So, due to overwhelming public demand (i.e. more than one person asking whether I’ll write up my UK trip), and the runaway success of the 2016 global phenomenon the Turkey Diaries series, AND the fact the blog still gets daily hits, I thought I’d indeed do a (word-light, photo-heavy) write up on my staff exchange work trip to the UK this spring and summer.
I had several reasons for my trip. For professional reasons, spending proper time in a fully English-speaking context after a break of several years, especially as I’m teaching a UK society course next academic year, and also seeing about possibilities of future co-operation between my uni and my host, Sheffield Hallam University was of interest to me. On a personal level, I also wanted to do several things in the UK (some examples below and, teaser, in future posts).
In my attempt to avoid flying I chose to travel to the UK via land (and one ferry crossing). This slow travel mode is obviously, well, slow, but has the benefit of allowing stop-overs in interesting places. As a literature nerd, I for example got to see the Buddenbrookhaus in Lubeck (I love Thomas Mann), as a football fan I was excited to catch my favorite Bundesliga team play (Heja BVB!), and as an art enthusiast was extremely happy to visit the exquisite Old Masters museum in Brussels (go Pieter Brueghel!) before even setting foot in the UK.
Once in the UK, I had a brief stop in London with enough time to catch the main art museums (some famous examples below, including The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance exhibition).
And I was happy to catch Shakespeare’s The Midsummer Night’s Dream in the reconstructed Globe. Excellent performance, with the last-minute backup actor acting as Nick Bottom holding the script in her hands while acting stealing the show. A lovely, different theater experience watching the play in an outdoor setting, standing, with a drink in hand. Highly recommended.
I then had a couple weeks in Sheffield as a guest of Sheffield Hallam University and their English teaching unit TESOL. I really enjoyed my time in Sheffield Hallam and all the people I met were super nice. I had good discussions with a lot of the staff on teaching practices in the UK and the culture in general, observed a class, presented my related current research project on sustainable and inclusive teaching (teaser: more to come in the sequel to this post), and discussed future co-operation as planned; hopefully more of that will happen in the near future.
Below just a couple of pictures of Sheffield. SHU is one of the biggest universities in the UK and as such, has extensive campus areas throughout the city. I was mostly in the very vibrant city campus. I was also a little awestruck to visit the legendary The Foundry climbing gym.
Overall, I found this South Yorkshire city quite interesting: It’s about the same size as Helsinki but, maybe because it’s not a capital city, it has kind of a smaller feel to it. It also has some interesting contrasts: Its history is very industrial, which is evident in the city even today, but it is also one of the greenest cities in Europe and the wonderful Peak District National Park is part of the city.
I managed to also tick off the bucket list a longstanding dream of watching my favorite team play live. I still remember like yesterday falling in love with the team as a 9-year old little football nut. I hope to some day share this experience with extremeresearcher jr as it just so happens to be his favorite team, too 🙂
A major draw in choosing to do my staff exchange period specifically in Sheffield is its gateway position to the Peak District National Park. “The Peak” is legendary as a climbing area, and popular overall with tourists, hikers, and outdoor people in general, and I loved the area. Below a pic from Mr Rochester’s house from Jane Eyre (did I mention I’m a literature nerd), from a climbing date with a Glaswegian visitor to the area, and just a general landscape from along the Great Ridge route.
So, that’s the first segment of the trip report! I’m now in the UK but don’t yet have a set return date, other than that it will be within a month. I’ll see about getting a ferry over to the mainland, or possibly the Eurostar again, and I’ll then meet up with my family in the Alps. But before that, the Scottish highlands call for the next couple of weeks! So, I’m off to the hills, and then a conference in Aberdeen, so a sequel blog post is coming as promised!
Featured image: Trafalgar Square, just outside the National Gallery.
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