"Even the horses are smiling"

I have officially been in England for six days. I have no idea where to begin. Oh, yes I do: I love it here. Ormskirk is possibly the cutest town I have ever seen in my life. There are little shops and boutiques on cobble stone streets, and tons and tons of British people. (Quite possibly my favorite part).

Since I have been here my friends and I have been to Conwy Castle, in Wales, and Liverpool. Even though those places were incredible, I can't help but love Ormskirk more. On our first trip to Liverpool, on the way back in the train, the conductor came on the speakers to announce our final approach to Liverpool. My friends and I sat there and listened to this:
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Our last stop is Ormskirk where this train terminates. As we enter Ormskirk you will notice that it is not like Liverpool. The air is cleaner, the grass is greener. Everyone is smiling. Even the horses are smiling. You will be getting off in a few short minutes, and I will be making my way back to Liverpool, unfortunately. I would rather not go back, but I have to. So sit back and relax as we enter Ormskirk.
But do us a favor lads before you leave the train: take your girls with you. You don't want to forget them on the train. They'll be quite upset with you, and no one wants that. If you don't take your girls with you they won't continue to put up with you. If you leave 'em we won't know what to do with 'em. So fellas remember to take your girlfriend or wife back with you, we can't have them here. Cuz if you leave her, who's gonna cook your supper?"

It's this kind of humor and good natured quality that I am loving about Ormskirk and England in general.

Soon I will traveling to England to study at Edge Hill University for the fall semester. Edge Hill is located in a town called Ormskirk, and needless to say, I am extremely excited to be going there. In less than a week I will be in the UK and lately I've been trying to mentally prepare myself for the next three months.

Things I've been trying to remember about England:

Biscuits in America are scones in England.

Biscuits in England are sort of like cookies, only they aren't cookies, because contrary to popular belief they have actual cookies, which aren't biscuits. Got it? Me too.

"Pants" is equal to underwear, which makes saying "Oh, hello. Can you wait a second, I'm not wearing any pants" on the phone a significantly different conversation. Ultimately, words may be similar but they may have completely dissimilar definitions. My English friends from work taught me this much.

It rains. Apparently it rains a lot. Not always, but often. And it does not snow as much as Charles Dickens and Masterpiece Theatre would have you believe. This to me has been one of the most startling realizations I've come across. I would love for England to be all blanketed in snow as it is in The Holiday. How else would one expect to come across such a handsomely dressed Jude Law?

There are only two flavors of Pop Tarts. Disappointing, yes, but one must remember that this is a wholly different country that is 3,000 miles away. Pop Tart importation is not a top priority.

In the end I am trying to prepare myself to meet the real England, not the England of my dreams. This notion can be strange for a traveler. The way a country is portrayed in popular culture, the stories that get told, and the stereotypes that pass from generation to generation, may not always be true. But even if England is not the snowy Winter Wonderland I always imagined, even if I must live solely on strawberry Pop Tarts and say "trousers", I am sure I will enjoy my semester abroad and will have lots of stories to tell.