Reflection Chas Baron

Our trip to England has left a lasting impression, and has given me a new understanding of life. Before the trip, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had a few assumptions based on what I had seen in the media. When we first arrived, there were two moments that really hit me, and made me realize I was not in the U.S. anymore. When we first got on the bus and headed down the highway, seeing the cars on the opposite side of the road was a real shock. Yes I knew it was like this, but actually seeing it was a different feeling altogether. I've head that people in England are crazy drivers, and I would say this is true. I saw motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic and there were multiple times I saw people almost get hit by a car. If your crossing a street, don't expect them to slow down. The second moment was when I had my first meal at The Kings Arms in Woodstock. Seeing the different arrangements of food on the menu, and having to pay in pounds was weird. I honestly felt a little uncomfortable ordering food, mainly because I didn’t want to look like an idiot. Every time I paid with one of their bills, I got back wads of change, and I’ve always hated having change in my pockets. This took me a while to get use to, mainly because I had to memorize which coin was which. I don’t think I’ve ever used change so much in my life. There were a couple of things that surprised me over in England. I noticed they never had any trashcans out in public. There were very few times when I saw a trashcan outside or in a shopping area. I heard a rumor that terrorists would use the trashcans to put bombs in, so the government got rid of them. Another problem I noticed was that sometimes you had to pay to use the bathrooms. I had never heard of this before, and was really surprised when I saw it for the first time. For the majority of the trip I would just try to find a restaurant bathroom that was free. One final thing that surprised me was the restaurant service. I found the services to be really slow for most of the places we ate at. Our waiter/waitress could almost never split the bill up, and we all had to combine our money together to pay, which got really tiresome. These were minor complaints, and were actually amusing sometimes.  I was entertained by the accents over there. I’ve always liked the British accents, and wish I had one. They always said “cheers”, which is like saying “thanks”. I started to use that phrase the longer I was there. The fist week in England made me realize how young America is. Seeing all these old towns and cathedrals that were hundreds of years old really amazed me. I could see where we took some of our architecture. They seemed to take a lot of pride in their church history and heritage. They’ve done a great job preserving and restoring some of the main buildings and monuments. My most memorable experience was walking the crosswalk at Abbey Road. I’ve always wanted to see the Abbey Road Studios, which is where the Beatles recorded all their albums. We also went to an icebar in oxford, which was amazing. I’ve always heard of icebars on the travel channel, but never thought I would actually be in one. I definitely feel more rounded as a person having experienced life in England. This will help in with my communication skills in whatever job I pursue in the future. Overall this trip was amazing, and one I will never forget. We saw everything from the small town life, to the big city. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.