British Culture Journal Assignment

Going back to the first day I stepped down the plane on a beautiful afternoon, it was the second day of the year 2014 when I arrived Newcastle upon Tyne. So far, this is the farthest and coldest country I've ever travelled in my 18 years of living on Earth. Everything here is different compared to East Malaysia. For examples, the people, the culture, the food, the weather, the time zone, the currency and so on. Half of my inside, I felt nervous about continuing my journey of discovery in a whole new environment but the other half knew that I received a great opportunity to explore and experience the wonders of our world. So where should I start?

Few days before the orientation, my elder brother who is in his second year of Civil Engineering in Newcastle University, brought me around the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. He showed me the shortest route to the INTO building, introduced me to some of his favorite restaurants and we went shopping together in Eldon Square. At the same week, I rode the train to the airport for the first time to welcome my flat mate who is also my best friend from high school. As a matter of fact, I noticed that the efficiency of public transportation in Newcastle upon Tyne is beyond compared to Malaysia. It is very well maintained and safe unlike the ones back in my country.

Not long after, it was the first day of orientation where I met my first friend, Khouloud. She's a lovely girl from Tunisia and from that day onwards, we were inseparable. On the ninth day of the month January, we participated in one of the first activity INTO student services team organized this year, which was ice-skating at Centre for Life. On the weekend of that week, I visited the Intu Metrocenter with a group of friends I made during orientation. I found out that Intu Metrocenter is Europe's largest shopping center on that day itself. I love it that the INTO student services team work hard to provide activities for local and international students to participate and enjoy. In fact, they give plenty of opportunities to meet a range of different people from all over the world, gain wonderful experiences and encourage us to take up something new.

The next day after visiting Metrocentre, my flat mate and I took a train from Central Station to Sunderland to visit her sister who is studying in Sunderland University. We attended Bethany City Church service and enjoyed lunch in a pub restaurant not far from the church. It was fascinating attending a church service in another country, the features between the churches I grew up attending since I was a child back in Malaysia was somehow similar to Bethany City Church. For the pub restaurant that we had lunch, it was actually my first time experiencing so. In Malaysia, we have ‘mamak’ restaurants that are the equivalent of pub restaurants in Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland.

As grateful as I can be, British Institutes and Culture seminars played one of the biggest roles in my journey of discovering Newcastle upon Tyne. Every single week without fail, we were given the opportunity to explore new locations. The Great North Museum: Hancock, which is located next to the Claremont Bridge, was the first place we visited on the 22^nd of January. In the museum, we had the chance to see a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex replica skeleton, a few live reptiles, full size models of a large range of animals from all over the world and brilliant objects from the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Egypt. From answering the worksheet given by our lecturer, I manage to gain better understanding about the Romans and the Roman wall in the light of the fact that it is an important part of the history culture of the Northern England.

On the 25^th of January, my friends and I were involved in the trip to the Angel of the North, Durham and Beamish that was organized by the INTO student services team. Being able to observe the 208-tonne “Angel” up front and center was breathtaking, with a height of 20 meters high and wings 54 meters wide almost similar to a jumbo jet. The structure took on the form of a human figure based on Antony Gormley’s own body. The next stop was Durham, the city that possesses buildings and the Castle that are over 900 years old. We visited the Cathedral and I must say, the stained glass windows were stunningly beautiful. Sadly, photographs were prohibited except for the outdoors. Little did I know that the famous movie Harry Potter The Sorcerer’s Stone was filmed in Durham’s Cathedral courtyard.

The final location we visited on that day was Beamish. In the Beamish Museum, we were given the opportunity to explore what was life like for the Victorian people and the Georgian people. We rode trams to visit the town area, the colliery, the pit village, Pockerley Old Hall and the home farm. There was a sudden rain shower that led us to take shelter in Tea Rooms where we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was fascinating to observe how the Beamish Museum could portray an environment and surrounding from a couple of centuries back.

To continue the journey of discovery during British Institutes and Culture seminars, on the third week we visited the University Gallery at Northumbria University. Through observing exhibitions of Norman Cornish’s paintings, I felt that I could understand how the Spennymoor folk lived their lives. You could tell that the majority of the men were miners and they spend a lot of their time in the bar. Norman Cornish particularly focuses on portraying Spennymoor folk in their work place. On the next week, the Discovery Museum was our next location. Inside, I had a lovely experience finding out more about the history of Newcastle upon Tyne. In the Balham Gallery Exhibition, there was a painting of Newcastle’s Hunter Stadium from a top view. I loved the mix of colors and how the artist was very detailed, it is one of my favorite paintings so far.

On the 8^th of February, my friends and I travelled to the city of Liverpool by bus. When we arrived after a long three-hour ride, we started off by visiting The Beatles Story exhibition and Tate Liverpool located at Albert Dock. We then moved on to walking along the famous Bold Street, which lead us to the Liverpool Cathedral. Inside, the stained glass windows surrounding the Cathedral amazed me, it was brilliant. I later found out that I was actually standing inside of the largest Cathedral in the whole of United Kingdom and the 5^th largest in the world. The World Museum located on William Brown Street was our next stop, there were exhibitions on astronomy, space and time, archaeology, Egyptology and natural science. After a day of sight seeing, my friends and I decided to enjoy shopping in Liverpool ONE and Metquarter.

Moving on, the fifth week we visited The Laing Art Gallery and Newcastle City Library. One of my favorite artwork in the art gallery was by Edward Montgomery O’Rourke Dickey, The Building of the Tyne Bridge (1928). The first floor had a room displaying quite a number of brilliant beautiful paintings. On the 6^th floor of the Newcastle City Library, there is a place where you can get a glimpse of breathtaking scenery of the city.

For the past five weeks, the event that stands out was I had my first snow encounter on the 11^th of February on a cold evening. I can’t exactly pin point out how I felt at that moment, it was indescribable. Growing up in a tropical country, we don’t get to experience the four seasons like the United Kingdom. In Malaysia, our weather goes about between hot, rainy and cloudy. Another point that I would like to add, the people here are very friendly and the technology is very efficient. Back in my home country, it is very rare to spot an act of kindness and you wouldn’t be able to see any self-checkout counters anywhere.

As a Malaysian, I am mostly proud of the food that originated from my home country, the food here cannot be compared to ones back home. In terms of cleanliness, drinking water straight from a tap is something new to me because filtering tap water was a must-do in my country.

Being given the opportunity to discover all these wonderful places and events played an important role in helping me view the world differently. It showed me that life is not always all about work, to make out most of a life, we have to live it.