International student, Alex, shares her story around travelling to the UK to study ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent.
International student, Alex, shares her story around travelling to the UK to study ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent.
Welcome to the Student Connect podcast, a podcast to share experiences of university that help to shape us. This podcast is created in association with Staffordshire University and hosted by our Student Communications Ambassadors Team. It's a student led podcast which shares the experiences of students progressing through university education and inviting experts from a variety of life topics. Along the way, we will endeavor to share honest stories, sometimes too honest to help to educate and support those who may also be going through similar experiences. So we are your hosts. I'm Danny and I am Tiff and I am a level five sport student. Sorted about that and say more about you to. I'm a level five film, television and radio student. Very good. So how's your mom been to what do you know? Out and out. Does she remember? How's it been? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very good. Very good. It's been all right, then. All right. You know, back in the swing of things, finally we get ages off. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like how long we have off. It feels like, you know, at school, you have the summer holidays. I pray so. No, but isn't it like the length of the summer holidays? Literally. Christmas. Yeah. I remember a teacher at high school told me, like, you'll never have as long as you have off during, like, you know, you do at school. I know you do at university. You do at university. So yeah, but not to me. Well, I haven't been up to been a busy, busy, busy be I when trying to out out my placement which I can't lie hasn't been going very well. But we keep, we keep persevering, keep trying and we keep persevering and just keep swimming. Although I do have a fear of war so much. Oh, okay. So that's. It's pretty nice. It's like a valley jacket. But no, I've been focusing mainly on my driving. I have my driving test in two days time. It's it's a Wednesday when this is being recorded and it's on the Friday and I am going to pass. There's no room for failure. I've a pass by Lynne. It's no room for failure to find out on the next recording. We will find out. So make sure that you stay tuned for when you find out. That's my test. That's very exciting. I need to start like learning because I keep putting it off. Would you do it? I suppose you do it in Birmingham. Yeah. Yeah. Because I was like, looking at it mostly like research about driving and not to put any people offline to drive in Stoke, but it's I think it's like one of the things like it's got the third lowest pass rate and it's one of the hardest, the hardest areas. Sutton Coldfield like I think that's been yeah, that's like one of the hardest areas to drive. So erm yeah, but I mean I, I don't really find it that bad. I did it first, but I want you to get going with it. Although I've been Lynne to drive for three years and 20 now so yeah. We eventually got there Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Hopefully it's, it all goes to plan but yeah. University wise it's been going great. Erm I got one of my essays back from first semester first. She's always, always good to see, always good to see. And then although was there was a coaching one, a coach and practical and I've got first in that as well. So yeah, we're doing very well. We're on the boys unit, the placement is rocking the boat a little bit, It's like, ooh, what's going on here? But yeah, some of it though, isn't it. Oh yeah. It's always something that just doesn't go as well. Yeah, but hopefully it's fine. We keep calm and remain cool and we just carry on forward. There's no going backwards here. We just keep going forward. So this podcast in particular is about international students. So in this episode we welcome back our host from series One to share more about their experiences of being an international student and how they've made Staffordshire their home after graduating from university. So please give a warm welcome to Alex. Glad to be back. Hello. I'm so excited. I like put the headphones on and I was like straight back into fashion, back into the zone. So yeah. So if you don't know, don't know me. I'm Alex. I am an international student. She her and, and yeah, I was the host for the whole first series of the podcast with at first Nesta and then Danny for a couple of episodes. So yeah I am, I feel like I've shared a lot of stories, but I feel like we're going to we're going to dive deeper into events. Won't Yeah. Not sorry not so trigger your Yeah. Fear. Oh I get to the say although I do I have that I have that fear as well. Even though I love swimming I love the water but like the deep water. Yeah. Like what does that fossil phobia. Yeah. Yeah. Deep ocean. No, it's more, it's more like swimming pool to me. But long story. I kind of like drowned on a lesson. Like when I was like, Yeah, yeah, well, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm not. Do you? I'm dealing with it. But yeah, so. Yeah. How, how have you been since. Have been amazing. I, I honestly can't remember where, what was happening on the last, with the last podcast episode I was on. But since then I have graduated officially. Very good. Very good. So yeah. Official alumnus. Yeah, from SAS Uni and I am employed. So what are you doing? So I am a communications assistant with the British Ceramics