Kind of like studying abroad....

Would you guys believe it, I’m in America?

Yep. America. The US of A.  And it’s actually rather lovely, considering I’ve only been asked where Wales is in England once and that everyone keeps asking me to say things in my ‘cute accent’. The American people are actually rather decent, I’ve found, though they still don’t know how to spell simple words such as ‘Colour’ or ‘Programme’ properly. As I write this on the shiny Mac computer in the student newspaper room, it’s underlining the correctly spelt words above in red.

Shut up American computer, I’ve been writing and spelling things for years. I know what I’m doing here.

So, yes, as you can see, I’m enjoying America. I’ve learnt a lot of things whilst I’ve been here already, such as that the fact that my name is apparently uncommon in America and everyone feels the need to compliment how beautiful a name it is.

Americaaaaa
Gemma Parry

Well done parents. You have the American approval. You chose my name well.

But in all seriousness now, I am actually enjoying my time here. We’ve been doing absolutely loads of stuff on journalism and media and all the stuff that I’m probably going to use one day, as well as finally getting round to setting up my own website, which will be linked up to this blog when I figure it all out. It has honestly been a bit overwhelming, with all the hands on learning and being immersed in American culture. We’ve been up to the Rockies, (did I mention I’m in Colorado by the way? Clearly not…), we celebrated American Independence, (we British didn’t even care anyways, India was a far better choice,) we’ve been to a rodeo and lots of other stuff I can’t even remember right now. It’s lovely that they’re trying so hard to show us what American culture is all about but, frankly, I’m mostly here for the food.

I think I’ve gained my body weight twice over again whilst being here. Even the vegetables here taste divine. It’s so confusing because I’ve spent most of my life holding a personal vendetta against vegetables that aren’t potatoes but I suppose it’s a good thing. I bet they coat them in sugar to make them taste better. I must try this when I get home.

 

So yeah, I’ve been here now for around about 24 days and I’m leaving for Britain on Saturday. It’s gone quickly actually, and I can’t believe it’s all over already. I think I’m more than ready to come home now though. I’m really starting to miss Britain, my family and my friends. In fact, it’s my little brothers’ tenth birthday tomorrow, which makes being away from home even worse.  That coupled with the fact that I’m not of legal drinking age here and that when I get back into my boyfriend’s house, I’ll probably be handed a glass of some sort of alcoholic beverage, makes me miss home even more. But I’m sure I can hold out for four more days.

Anyway, there is a point to this blog apart from my random musings on American life. And that is the positives of doing exchange programmes or studying abroad. I never really saw it as much of a good thing before but, now that I’ve done it for myself, I can truly see how wonderful it is.

1) Travelling to places you’ve never been before

Before this, I had never been to America before.  A few of the people I travelled here with hadn’t done it before either, so it was completely brand new and exciting. Like most people, I was expecting the version of America that I have seen on shows such as 90210 (best show ever, by the way) and, in some aspects, I was pleasantly surprised to find it completely different to my expectations.  It’s been a massive learning curve and I really wouldn’t hesitate to come back here again.

Me, Kayla and Jack 

2) Making friends for life

The first day of my arrival, everything was a bit awkward. I was sharing a bathroom with two of the only other females on my course who were already firm friends after travelling around America before the course started and, of course, having made friends back in Swansea. I felt left out, sad and tired. But mostly hungry after all my travelling. And so, one of the guys on our course went to Subway and brought me back a massive meal, and well, we all bonded. Over food – my favorite thing. It was a magical moment.

What was really the best thing about it was the fact that these two girls have now become friends for life. We have bonded and shared this experience whilst we have been here and they are without a doubt among the funniest and most cheerful people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. There is no doubt in my mind that we will continue to be friends when we get back to the UK and that counts for each and every single one of the other eight people on the course too.

3) Learning new things

This goes without saying. Being in a brand new environment obviously means that you will learn brand new things. But it’s still a wonderful learning experience, all the same.

Diana and I

4) Personal growth

To you, I may still seem to be the same immature student that I was before I embarked on this adventure and I suppose I still am in some ways. But I feel very differently about the world around me. I feel that I understand it a bit better and that I understand myself a bit better. It makes me feel sorry for my poor boyfriend who puts up with me, day in day out. I’m sorry babe, but it’s all good fun, right? My point is that I feel like I’ve developed as a person and that I can understand where I want to go a bit better. That can’t be a bad thing.

5) More stuff for the CV

I hate CVs. I really do. I hate writing them and I hate sending them off and I hate people reading them. But I feel a bit better about my terrible CV right now, knowing that I have had this experience that I can show off to potential employers, that not many other students will have had. Plus, I apparently get a shiny graduation certificate at the end of the programme to take home. My mother will hang it up in the house – it’ll look lovely.

My ultimate point is that travelling and studying abroad is incredibly rewarding. It’s even nicer for me because I’ve always really wanted to do it without spending the incredibly long time away from my home. So the fact that this course is compacted into one month is a bonus for me.

At the Rockies! 

