Simply put, I was a mess.

I have only been here for about a week but I have already been amazed at how different things are here–not in big ways, for I haven’t had time to discover the entire city yet, but in small ways. For instance, the way that people not only drive on the left side of the road, they also walk that way on sidewalks, which I suppose makes sense though it had pretty much blown the mind of my own personal muscle memory. Needless to say, I have been involved in several near-collisions.

Statistics say that most students, after facing a period of brutal homesickness, begin to realize that they are doing well for themselves, despite their compromising situation as an American in a foreign country. Hearing this, I was happy because I could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps in one week, or perhaps two, I would not long for the pristine halls of Lafayette, or the snowy sidewalks of Church Street.

After a little more research, I learned that after students go through this wonderful little stage, they are suddenly homesick and disoriented once more-torn between the two cultures they have experienced and left to wonder where exactly they belong. Finally, after all of these flowchart-indicated stages, the student becomes adjusted. Just in time to return to America. Blimey.

Though I pretty much skipped over the honeymoon phase of the study abroad experience, I am not ready to regret the fact that I have managed to place myself in a city that is breathtaking to say the least. On the other hand, I will be unable to enjoy the city of Newcastle, despite all of its culture and energy until I have adjusted to my new surroundings.

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be UVM-sick but I am sad to report that I am. Though I feel like a brat, I can’t help but admit that I am flagrantly jealous of everyone currently milling through the Marché and waiting for the bus in front of Royall Tyler Theatre. I may be traveling far and wide, but my heart has not yet left home.

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