Biennial. Oh, wow. Okay. Which coincidentally is on campus. Oh, is it. Yeah. They have office space on campus because they have connections with the university. Okay. Yeah. So my commute did not change at all. That's cool. That's sometimes. Yeah, I'm on the other side of squeezebox. Yeah. So, yeah, I still get my coffee fix from there and. Yeah, that's good. That's good. So there's nothing on campus. Yeah, it's. I can only Campus cafe. Yes. Very good for drinks. Lovely. Highly, highly, highly recommend. They always put a lot of cream on top of the frozen milkshakes as well I find. Yeah. Some places are a bit stingy. No, they're like an if you get like a smoothie or something, they'll like put the put the lid on and then sell it more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like as much they feel bang for your buck. Yeah. Yeah. And like a lot cheaper than anywhere else. Yeah. Yeah. So, but so yeah. So I think you did kind of explain to me before kind of why you chose to come to Stoke to study, but I don't think Tef fully knows. So we were going to a time. Yeah. You roll it back. Yeah. Let's roll the full store. Full. Sorry. No. Long story short, I was born and it's going to be like I'm listening to the podcast. I'm just to like, Wow. Yeah. So. All right, well, I was I was born in Canada and then grew up mostly in the Midwest of the United States. So I whatever it's like where like, where are you from? I'm like, Woohoo! But I moved like when I was moved here. It was from from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yeah, Yeah. I love the accent. I do love a good accent. You know, I, I have kind of an odd accent because, like, obviously I had a Canadian accent for a little while and then moving to the Midwest, it's like, almost the complete opposite. Yeah, kind of like combined in Canada is like, like Canada. And you've got, like a boot and, you know, you're a and all of that. Whereas like the Midwest, everything's a lot more like lengthened, like it'd be sorry or like, yeah, like I always remember my gym teacher should be like, don't forget your socks or your gym shoes and, and I remember like a weird, like backpack is very like, like backpack. And I remember saying, like, to my dad, I was like, Yeah, I need my backpack for school. And he looked at me and I was like eight at the time. Yeah. And laughed in my face like he was just like, your what? And ever since then, I was so self-conscious about it. Yeah. And, and so I like, tried to, like, make it not be you that. So then I kind of had a weird non accent which anyway, but um, but yeah, so I've always been very conscious of like, of that sort of thing and I can, I like at certain points different, like I still say sorry or yeah, it kind of like slips out in different situations like, like kind of bring out the, like different parts of the accent. So, so yeah. So that was, yeah, we moved to Milwaukee when I was about seven. So very much a product of the American school system and we were like permanent residents there. And then the sort of the beginning of my staff attorney was like kind of midway through the pandemic. Yeah, yeah. And I had lost my job, like right before, Um, so like early March of 2020. And I was like, I like moved back in with my parents and like, it was the whole like, everyone just didn't know what you were doing and it kind of, you kind of get thinking. You're like, What do I want to do with my life? And I had gone my undergrad was in ceramics and it was very much kind of like what I wanted to do. But I just didn't find any opportunities after graduating, and it just wasn't like nothing really clicked. Yeah. And so I was like, Why not? I like, what about a masters? And so I was looking for programs and basically this was one of the first ones that popped up. And I remember like when I like in your when you're in like your final year of, like undergrad and you're like applying everywhere, you're like, yeah, you're like location. No, anyway, like I can do anything. And, and so I had looked in Stoke on Trent because it was like the ceramics capital and so like, and like the history of it really stood out. Yeah, but it was always ceramics focused, like the course for your master's that you wanted to go for. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just because I'm like, I was like, really? Honestly, this is the one thing in life that I'm like, This is what I know. This is. Yeah, I'm good at. Like, it's just always been something I've loved. Yeah. Like your passion and. Yeah. And so always do something. You're passionate about. Yeah, yeah. And, and, and yeah. So I applied and I think it was, it was yeah. Like sort of early 2021 that I was kind of like they're like you've, you've got an interview And then I was accepted and then like here's the avalanche of paperwork you have to do as an international student. And it was very honestly, it was very stressful. I like wouldn't trade it for the world, but like the paperwork, the forms and the like sending things off and waiting was super stressful. And like, the time difference really made it extra stress. Yeah, because it was like, like I would send an email and it didn't matter when I sent it, I would not get a reply until at least the day after, if not like a couple of days later. And like living in America, like the mentality of work is so different. Yeah, it's like people have their emails have like they'll send an email on a Saturday. Yeah, it's like, yeah, no, no, shut up shop can cancel. Which it is like, yeah, like it. Nothing happened outside of business hours, which honestly kind of made