Category: 2021-22

Happy holidays everyone!

During the month of November, I would normally celebrate Thanksgiving with my family by having a big feast, but this year was different. I actually didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead I celebrated Guy Fawkes Night, also referred as Bonfire Night. It is a night to remember the failed attempt of the assignation of King James I, also known as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The night is celebrated with fireworks and giant bonfires.

November 28th marked the first day of snow in Nottingham. It was a great experience as everyone ran out of their rooms to go play in it. Just like Oregon, it does’t happen often. (Last picture, left to right: Tanner Coulter, Maike Rößler, Bel Florence)

Christmas is my families favorite holiday out of the year. Normally I spend a few days before Christmas baking cookies, cooking different appetizers, and spending time with my family watching movies. This year it’s a bit different. I will be heading to my friend Charlie’s home to celebrate with his family. I am not sure how everything will work, but I am looking forward to it.

Starting the new year before my friends and family is a bit strange. I will be traveling from Charlie’s to my friend Jame’s house to celebrate with him and his friends. I am looking forward to see how England traditions and US traditions differ in how we celebrate the new year. I am also excited to explore the town of Essex, the birthplace of two of my favorite Harry Potter Actors, Rupert Grint and Maggie Smith.

I am looking forward to spending the holidays in England and to see how they differ from the US!

-Tanner Coulter

I have officially been in my modules (classes) for one month and have been living on campus for two! It has taken a bit to get acclimated to the differences between Linfield and UoN.

Currently, I am enrolled in 3 modules which equal about 15 credits at Linfield. I am taking Introduction to Comparative Politics, Politics at University, and Democracy and its Critics. Each of these modules is laid out differently than any of Linfield’s classes. Two of my modules are lecture-seminar models and my other module is online self-directed.

The lecture-seminar model has taken some time to get used to. Instead of having a class where the professor teaches but also student engagement (questions, activities, presentations, etc.) is involved, we have lectures where professors just teach and seminars with someone different where student engagement happens. We also have weekly optional lecture engagement sessions where we can ask the convenor (not always the professor doing the lectures) questions related to the module. The online self-directed module is very similar to an OCE course at Linfield. I have weekly slides I go through with a few activities attached to them.

In all of my modules, homework is not common. My final marks (grades) are based on either two papers or a paper and exam. Because these papers and exams are worth a big portion of our marks, we are given the prompts and dates in our syllabus at the beginning of the modules. This allows us, students, to start ahead of time and ask questions during our seminars and lecture engagement sessions.

Campus life is similar to Linfield but there are some key differences. At UoN, there are two types of halls, catered and non-catered. I live in a catered hall which means I have a dining room to eat breakfast & dinner on the weekends and brunch & dinner on the weekends. For lunch, I am given £25 pounds a week to use at any of the cafes, bars, and restaurants on University Park or Jubilee campuses. In all; the halls, we have a common/game room with a TV, a study room with a printer, and a TV room. My hall is a bit different than others because we have one of the four bars on campus. In the halls at Linfield, you are encouraged to decorate your door, leave it open, and socialise with your neighbours in the hall, but at UoN it is a bit different. We are not allowed to decorate our doors or necessarily leave them open. It is common for people to go to the pantries (sink kettle, microwave, and toaster) on their floor to socialise.

Outside of the halls, our Student Union and ResX team, similar to ResLife, puts on various events throughout the campus. So far they have done massages in halls, food catering, scavenger hunts, poster sales, pop-up thrift shops, movie nights, game nights, and other campus-wide socials. Most of these events are attended by freshers (first-year students) and not so much by the second and third years. Just like Linfield, food is a hot commodity at these events, especially Domino’s pizza. It is also pretty normal to see evening events with a bar because the majority of students are 18 years old, the legal drinking age in England. Across campus in the halls, they put on formal dinners each term where students dress up. They have the dining staff do a proper multi-course meal served with wine and other drinks. It is a fun time to get with your hall friends and enjoy a fancy meal together.

I only have a few months left here and so much more to explore and experience!

Signing off – Tanner

I officially moved into my term accommodation (housing) on September 15th, and every night since then has been filled with memories.

I have made new friends from all around the UK and some even around the world! Before Freshers and Induction Week started, a group of us from my hall decided to explore the Nottingham City Centre together. We had a blast hanging out and getting to know each other, even though we did get lost a few times because none of us are good with directions. After we explored the city centre, we noticed there was a mini golf course a tram stop right before ours. We decided to get off early and check it out. Turns out, we all suck at it but had fun doing it. Since then I have spent every night hanging out with people.

These nights have been filled with exciting adventures exploring the city we are surrounded by. The first night of Freshers, they did a themed club night at Rock City, a popular club in the city centre. The theme that night was beach, and luckily as an Oregonian, I am always prepared for a beached themed event. I went with a couple of friends and we had a blast listening and dancing to music and just hanging out. 

Throughout that week there were various welcome fairs happening, and we went to each and every one of them. Following those fairs, there were events like movie nights and bingo hosted by the ResX team and the Student Union. These events lasted for two weeks, but the fun didn’t stop there.

Video of the Trent Building courtyard. The Trent Building is an academic building primarily used for the arts and social sciences.

Just last weekend a group of us who went mini golfing before and some other friends, went to an 18+ indoor mini golf course! We had a blast sipping on cocktails and beating each other on different holes. My personal favorite was the Mechanic themed hole where you had to get your golf ball through three consecutive loop-a-loops. By the end of the night, we were all laughing as we tried to fit all of us onto a throne made of golf clubs.

I can’t say I haven’t had a fun and exciting experience so far, and definitely can’t say it will stop. A couple of us are going to a drag show during reading week, a group of us are planning a road trip to Brighton, and finally we are planning on weekly movie nights watching classic titles (Like the Pitch Perfect trilogy). 

– Tanner Coulter

Hello! My name is Tanner and I just arrived at the University of Nottingham!

The journey here started a couple years ago when I decided to attend Linfield College for my higher education. Whilst applying, I learned about their study abroad programs and immediately knew I would study abroad. I eventually applied for the England program and was accepted!

After filling out paperwork and waiting for the day to come, on Wednesday September 1st I arrived at Portland International Airport (PDX) with my family and best friend. After saying goodbye and going through security, it hit me, I am going to England for 5 months! Fun fact, while waiting at my gate I met someone who knew a professor at Linfield!

Eventually the time came to board the airplane. I got to my seat, excited as ever to fly. This was my first time flying alone and my second time flying internationally.

Over the course of approximately 3hrs, we went from PDX to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)! By the time we unloaded the plane, I had roughly a hour and a half to find my next gate, get food, and use the restroom. Luckily the person who sat next to me on the plane, helped me figure out the speed rail system to get to my next gate. Got everything done and I made it on time with 30 minutes to spare. When boarding this plane, I was still starstruck that I was going to be studying in England for this next term; I stayed that way till I landed at Heathrow Airport (LHR).

Landing at LHR gave me an adrenaline rush as I was excited to be in England! Going from the arrival gate to the arrival hall took sometime but was a smooth process. Afterwards, I got a iced cappuccino and waited for my taxi to arrive. Once arrived, we got my bags loaded and  were off to The University of Nottingham.

While writing this, I am currently wrapped up in my blanket eating breakfast in my temporary accommodations (housing)  at 6am. I am excited to say my few year journey to get here has ended and my 5 month journey of being here has started! I can’t wait to share everything I have done, learned, and experienced.