farewell to the ex

Of course I spend the last afternoon in the UK chilling in my room.

But here's a vsco cam snap of a building that I pass by everyday, just to further prove my point of how beautiful the campus is.

Also just bite the bullet and bought the $6 preset pack. Came with a bunch that I wouldn't think of using, but it was cheaper than separately buying the presets that I did want.

Anyways, since I have so much time, shall do a overall review post of my time in the UK. Knowing myself, if I postpone this until I get back, it'll either a) never appear, or b) be a month late.
(this is a really long post, warning)

Some general observations:

• Londoners definitely dress better than people in the countryside. So, much, better.
• There's a large number of chain and independent cafes.
• But there's even more pubs. Lots and lots of pubs.
• It's not an exaggeration to say it could rain continuously for weeks. Supposedly we're here during the nicest time of the year, and yet it still rained everyday in the second week.
• It's really cold when it rains. Had 3 layers on when I went to torquay and it was still somewhat chilly.
• However, it is not true that the food portion sizes are smaller. In fact, I think the BK Whooper is bigger than the Canadian size.
• British national rail is nice (y)
• Every town has a road called High Street, always a good bet to go there for tourist-y shops. 
• Roundabouts seem to be the preferred form of intersections. 
• Vehicles drive much faster despite how narrow and steep the roads are.
• You're probably already tired of hearing this, but so in love with the countryside scenery. The gentle rolling hills are covered with a patchwork of different shades of green and gold. So picturesque. 
• Gooseberry is delicious, and gooseberry yogurt is the best flavour of yogurt. It's my goal to try to grow this next year. 
• Organic and local food have a much greater presence in the UK (or at least in Devon/Cornwall, since they have a large agricultural industry?). Restaurants and supermarket all advertise and use local ingredients.
• Nutrient labels are also more detailed and contain more useful information (in my subjective view).
• Lastly, my goodness the dorms are so much nicer. I say this even when comparing it to Chestnut. Single rooms by default, comes with a mini fridge ($80 to rent for a year at chestnut), a kettle with complimentary tea/coffee/creamer (kettles are banned at chestnut), towels and room service, and a bigger desk haha. Though some of these may just be summer perks. However, it's so much cheaper -o-" 98GBP per week, which is roughly $600 per month? Insane.

More rambling related to the weather and clothing:

• The Barbour jacket that I bought was hands down the most useful item ever in the British weather. Got it at 50% discount and probably wore it almost every day since arriving in Exeter. I originally intended to purchase a waxed jacket  since that's what Barbour is famous for, and to double as a light raincoat. However they were out of my size. Instead I liked how this looked and I was in more need of a spring/fall jacket (survey camp will see lots of use out of it). I was also reassured by the (cute) sales assistant that this will indeed stand up to light rain. True to his words, this has been the most helpful during the rainy days, so much more convenient than an umbrella. Money well spent :)
• However, the rest of the cloths that I brought along were less utilized. The ISS sent us an email before departure stating that the UK was experiencing a "heat wave". Okay true the days in London were pretty hot, but that was honestly it. Haven't wore shorts sans tights ever since those 3 days.

The program itself...I have mixed feelings about.

They say the focus is on academics, but really it's super chill. There are readings that you can do, but not reading them will not disadvantage you. (I have the intention of reading them...eventually). Aside from a group presentation (40% of your grade) and a paper (60% of your grade), there's no actual work you have to do.

• Lectures: this may just be a problem of the Climate Change pathway, but the lectures are either too general or too technical. I don't think this is the fault of the lecturers, but more of trying to teach this subject in a very limited amount of time. There were a diverse range of topics that were included, which is fantastic. However, I feel that the majority of the information was not helpful to my major in civil engineering. But if I had a background in climate sciences, or does research related to that area, then the information delivered would be much more applicable. An interesting incident was when a girl who sat behind me realized that our lecturer was the author of the papers she's been reading for her own research. There's also this really renowned professor who gets cited a lot in the IPCC reports (this report is like the bible of climate science?). Overall, it opened my eyes to how expansive the effects of climate change is. There are so many other issues, such as psychological health, that are not being actively discussed.
• Presentation: ESP leveled up my report shortening skill, ISS leveled up my presentation shortening skill. I've realized that the following are just complete wastes of time:
• Introduction of group members
• Reading over every item in the presentation outline, or reading any lists/charts in general.
The subtlety is that what you say is about what's on the slides.
• Paper: have not yet started haha. It's due after the program ends, which I find a bit weird. There's also almost zero instructions regarding it, which I find scary. Planning on writing about green roofs, hope that goes well.

When I ask around on people's reasons for coming to the ISS, most of them cite wanting to travel to the UK as the primary reason. Same for me, it was the abundance of day trips that sealed the deal (still doubting whether I can actually get a credit for this course).

There's also a bunch of social activities, but I didn't participate much. Think it's because of my choice of friends here? We were all quite happy to retreat back into our rooms after class apart from the few trips into town. Definitely didn't get as close to people as Shad, but I do like them :) At the very least I now have friends in Shanghai to treat me to seafood hotpot haha. Similarly I've been urging them to visit Toronto~