me a bit excited because I was like, Oh, that's so, it's so much better. Like, yeah, because you can actually like, relax, chill and yeah, like just even from, like that, I could tell like sort of the work life balance was already like, just a lot, a lot better. Yeah. And, and then, yeah, it's, it was sort of it just. That's all a bit of a blur, honestly. It was just like, Yeah, yeah. Snowball one of them. Yeah. And then, and then of course, like you have to do like all the financial, financial stuff as well, which is. Yeah. Which is never very fun. But, but yeah. So it, it, it all worked out and then like still in sort of that odd, like there were still pandemic like measures and yeah, restrictions and stuff and everything a lot like you had to fill out like a passenger locator form for each plane you were going to be on. So I had to fill out like two different ones. And it was honestly like my, my, my journey here was it was awful. Like, I that's probably the one thing I was like, I'm like, I would not wish that on anyone. Yeah, it was basically like a 26 hour like journey. And I was pretty much awake for all of it because for those of you listening, I guess everyone's listening. But I am. I'm for those of you who are just listening or picture to picture me, I'm not small. I'm like six two and like, we're not skinny. Like, so planes in me do not really get along that well because there's just no room. And so, like, I think I slept for maybe like 4 hours total and it was, it was not comfortable like, yeah, you know, it was like one of those like your wake up in your neck is just like, Oh, no, no. And so, and like the there was a woman in front of me that like, did try a couple of times to put her seat back. And I was like I didn't even really have to do anything cause my knees were already there. Yeah, yeah. Oh, like, that was like, that was what happened. And I don't know what they were. I don't know what language they were speaking, but it was like I think three or four people that were traveling together. And I could tell just from her like body language that she was kind of like she was like, this is like, broken. She was like gesturing to like the person she was traveling with. And they were like, I don't know, like they were like mind works. But yeah, and I was just like, like, I mean, I yeah, I was just like, it's, it's just not going anywhere. Like, it's not going to it's just not going to happen. So but yeah, it was, it was not a fun experience. And then just like having to deal with all of the like you know, wearing a mask the whole time and Yeah. Oh, like it's a long time to be wearing a mask. Yeah. Yeah. And like, basically the, the flight attendants were on it like, yeah, you were eating, they were like, nope, get that mask. Yeah. And so yeah. And, and then you had to have, like, blood tests done so that you weren't like, new. And I like. So I had like my little folder of, like, important information that I was like, checking. I was like, passport. So I got my, my vaccine card. I've got this, I got that. So it was like, yeah. And then, and then and then we I finally land in Heathrow, which I wouldn't recommend. And not just trusting. I mean, in general it's fine, but I, I've never had the joys of like Yeah, I mean I don't know that Manchester's necessarily like a ton better but in terms of travel. Yeah, Yeah, I think it'd be a bit easier. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway so but yeah then yeah. So that was my first mistake. And um, and then their e-readers for the passport were broke and they were down that day. So, you know, like the, the little, like, um, like the Q the Q divider thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like walking up to the, to the, where you get into a line and I just see like two attendants just rolling them out, like just another line, another line, another like they're just going and I'm just like, oh, this guy. And he would, I was in line for 3 hours, sort of, kind of. I was so hungry, like, all because all I'd had to eat for, like, the plane ride. Like the plane I had to transfer in Portugal. And like, so the first plane was 7 hours. The next plane was like an hour and a half. And then you've got like waiting times in the airport. I all I'd have to eat was like the plane food, which is like, not bad. It was pretty good, honestly, for plane food. Yeah, but it's but it's not like a lot. Yeah exactly. Nutrition buys you. It's not really like the stuff that's going to stick with you for a while. And I remember thinking in that line, I was like, If I pass out right now, do you think I get about, like, get through quicker or slower? But I remember distinctly having that thought because I was like, I like I honestly because I because you can't have any liquid. So like, I had an empty water bottle just like with me. And they did pass out like the, like the cans of water at some point. So I like, I think that kind of gave me like the strength to kind of stand there and then like immediately as I was like through, I was like because there's like one stamp that I had to get in my like visa because I was like, important. So I was like, just get that say because I get that stamp. And then basically, like as soon as I was done with the like the little conversation you have with the, like border people, I was like, get me a sandwich. Yes, well, some it's just you get into you remember I it was like a sausage, the sausage sandwich I got, I think it was like a bath, which at the time. Yeah, Yeah. I was like that was a small. