Kelly #86: Reverse Culture Shock

It was definitely a difference going from living with younger classmates who could legally drink to ones who were older than that but could not drink. When I was in England I got questions like how did I like being able to legally drink. They forgot that I was 21 when I studied abroad so I could already legally drink in my home country. Someone also asked the tried and true question of why young adults in the U.S. can vote and die at war when they are 18 but cannot drink until they are 21. Still, I do not know the answer to that.

And even though my roommates my final semester of college did not want to go out on a week night, didn’t stop me from going with my other senior classmates. In fact, my final one was the only semester I had in college where I partied the most, took the most classes, and managed to get my only 4.0 of my college career. Now I wish I had that same kind of stamina.

To Europe with Love, Kelly # 84

And with this comic, Kelly’s adventures studying abroad have come to an end. Reading it now nearly 12 years later makes me incredibly nostalgic and miss those good times. In my short Michelmas term at Lancaster, I was able to travel to many other places, experience different cultures, make good friends, plus get more flirting under my belt. Now looking back, I wish I had created more comics about my adventures traveling beyond my uni but I am also proud of myself to stick with creating regular comics while also still taking classes and having fun traveling. The benefits of having more free time during college, but especially at an English university where I spent much less time in classes than I did in the U.S.

Since 2009, I have been back to Europe twice, visiting some of my same study abroad mates in London instead of in Lancaster. Within the next couple of years, I hope to return again, and while it would be nice to return to Paris or Rome, I also want to see new places like Spain and Belgium. If you didn’t get a chance to study abroad in college, go for fun in the future. Maybe we will even see each other there.

Kelly 83: European faux pas

This one makes me laugh because it never actually happened. I wish that I had intentions to take an exercise spin class and ended up making a tapestry instead! The only reason I think I created this one was for the play on the word “spin.” If my English uni did have this as a class, I am sad that I missed out on my chance to use a spindle, especially now that I started knitting during COVID.

Kelly 82: English Elocution

This one was based on an actual conversation I had with my English flatmates. They thought it was hilarious I couldn’t pronounce yogurt “correctly” and they enjoyed telling me the way they say it. There were several words that differed in pronunciations depending on what side of the Atlantic you were on. Although I know these differences were based on where I was raised and not my difficulty to hear accurately, I also know I am terrible at pronouncing things in different languages which is why I didn’t do well in my French classes. Also, I remember that rose hat I got at Covent Garden and I miss it.

Kelly 81: English Thanksgiving

I still remember this conversation with my parents. Yes, it really happened. I believe my mom claims she knew Thanksgiving was just an American holiday but she wanted to get a rise out of me, which worked. In actuality, I and my fellow American students hosted a Thanksgiving party in our British dorms and even had a turkey. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I made but I wasn’t a very good cook then so perhaps nothing very special. The dinner, however, made for a very nice night, making it one of my favorite memories from studying abroad, though I exited halfway through to Skype my whole family (cousins and all) at their midday Thanksgiving meal back in the states.

Another thing of note was that back in 2009, Skype was the only free way really to do a video call with someone internationally. Thankfully, COVID didn’t happen back then because as it was in 2020 I think the main thing that kept people sane was seeing each other over video calls using all of the options available.

Kelly 80: Just a Mate

I have to be honest, one of my main reasons to study abroad in England was to meet cute British guys. And I did in my classes, in the dorms, in the pubs. However, I didn’t have much going for me aside from my American accent, not really any good flirting skills. So I became their “mates” and joined them cheering football matches at pubs and attended their birthday shindigs as their friends instead of as their dates. It felt a bit stifling at the time, but in the end, I am glad for this because now all of these years and miles later I am still friends with some of them.

Kelly 79: Flight cancelled

Rome was molto bene. It was the first place I went on “the Continent” and its beautiful scenery and amazing food were the reasons we did not mind that our flight back to university was delayed. During our weekend trip we learned about the history as we saw the Colosseum (pictured out of the restaurant window in this comic) which was just impressive and the Forum also wowed us with its sheer size, plus the Trevi Fountain was beautiful though crowded. But I am a foodie and most remember the stupendous pizza, pasta, red wine, gelato, and, even though I didn’t drink coffee at the time, my first espresso. It was such a blessing to have gone to Rome and I hope to return and see more of Italy some day.

Kelly 78: English Weather

I think this is one of my better sight gags in the comics. There was a fair amount of rain when I was studying in England but mainly I was surprised by just how cloudy and gray it was the entire time I was there. Definitely not an ideal spot for someone with seasonal affective disorder. Fortunately, I never had to swim from lecture to my dorm.

Also, the date of this comic is Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, and it’s too bad I was actually in another country that evening so I missed being able to portray that very traditional English celebration. You can read about it though in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

Kelly 77: Why Does Daylight Need Savings?

It wasn’t until I was studying abroad in England that I learned they set their clocks ahead one week before the U.S. does, thus ending British Summer Time. So for most of the time, England is 5 hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Standard Time but during that week they are 6 hours ahead. This was actually a fairly recent change because in 2007 the U.S. changed from putting their clocks back in late October (the same time as England) to the first week in November.

Fortunately, this worked in our favor while traveling when we didn’t change our clocks (this was before smart phones or wide use of cell phone alarms) and woke up 1.5 hours before our train instead of half an hour before it then had extra time to kill. When you are only in a country for a few short months, it’s a real shame to miss any of it because of a time change mix up. I don’t recall what we did with that hour but I like Kelly’s idea of getting some food and ale at the pub.

Kelly 76: Culture Clash Part 2

Before I went to study abroad in England, I was mostly aware of the differences between our cultures but this became more apparent once I was there myself. To this day, I actually prefer the savory, English meat pies. The partying took some getting used to but, as a college senior, I welcomed the faster pace. It took some getting used to in having class only once a week and your entire semester’s grade hanging on one exam or paper but I enjoyed the abundance of free time now available in my schedule. And I also still appreciate English currency, wishing we had a similar system here.

Kelly 75: Culture Clash

At least two of these things actually happened to me when I was studying abroad in England and those two were the middle panels. I am still embarrassed for causing the power to go out in my flat because I brought the wrong adapter. And the names thing is something I still struggle with. But I do remember the struggle of trying to find a pay phone to call collect home as soon as I landed because my mom would definitely call the embassy if I didn’t report in.

Kelly 74: True Value

This art style, now that I look back on it, definitely reminds me of “Cathy” which was my inspiration for creating “Kelly” in the first place. As it is with most people, I think, I cannot sleep on planes. Luckily, the entertainment units in the back of the seats provide almost endless distractions. And by the time I landed in England on my way to study abroad, I was incredibly zonked out from being overtired so my eyes probably did look like swirls like Kelly’s.

# 73: Kelly Between Two Worlds

The time between my summer internship and going abroad in the fall of my senior year felt both long and short. I did have to rest after working hard at my publishing internship in NYC all summer then I took care of things at my parents’ house. Before I knew it, it was time to fly to England. Looking back on this comic now, I really like the different scenes I represented in each of Kelly’s panels so I am pretty proud of this one.

Kelly # 68: Isn’t It Loverly

At the end of my junior year, I still remember how excited I was to be able to finally study abroad. There certainly was a lot of paperwork and preparation that went into it but it was worth it to finally achieve my dream of going to Europe. And you will have to continue reading to see my comics from my semester in England, even though, sadly, it did not include any run-ins with the royal family.