I will be very sad to leave America – I’ve made incredible friends here and it’ll be really strange not waking up every day and barging into Polly and Diana’s room and bothering them with my nonsense talk. It’ll also be very strange not waking up and putting sun cream on straight away, but I hear that Britain is currently in the middle of a heat wave, so that transition should be easy enough.  But I still can’t wait to get back to Britain and cause the havoc that usually follows me around all over again.

Good luck with that, Britain. 

I need more money and less shit from the government

Like most of the British population between 18 and 25, I should currently be searching for a job. While I like the idea of ensuring that I have the luxuries that only hot water and electricity can supply for my second year of university, this whole finding a job process is bloody difficult. Seeing as I have never had a job, the likelihood of me finding one is.. zilch. So instead of enduring another few painful hours of rejection, I thought I'd write a blog about it instead.

One of the 137,000 searching for a job in the UK

It's rather depressing to be perfectly honest. I am now at the desperate stage where I enter competitions to get some cash. I can't apply to jobs anymore because I can't find my National Insurance number - and even if I did, it would be covered in too thick a layer of dust to decipher.

It's common knowledge that the United Kingdom is in a triple dip recession at the moment, and it's no secret that South Wales is one of the hardest hit places. Being what the English, Scottish, Irish and North Walians refer to as 'a valleys girl,' I know the setbacks of Margaret Thatcher only too well. While most see my living in the hills as a negative thing, I can list some positives. In the recent Olympics, we contributed to team GB winning gold, silver, bronze... and tin and copper and lead. There are many wonderful things about living in the valleys, each as joyous as the next, but, again, that's for another blog.

Ever since the reign of the delightful Mrs. Thatcher, the economic viability of the valleys has been on the decline faster than the outgoings of my bank account. The current government has made some effort to persuade businesses to migrate to South Wales. Those with some sort of I.Q are wise to stay away from our streets with all those unemployed hooligans. Instead, they venture to the big city of London and get ransacked in riots. They were a big deal last August apparently, though I missed it while I blissfully spent my EMA in Disneyland.  The point is, I MISS HAVING MONEY. But I don't go out into the rough and tumble streets of Merthyr Tydfil and rummage through the leftover merchandise that the English send our way, to make up for our lack of sustainable business.

Desperate times. Desperate measures.

For the unwitting humans who reside in the valleys these days, the recession means several things: 
One - Someone, somehow, finds a job that they can maintain that pays enough to allow comfortable living. In the valleys. 

Two - You get out as quickly as you can and move to London to loot a hardware store. 

Three - You realise the mistake your ancestors made, and move away to realise your potential, (which you won't due to the recession.)

Four - You make the same mistake as your parents. 

Or five - You stay exactly where you are, but you don't get as lucky as your mate, Stan the street sweeper, and you live a life on benefits, being dubbed as a sponge and as trash.

While the Tories bang on about the benefits system not being a net, I am one of these people who is a firm believer that it all depends on circumstances. I know lots of people who have genuine need of the benefit system. Heck, if I were not a university student at the moment, I would be on benefits. We can get angry about it, we can protest, but it will not change the mindset of those who readily use the benefit system as a survival tool. It's understandable though; most people are genuinely better off on benefits, than being paid minimum wage to clean up the sick in the McDonalds queue. And sadly, the majority of the few jobs on offer in the valleys fit that exact criteria.

Surely, then, you understand my frustration, when I am constantly applying to jobs I don't even want to do and keep getting rejected while my families household income is depleted by the percentage of the population who simply don't want to work.  Additionally, employers base their perception of your worth as an employee on previous work experience, which, most people don't have because of the lack of jobs. And the lack of job stems from the poor economy, which stems from people not working , stemming from lack of jobs. We're in a vicious cycle. How do these big bad bosses expect me to get my first job if I have no work experience? I wish it was as easy as Norman Tebbit made it sound. .Norman Tebbit 

Unfortunately, I don't have a bike and, I have a heart that is slowly calcifying  and insufficient to do any sort of exercise

'He's on work experience' 

You need to have work experience, amazing grades, your own transport, (which most of us cannot afford), and a degree before you can even be considered to work in a factory slicing beef in Britain. Public transport is an absolute nightmare - getting to Cardiff from Merthyr takes nearly an hour on the train, which will cost you near enough to £8 if you are foolish enough want to return. Naturally, this makes life harder for the average working person or commuter.

Additionally, shops are closing down here, there and everywhere because they just cannot support themselves anymore. Companies are making changes to their full time contracts left, right and centre. People who are in jobs are being made redundant, sometimes without warning, and are left in the lurch by companies who are trying to keep up with the collapsing economy. While the recent Olympics may have added a little extra money into the governments back pockets, I doubt the taxpayer will see as much of it as David Cameron's wife will.

To our government, here's a word to the wise: I may be at university now, but, hopefully I'm going to do well and finish there within the next two years. I'm not excited about going into the world like most people my age should be - I'm trying to stay in education as long as possible to be within a chance of even finding a job as a grocer. I know it isn't the easiest of jobs, running a country and all, but something needs to be done about the rate of unemployment in the UK. I don't have an answer, but if I find one, I'll get back to you. Maybe then I'll finally get a job. As the next Prime Minister. Messing up Great Britain, one piece at a time, in the way only I can.