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good to call and no, you can't. Yeah. And it was I think. I don't think I got any sauce with it. Oh not a lot down. Yeah. Yeah. Which at the time I didn't know at the time I didn't really care because I was just like Yeah. Again it in me. Yeah. Oh yeah. And, and, and then that's when I figured out that I had the wrong adapter for the outlet. Oh. Oh. Because it's. Oh no. It was like I had sort of the generic European one. Yeah. Yeah. And I didn't have the UK quadcopter so I was just like whatever battery my phone is, that is what it's at. And luckily I had enough to like book whatever train tickets I like. Well yeah, yeah. Pay for things and, and like to basically to text my mom. Yeah. Yeah. She otherwise she would worry and so I had and like and then I think I had to take four different trains to get wherever I was going. And at one point I got on a train going in the wrong direction and I had to get back on that train. And all this time I'm carrying like a monster suitcase. Yeah, luggage. And my carry on and a backpack. And they're all full to the brim because I'm literally, like, bringing my wife. Yeah, yeah. I must say retrospect, because, like, after, like the third thing that I didn't like, to me, that would be a sign that I shouldn't be doing that I shouldn't have so much go going. I feel like it was just like at a certain point you kind of just feel like you just have to do it. Like you're just, Yeah, like I had already resigned myself. I'm like, I'm going to have to talk to strangers today and ask them where to go. Yeah. And I remember it was at at the time it was just kind of like you are not reacting to anything because you're so exhausted. You're just like, I just want to get where I'm going and I like I remember being like, I'm trying to like going up to like the the people at the train station. I'm speak I'm trying to get to Stoke on Trent. I remember every one of them kind of looked at me like, why? Yeah, it's just this kind of like, why do you want to go there? I'm just like, out of place. And so I was kind of like this whole like I had to get from it was like the train from the, from the airport to the like connects to the underground. And then I had to get to Houston Station, and then from there I could. Yeah, yeah. And to the train. And then of course at the Stoke train station I went out the, the parking lot way. Yeah. It's in that form too. Yeah. Instead of the other way. Which would have, which would have put me where I needed pretty much where I needed to be. Yeah. And I mean, I figured it out. I went like under the. The pigeon bridge. Yeah. Yeah. And like, and then at that when I, when the, when the train pulled in, I checked my phone and it was dead and I was like, okay, good. Cause I'm at least in the right city. And, and then luckily there were a couple of girls who were, must have been living like, kind of across from the Stoke train station and like next to that hotel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's like some, like, I don't know if they're with the school or like through somewhere else, but anyway, there's housing there for that must cater to university students and they could tell, I think that I was like looking like trying to figure out because like, yeah. And they're like, do you need some help? And I was like, Yeah, I'm just I'm trying to starve. So, you know, and, and I like, knew the address luckily of like where I was staying. And so they like walked me over and, and oh my God, yeah, yeah. Three of them. It was really nice honestly. And one of them I think just because I just looked so dead inside, one of them was like, Do you need a hug? Oh, no, it was. And I was like, Yeah, that would be that would be nice. And so, um, yeah, so I was just at that point, like, trying not to cry because I'm like, I'm like, I'm here. I've made it like, and all, all I did, I think was I luckily the one of the outlets in the dorm or yeah, in the dorm had a USB. Um, oh yeah, that's, yeah. So I could charge my phone. And so I like, charge my phone, texted who I needed, like texted everyone that I was there safe and then like, I think just took a shower and went to bed though even blaming I don't blame you after all. A lot, you ask me. Yeah. I mean, the one I will say, the one silver lining if you're trying to like, avoid jetlag, is to just stay awake for 24 hours. And then what if you go to bed at, like, a normal ish time? Yeah. No jetlag at all. Okay. Hmm. Because, yeah, by the time I had, like, gotten where I needed to go, I think it was like seven or 8 p.m.. Yeah. So, like, by the time I went to bed, it was like a normal, normal time. And I think I slept for probably like 12 or 13 hours. Like it was a great recovery. Yeah, there's a whole story that I am never complaining about. Get in the train. Well, have you ever considered, like, studying abroad? I mean, personally, for me, I didn't even look at it. I wouldn't leave Birmingham Stoker, but I think I was gay myself across the channel anyway. No, no, I see why people do. Yeah, it's like a whole. That sounds like convention also. That's going to, like, stick with you. Like, even though the things went wrong, it's made it kind of more memorable. I mean, that's not really the best way to say it, but. Well, it does make for a good story. Like, you know, it's it's definitely something like it's sort of it depends on like like most people are just kind of like, oh, my gosh, that's so crazy. And then, like, I remember telling this story to my partner and he was kind of like, Yeah, you're not in charge of any vacations and holidays. We go on