Hey Everybody,
I’m Tory, a
senior Biochemistry major, and this is my dragon, Little Richie.  |
| How humbling to stand in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the World! |
We have been
living and working (doing chemistry research) in Bristol, England for six weeks
now. We are very busy in the lab throughout the week, but get to explore on the
weekends. In this post I am going to share my experiences of living in this
vibrant city, traveling to some popular UK destinations on the weekends, and my
opinion on what it’s really like to study abroad over here (aka, read this
section if you are applying for this program in the future).
Bristol Life:
This is a fun little city. It reminds me of a blend of
Charleston, SC (because it is on the water, has rainbow townhouses, and has
plenty of upscale shopping) and Asheville, NC (because the “city center” or
downtown area is full of quirky local shops and artists, graffiti is the norm
here, the university sits on top of a very steep hill, there are festivals and
markets happening all the time, and it overall just has a very laid back feel).
I have enjoyed my time is Bristol. There isn’t too much culture shock here
because they speak our language. I do still feel awkward every time I say
“y’all” but I can’t/won’t stop saying it. Some things that make Bristol
different from Greensboro include having two taps on the sinks- hot and cold
water are not mixed, you get burning hot lava and cold. It makes no sense. Also
their alcohol culture is different from ours. As you probably know, young
people can drink at 18 years old. As you may not know, there are no open
container laws, so it’s completely normal to see people drinking while walking
down the sidewalk or sitting out by the harbour, and they also serve alcoholic
beverages in the café in the university student union.
Anyways, my daily life here in Bristol revolves around
my research. Every weekday I am in the
lab from 9:30 am until around 5-6 pm. I haven’t had any days off, although I
was told that it would be ok to take a Friday or Monday if I wanted to travel
while I was here. My time in lab is great though. It has been a really great
experience for me. I have learned new techniques and been able to work with instruments
that I never used in my last two years of undergraduate research at UNCG.
The majority of my readers might not speak "science", so you can skip to the next
paragraph, but if anyone is interested, I have been working on synthesizing a
catalyst to complete a reaction using methanol and ethanol to make i-butanol.
Isobutanol is important because it is a sustainable fuel source that has more
energy than the ethanol that we currently blend into normal petroleum based
fuels, so more i-butanol can be blended into and ultimately one day completely
replace gasoline. Past researchers in my group found certain ruthenium
complexes to work really well at catalysing the reaction; however, ruthenium is
in limited supply and isn’t cost effective, so it can’t be used as a sustainable
solution. So I am currently testing some similar complexes that I synthesized
that use iron instead of ruthenium. So far the results do not look like I am
going to change the world or win a Nobel Prize, but that’s science for you. You
win some and you lose some.
 |
| Wass Research Group, Summer 2015 |
Welcome back! One of the things that
I love about Bristol is the focus on shopping local. There are various markets
all over the city that are open every day of the week. I always have access to
fresh local produce, cheese and jams, bread, baked goods, and delicious street
food. Bristol is also really big on festivals. I enjoyed the Bristol Harbour
Festival a couple weeks ago and am really looking forward to the International
Balloon Fiesta this weekend. For more on the Harbour Festival, check out the
“Weekend explorations” section.
Snapshot of my Weekend Explorations:
·
Stonehenge
We took a tour bus to Stonehenge and was able to spend
two hours observing the stones and learning about the history through audio
guides and then exploring the exhibits, store and café. It was a great morning
and an awesome experience!
·
Bath
The highlight of Bath, UK is the ancient Roman Bath
House that still partially remains. This tour was the most detailed and
entertaining of all of the audio guided tours that I have been on. We spent
hours exploring every nook and cranny of what used to be an ancient temple of
the goddess Minerva. They even still had her bronze head from an ancient
statue. It reminded me of home.
·
London
My weekend in London was exhausting. Me and three of
my friends from the program took the earliest bus into the city on Saturday
morning and then walked over 16 miles our first day and 12 on the second. In
two days we saw everything from Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben,
The London Eye, The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge, The London Bridge, The
Royal Society of Chemistry, Piccadilly Circus, The Science Museum, and tons and
tons of tea! It was an awesome trip.
