Connor Pankratz: Connor From Canada

Boy has it been a blast living in the UK! From the moment I stepped off the plane, I knew I had made the right decision and could hardly wait to immerse myself in this new culture.

 

Lesson 1: Look both ways before you cross the street. Even after being here a while, my friends and I still get nervous crossing the street. The streets are filled with busses and cars whipping around the roundabouts, and only coming to a stop right at the lights. This feeling is enough to keep you on your toes and was just one of the many things I have gotten used to.

 

 

 

 

Hatfield reminds me a lot of Vancouver. The weather is similar, it is very green throughout the county, and the people are friendly and diverse. I almost wish it were a bit more different, more challenges getting around, speaking with locals, but I know I will experience this when I go travel and I will probably realize how nice it was to be in England.

 

 

 

When I arrived I was worried about how I would be affected by downside of culture shock, but since I’ve been here I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever experience it. My life here is very similar in many ways. Wake up, school, gym, homework, hanging with friends and playing the sports I love.

Joining the American Football club here in England has to be the best decision I have made so far. Not the double decker pub-crawl to London, not the spontaneous trip to Brussels to enjoy chocolate and waffles, it has been joining a sports team. I would definitely recommend this to anyone planning to go abroad, or joining a club of some sort. Coming together with the locals over something you take interest in is a great way to meet new people. Spending time with 40 or so Brits doing British things has made me feel more like a local and less like a tourist visiting a new city. While I say that, I still feel like a tourist every time I head into London. There is so much to do and see, it’s just and amazing and exciting experience every time, I don’t think I could ever get tired of it.

 

 

There is nothing bad I can say about the experiences here so far. Not even the shuttles being sometimes half an hour late in the cold, or locking myself out of my room multiple times. You have to take everything in stride and make most of the new situations. I feel myself changing as a person as I had hoped I would before I left. I am becoming the extrovert that I was hoping for, whether it is striking up a conversation on the tube or over a beer in Belgium, I find myself doing things I would not have a year ago. I cannot wait to push myself further both in England and as I look to the far corners of Europe.

This is such an amazing experience and I would not change a thing.

 

Connor Pankratz is a Third Year Bachelor of Business Administration student at Capilano University. Connor studied abroad at the University of Hertfordshire, England.