and I'm like, Honestly, that's fine. I will. I will be the passenger princess. I will go. I'm happy to just be like the tagalong like, but, but yeah. And it was it was the first time I that I had traveled by myself. Yeah. And it was like it. And I did make it to my destination. So that counts as a success. Oh, yeah. So, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even though the journey was not a straight line, um, but I will say that like a lot of the, the problems I ran into were, were sort of COVID related. Yeah. And then a few things that were just, you know, like, you know, reading or doing enough research. The, you know, the adapter. So like in terms of obviously you'd be an international student, how did you find it in terms of like settling in and like making friends? How did you find that kind of aspect of it? So it was fairly, was fairly easy because it was I kind of came in during like the welcome week. Yeah, yeah, sort of sort of time. So there was a lot of people at the beginning who were also new, you know, even though they weren't from, they were from just, you know, different parts of the UK or even from Stoke it like it wasn't like we were still all new. So we had kind of that in common. And and then obviously going into a program that's very specialized. Yeah, you have those connections with people who are like studying the same thing you are. And then obviously you have those like connections. Yeah. You know, of, of ceramics and Yeah. So like, like who they're going to kind of become your colleagues in a way. Yeah. Kind of all there for the kind of like that similar shared goal. Yeah. Yeah. And I and I like made friends pretty much immediately with like a couple of people who just, you just kind of have a connection sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Just kind of clicked. Yeah. And I remember there was one, um, one girl who we sort of, we sort of shared like desk space is how it was laid out in the studio was like two desks where it was kind of like your back to back. Yeah. And like shelves and like you shared a shelf sort of between. Yeah. And, and because I was like one of the last people to arrive because everyone had kind of arrived like a week earlier and like chosen desks and everything. So I was sort of just like left with whoever. Yeah. And, and basically she was like, she was like, we're desk mates. And then we were like best friends as friends from that point on. And so, and then, yeah, she unfortunately, after our program ended, she had to move back home. Yeah. So we're just sort of like we said in each other Instagram videos now. I see. I still keep in touch. That's good. But. But yeah. So, but yeah. And then a couple other like really good connections and then just yeah, just everyone was very and I think we had a slightly like I guess not odd not all, it's not the word I'm looking for like compared to previous years. Like I think we had a really good sort of camaraderie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In our group that we had. And so it was really nice to have that where, you know, there really wasn't any drama and like there. Yeah, correlate very that's so that faced but yeah I mean there's a little bit but like I think I recall Yeah was like a tiny bit on the whole like we really test. Yeah we we all really really clicked and I would say probably like 90% of the people that I was doing my course with, I would keep in contact with and Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember like everyone was very conscious of like there was a couple of international students on the, in the course and like around, like holidays, like Christmas time, everyone like, made sure we had somewhere to be and yeah, like organized. But yeah, so that's the key. Yeah. So like, I stay like Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. I stayed at one of the, one of the women who was doing the course with me where I stayed with her and her partner. And so we had like, you know, I had like kind of the the cruise, a British Christmas sort of, you know, like, yeah, we had a lot of Baileys and some of hot chocolate. Oh, yeah, I did. I haven't had it in my coffee at Christmas, Christmas morning. So we know what we were and I had like the, the um, like a Christmas pudding and, and yeah, sort of like the whole, you know, the whole, the whole experience. It was, it was very good. And it definitely helped with like the homesickness. Yeah. Which is something like that I definitely struggled with like, especially holidays are difficult because it's like, you know, you have all the things that you kind of remember and miss. And so like, yeah, holiday times were especially difficult and, and then like I had a very, like I had a big birthday while I was like I had, I was, I turned 30 in the middle of my program. So like that was like a big milestone. And so it was just like, you know, and it's is, it's one of those things that, like, you don't want to wish to not be homesick because you're homesick because you love your family and Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like and it might not even necessarily be like blood related family. It could be friends or, you know, people that have become family to you through choices. And, and so yeah, so it's, it's, it's one of those odd, odd things and I definitely like it's it's gotten easier and like there's less sort of less of those moments where you kind of just feel like sad. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, yeah, like you just you'd have a weekend where you're just like, I'm just going to cry a lot this weekend and, you know, and you just have to kind of kind of go through it and like the technology really makes it a lot easier because you can kind of be like, you know, access talking to people. And you can you can you know, I could text my mom and be like, um, hey, you, you know, we should catch up this weekend or, you know, just kind of that sort of thing. And so we would we did a lot of, you know, video chatting and all of that. And so it definitely made it easier. And like they were able to come out for my graduation. So they flew a flew out. Yeah. So yeah, I, I have mum and dad and my, and a sister and a brother and so my brother had visited just before my birthday and then my sister, my parents came out for my graduation. So that was really good. We just got here, did all the, all the Stoke Classic Stoke Ceramics things we went to, we had tea at Wedgwood and, um, we went to, um, a Bridgewater and a cafe there, a bread and a Bridgewater. So nice. Ever been to. I'd highly recommend. It was so good. It was very good. And then, yeah, we did the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, but we had to like Branch in Hanley and we walked around like Hanley Park, so. Yeah. Yeah. Sort of area. And then yeah, it was. And we stayed. We were staying at the pop bank, which is part of the old Spode factory. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, just the whole, the whole Stoke ceramic heritage experience. Um, but yeah, it was, it was really good and yeah, it was so nice to like, have dinner and the because it was basically, um, I graduated or no, I graduated later, I finished my program in August and then I had applied the job, my job that I have right now, early September. And then I'd gotten the job and basically we had already planned out like my parents coming for my graduation. And it was like, I think like two weeks or something because obviously they're coming from America. So you want to have like a good amount of time. So cool. So they were really good about like letting me have that time, that time off. And, and so it was really, really, really good to just like and again, because like, that work life balance is so good. Like because I was like, Oh, well, you know, I can do that. They're like, you know, like they're on holiday. Don't, don't do anything. And so yeah, so it because like it's it's a hard mentality to shake sometimes like that sort of American like go, go, go. Yeah, yeah. Like you've got to go above and beyond and be available at all times. And like it's, it's just, it is not healthy. Yeah. And like, you know, even some things as simple as like, you know, the maternity leave that is here is insane compared to what it is in the States. And like, I mean the amount of holidays you get off as well. Is it like totally different. Yeah. Yeah. It's about to say like what big differences on like yeah, it's totally different because I think it's like a half, like half the amount of holiday, if not like a third or less, depending on like if you're working full time or part time and what level you are. And, and that's the funny thing is like I knew people who had been at a company for years and they just never took holiday. They had like weeks and weeks of holiday, just like stored up. Yeah, it's like, yeah. And, but it took them like 20 years. Yeah. To have that holiday and like I would be, they're struggling because I'm like and it's not even that I was taking that much time off. It was just like a few things here and there. Yeah, because of the because of the way you, you like accumulate holiday. It's like, it's, it's like per paycheck. You accumulated like a couple of hours of, like paid time off and then so then it was like and I don't know if it's the same everywhere but yeah, if I was working at in the States was like, but like you take it off in eight hour chunks because it's an eight hour workday. Yeah. And so it was just like this never ending cycle of like, like trying to book holiday and being like, okay, if I don't take any holiday between now and then, I'll have enough holiday to, like, take that whole time off. But then you had like to put your two weeks, like you had to put it in two weeks in advance and you're like, okay, well I don't have enough holiday now. Yeah. Oh my God, that's such a hassle. I'm like, my brain just so. And then don't even get me started on health care. Oh, love on a different podcast. One thing I did want to ask was, um, obviously even international students coming to stuff kind of like the area of Stoke on Trent. Did you like know a lot about it or did it kind of like change your mind about why I didn't think it'd be like this more so in a good way? Hopefully, Hopefully so. I, I didn't, I didn't really know anything about like, sort of like I knew generally about the history. Yeah. And but I didn't really know kind of what it would be like. And I remember a lot of people asking like, Oh, have you ever been, you know, to the UK? And I was like, Well, I went to London once like way back in, um, for, for a school trip. Yeah. And, and they, I had a lot of people be like, well it's, it's, it's not like London kind of like, yeah, trying to, like, prepare me and I, I, I mean, I am very much like a small town girl. Like I, I'm not really like a big city person. I just, it just, it's just too much. I feel like. Yeah. And so, honestly, I loved it, like all of the, like green space. And I feel like, I like when you're sort of coming into a place like you notice all of the things like that are different that you really like. Like when you come into a new city, you see all the good parts. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whereas if you've lived somewhere forever, you've, you're like numb to those bits and you just see like the bad part sometimes. Yeah. And so like I came and I was like, there's green everywhere. There's like, you know, and it just had this, like, small town feel. Yeah, yeah. And like, I mean, I love that really. And so, and I know like obviously that there's those parts of Stoke that I may stay away from. Yeah. Or like, you know you avoid certain but that's there's places in every city. Yeah. Where you're like you're like I wouldn't walk down that street. Yeah. At night. Yeah. And like, you know, it just, and I definitely feel like some of that sort of, like the rose colored glasses sort of. Yeah. Slipping a little sometimes and you get like, caught up some in like sort of the local like politics and everything. Yeah. Yeah. But on the whole, like, I still really feel like this is, is it feels like home to me. Yeah. And it's, it's very much like I well, so I'm still living in not like university housing but like pretty much a step up from university housing. And so like, I can't wait to like, get a real like apartment with like, yeah. Or yeah, one room and like so, like that's kind of my current thing. Like I'm looking for like a place to, like, I want my own kitchen, like, and like to have, you know, space to really kind of feel like I'm, like, building a home. Yeah. Like it's your area. Yeah. And so I think because I'm very, like, I'm looking for that and like, so that's exciting. And so it's that whole kind of like, you know, you have that experience again where you're like, I can't wait to, like, have like a real home and like, have the, you know, those experiences and like, you know, I still don't own any furniture. Yeah. Or anything like that. So it's like you want to kind of build, like, build that life. And I feel like I've got kind of like the few steps, you know, I've got a steady income and, you know, I've got a partner. And so, you know, sort of going forward together. Yeah. Looking, you know, looking to kind of kind of build on that. So yeah, I'm still here. Yeah. I mean, I love an underdog city. I went, I went to my undergrad, I went to school in Detroit, Michigan. Yeah. Which if you don't know much about like sort of the politics and the, you know, nuance of the United States, it's very much similar to smoke in a lot of ways because Detroit was the Motor City. And then when the recession hit, all of the auto companies basically either went under or pulled the plug or stopped manufacturing. So it was that whole like industrial city that the industry left. And it was kind of like what it was. Saifullah Factory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, like it was, it was very similar and in a lot of ways and I and I loved, I loved Detroit and there were, you know, I remember telling when I would tell people that that's where I was going to school. And I like all like, oh yeah, like, like you be careful, you know? And, and I mean, again, there was like, definitely parts to stay away from. And like, you know, you didn't want to be walking alone in certain places. Yeah, but like, you know, like I said, it's the same thing for every city. And so, but like, there was a lot of rent, a lot of hidden, like art sort of renaissance that was coming through. And I feel like it's the same thing with with smoke. I mean, they're like especially kind of in the, in the job I am now where I'm connected to a lot of different arts organizations and things like that. Like there's a lot a ton of arts organizations in the city that are like sort of embedded in the culture of, of the city. And that's really, really cool to see. And I think it's something that people don't always realize is there. And yeah, I, I think that there's there's a lot happening kind of beneath the surface. Yeah. People don't don't get a chance to joke don't get a chance to see hmm Would you agree with that too. Well again, like coming back from that point of like coming to Stoke for the first time, that kind of I dunno. I mean, I'm not saying you had a negative perception. I hope not. But like, did it kind of change any of you or. I'm not going to lie. I didn't. I research. I knew nothing about Stoke. My first time come to Stoke was actually my first No, totally. My first day at Stoke was when my mum drove me here to pick up my like ID. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the first time I came here by myself was actually my first day. Oh, wow. And I was. I was so scared. I was like, I not this, but I was just like, because. Because I was traveling. And like, that's one thing I do regret if I'm being completely honest, because we've traveled like the uni, been so close to the train station in my head, it was kind of, I don't need to know too much because I'm actually going to be crossing the road. Yeah, yeah. But now that means like I don't really go out in Stoke, you know? I mean, yeah, yeah. If I go home or I just and to Penumbra which is our on campus pub so I can recommend some pubs in different, you know different towns like it does reflux quite a bit. Yeah. Yeah. But that's a global panel. Yeah. Yeah. Um cool music in there as well. Friend of ours was very much 1896 where I am now as well because we've got reflux. Yeah. No. Yeah. Of the, the like took dancefloor like you know, like their proper like disco dance floor normally to perform on the dance floor. So well they do like they get the stuff up doing dances though. Oh wow. Wow little mini podium you know chicken dance you'll reflex. Sounds way more fun than I do. Yeah. And it, it but but yeah. What was the question? Sorry. I felt just like chain like. Well, like. Yeah. Or did it like. Well. Oh, I wasn't expecting it to be like this in the way I knew it was only a small place. Yeah. At first I was really like, all night. This is quite a they're all like little town. Yeah. See Birmingham's sea bass? Yeah. I was like, Oh, this is quite sweet. Then obviously you hear stories from people who have lived in Stoke for ages, and I'm like, Really? Yeah. You get that. Like everywhere has its bad parts. But no, really like it here. I think it's, I think it's also it's a bit bigger than it's like both, It's like because it is a small town but it is also a lot bigger than it seems as well cause you got like the whole six towns. Six towns. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's, it's really small, but it's got everything you need. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, never been to any of the towns in stone because you've got. Although it's now this is definitely not like Hanley Stoke, Longton and Tunstall and of course, remember the other one. Another one? Well, my boyfriend lives in Fenton. Oh, yeah. Is it Burslem Burslem Burslem? Yeah. Fenton. I was thinking Burslem was tonsils. I wasn't sure. I go Fenton, Stoke Hanley, Newcastle under Lyme. Is that clusters or is that cluster? That's like a Yeah, well, yeah, kind of more of like a I don't really know. I get it. Well it's like basically right next to it. Not to be confused of Newcastle upon Tyne there was no, there is a very there is a lack of jobs like. Right. One who I'm closest to on the call. She was like she was living in Newcastle under Lyme at the time and I was like, Newcastle, Yeah, Newcastle's not that close then like, Yeah, and I'm really bad. So I had no clue, but no. So. STOKES Yeah, Newcastle has gotten out of hand. A lot of people get in Newcastle Town and Newcastle United next, not because Newcastle United is the one obviously upon Tyne and that Newcastle town is on the line. So they've had it before with wide. Just people like by Newcastle Tunnel. Oh. Oh Newcastle United. Yeah. But um. Yeah. Well I go back to the point that Alex made. When you've been in an area for so long, you don't quite know like I do. I do get that sometimes where I don't appreciate. Yeah. For what it is in a way because I've obviously, I've literally lived there my whole life. I don't know. I'm just. Yeah. So particularly now, like kind of like nature stuff and like f like, like kind of, like scenery things as well to say it's pretty funny. Park Yeah, That's why it's like this is the web. Nice And IKEA and Bandstand, the pavilion and yeah, I don't know, I kind of take it for granted sometimes. You should be proud of your folks. Yeah, that's how you are. Over the summer, obviously, I was in BA and I was crazy, and I nearly just got on a train just to get. Just to get in. Okay. Where, where, where would you normally go if you had an okay anywhere in particular knowing there goes squeezebox, But obviously that wouldn't have been opened. Yeah. Yeah. I've gone to the Oatcake place in Hanley and I've gone up to Hanley. Yeah. The closest one isn't it. Oh no, no, no. Well you, you've got you stopped, you really got out of Stoke you know that. You got the one on London Road. I went and I went and out of the way. That was lovely. And also football, which is very close to the campus. It's hard to explain where actually by the terrace, actually by the tires. We're all like they're all like the housing. Are are they good? It's insane. Oh, I'll have to try that. That's really good. And they, they do not they're not just oatcakes. They don't discriminate. They do sandwiches, but they even do like a little breakfast box if you prefer it. Like you name it, they'll do it. And they're really nice as well. They're really nice. So shout whatever, because a lot of them get, get Bron Sorry son, if they didn't want to swap sponsor. Well yeah I think that, that wrap it up would you say. I think so. I think I think I'll start. What's your opinion on. Okay I, I love cakes. It was one of the things that immediately whatever I was like sort of being like what do I do? Like what do I, you know, anything to try. Everyone's like, Oh, cakes. And then everyone had a different opinion on like where it should go to go, Oh, yeah, it's very, it's very topical. And the actual cake that you have because obviously loads different people make. Oh yeah. Very, very political. Oh yeah. I live, I don't know. I live just off of one, just off of London Road and I don't think it's the Oatcake place you're thinking of, but it's the London Road Cafe. Yeah. And they do oatcakes they're are so quite good. And I usually do a sausage and cheese. Sausage. Is that like you'll go to. Yeah. That's my go to with BR. What, what would yours be to cheese and bacon. Cheese and bacon. So I to do the bacon for a while but I don't know something about the sausage and cheese and I just found the sausage, bacon and cheese, cardamom, you know beans like are being on on a cake like I'm heavily against that. I know, I know because it comes out of. Yeah, but yeah. So that wraps up this episode. So thank you to Tiff. Thank you, Dani. And I know I'm not fan myself. I can't I just it feels it really pleased. Again, thank you to Alex for joining us and sharing your experience is sorry not just one experience. It's a pleasure. It's plain on you. My experience of life. Yeah. There you go. 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