·
Bristol’s
Harbour Festival
The Harbour Festival was great fun. The whole city was
covered in markets and stages for music, dance and circus acts. I ate a lot of
delicious street food during the three-day festival. I enjoyed a bison burger,
jumbo prawns (aka shrimp), Spanish paella, a slice of cake, and the best
baklava ever. Part of our group also planned a stand up paddle boarding session
so that we could be on the harbour during the festival. This was so cool. We
paddled past the S.S. Great Britain, “the Matthew” replica ship, steam boats,
and many happy faces that enjoyed watching us paddle along. We even attempted a
little yoga, as you can see from my picture. I might be more daring, if the
water/weather wasn’t so cool!
·
Cardiff
Check another country off of my list! The day trip to
Cardiff was short and sweet. The Cardiff Castle was really cool to see since
I’ve never seen a real castle before. We stood in the same room that The Queen
hosted Obama and the rest of NATO in just last year. Once we finished up our
guided tour that took us to a couple of private rooms, we went into the city
centre for shopping. There is no shortage of shopping in Cardiff! There were
also lots of delicious looking restaurants that tempted us from every cuisine.
We went with Italian. You know what they say, “When in Wales!”
·
International
Balloon Fiesta
The Fiesta will be going on full force tomorrow, but I
got a sneak peak of the balloon launch from the Clifton Suspension Bridge this
evening while I picnicked. Over 100 balloons took flight, and it seemed like
the whole city stood still to admire the beauty. Tomorrow I will be watching
the balloons take off from their starting positions on the festival grounds,
which I can’t wait for. It’s going to be gorgeous!
What they didn’t tell me about this
program:
·
It’s
cold. Don’t bother packing shorts. You’re not going to wear them on the
weekends or even to sleep in. Pack jeans, leggings, and warm fall sweaters-
like your big thick chunky comfy ones because most every day it’s rainy, gray
and perfect pumpkin spice latte and soup out of a bread bowl weather, if you
know what I mean. However, don’t expect those things. I haven’t seen either of
those things.
·
Money
is not in your favour. Don’t think about pounds as equal to dollars- they’re
not. For every £10 you spend, $15.58 is actually coming out of your bank
account. The currency conversion really adds up. Don’t expect to be able to
live over here on a similar budget as back home. For one, you can’t save money
by buying in bulk. That’s not a thing here. And for another majority of the
stuff is just way more expensive than it is in the States- both on the price
tag and due to the currency conversion.
·
Be
prepared to walk. Bristol is a lively city full of very fit people because you
see so many people walking and biking everywhere they need to go. My health app
has gone crazy since being here. My daily average for this month is nearly 5
miles of walking/running distance per day. And on the weekends I normally rack
up between 10-15 miles in a single day just by sight-seeing.
·
Student
housing isn’t as luxurious here as it is in The States. I am currently staying
in a flat that would cost me double the rent that I paid in Greensboro for a
two bedroom, except now I live with six people. Cleanliness isn’t a priority
when it comes to student housing over here. When we first moved in, our
bedrooms and kitchen reeked. I bought some bleach and bleached my whole
bathroom- shower, toilet, floors and sink- and kitchen- sink, countertops, and
stovetop. When I bleached I realized that there was tons of black mold growing
in the drains. It was disgusting, but it smells better and feels so much cleaner
now that I have given my space a little TLC.
·
Lastly,
I have found that I have personally been on the hunt for souvenirs for my
family and friends the entire time. It’s not as easy as you would think. I want
to bring back meaningful gifts (not shot glasses and magnets haha), so I have
been to every market, all of the local shops, and even the big shopping
centers. All I’m saying is, if you’re like me, you’ll always be thinking about
your loved ones back home when you walk into a store, and you’ll probably be
more likely to buy them a shirt, an airplane bottle of cider, or cigar than to
get those things for yourself.
Tory Strider
Bristol, UK
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