Last year was a defining time in my life. I spent over nine months living in England (my first time ever leaving the United States) in a flat with British and one other international student \u2013 I was the only American.\u00a0 During this time, I adapted to an entirely new culture, and tried to learn the difference between biscuits and cookies, and crisps and chips, and pants and trousers\u2026<\/p>\n
Since returning to the United States, I still find some of the portion sizes overwhelming, the volume at which some people speak to be astonishingly loud, and the American interpretation of scones to be just short of appalling \u2013 and that\u2019s putting it lightly.\u00a0 I often find myself lost in daydreams about England; I still long for afternoon tea at Biddy\u2019s Tea Room in Norwich, spring strolls through the blooming countryside in Chawton, and aimless wanderings through the winding London streets.<\/p>\n
It is this combination, of memories, re-adapting to American culture, and yearning for the lovely English life that I miss with all my heart, that will form the basis of my blog. I want to not only give readers an insight into British culture and living abroad, but also to highlight my own personal experiences and share how living in England truly changed my life and fostered a great deal of personal growth and development.<\/p>\n
As such, I drew from an assortment of blogs as sources of inspiration. In terms of layout and design, \u00a0The Londonist<\/a>\u00a0and Smitten By Britain<\/a> \u2013 due to their overall layout and design\u00a0\u2013 as well as\u00a0A Lady in London<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 regarding its color scheme, homepage design, and easy accessible linkage to Instagram and other social media accounts\u00a0\u2013 both exemplify successful layouts, similar to what I hope to achieve. \u00a0Content-wise, \u00a0Medium\u00a0<\/a>offers a wide variety of creative posts. Similarly, I am interested in sharing posts about various topics, yet, I intend for them all to relate back to\u00a0my key themes. On that note, I have discovered some blogs written by expats currently residing in England \u2013 including The part where we move to London<\/a> and A Lady in London<\/a>. \u00a0These blogs\u00a0share content related to British and American cultural differences, and personal experiences\u00a0of life as an expat in England.<\/p>\n My main goal for this\u00a0blog is for it to be engaging. I don’t want it to turn into a personal log of my own experiences, and for readers to feel disconnected and distanced from them. Instead, I hope that my blog will allow readers to make connections with their own lives, spark a sense of curiosity in them, inspire them to seek new adventures (even if they’re not related to England) and to engage with other cultures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last year was a defining time in my life. I spent over nine months living in England (my first time ever leaving the United States) in a flat with British and one other international student \u2013 I was the only … Continue reading