Why am I here?

Studying in England is pretty much like studying in America. I never had to learn a new language to understand what was going on. I didn't stick out like a sore thumb until I opened my mouth to speak. The article "American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'" is written by a student who was transplanted into a vastly different culture and way of life. I, on the other hand, had to adjust to only a new timezone. (Granted, there were a few differences such as slang and Lancaster University did things differently in way of education than Allegheny.) With that said, it is a bit difficult to answer the prompt. So I am hoping to modify it a bit to fit my experiences. I have decided I shall tell a story about my flatmates.

I suffer from migraines. I have since I was a small child. In eleventh grade I had to start everyday medication for them as I had a severe migraine for three months straight. We discovered that the migraines and a few other issues I have stem from a hypersensitive nervous system. That basically means changes in temperature, barometric pressure, stress levels, and sleep/schedule patterns can cause me to get a migraine. Today I have things pretty much under control, as long as I try to stick to a schedule. One of the times I wound up having a migraine was one afternoon. I do the same thing each time I get a migraine, I take my meds, stick my head under a pillow, and sleep it off. I'm almost asleep when I hear one of my flatmates start blasting dance music. At like 3 in the afternoon. I hoped that it would get turned down a bit. I also hoped I could just block it out with a pillow. Nope. It just seemed to get louder. I actually had to get up, still in my migraine stupor, and knock on his door. I asked him if he could turn it down, to which he replied "Sorry, I was just trying to annoy (insert flatmate next door's name)." Now, you must be wondering what this has to do with the prompt. I'm about to tell you. Cut to a month after that. The day before the time I am about to describe, I had gone to Liverpool with two friends. We got back late that night (a Saturday). So my schedule was slightly off, as I went to bed about an hour and a half after what I would normally. To adjust for that, I was planning on sleeping in. Being a Sunday, I figured that would not be a problem. I wake up a one point  to music BLARING down the hall. Honestly, I never heard this loud of music being played at any point in a dormitory in my nearly three years of college up to that day. I think to myself, it's probably like one in the afternoon. I glance at my phone. It was SEVEN FREAKING THIRTY on a Sunday morning. Why on earth was club music playing at such an hour?!?!?! Well, like the time where I had a migraine, I had to stumble over and knock on my flatmate's door. This time in my pajamas. My flatmate opened his door and I see he has at least six people in his tiny room and they're all dressed for the club. I politely ask him to turn it off and he looked shocked that I would request such a thing. It was clear to me that they were still awake from going out the previous night. This experience caused me to think about things at Lancaster compared to things at Allegheny:

1. The first thing it made me consider (at a more reasonable time, after several more hours of sleep) was the difference in going out/partying at Allegheny compared to Lancaster. One of the biggest differences is the fact that in the UK, and much of Europe, people are legally allowed to drink at 18, meaning first year uni students are able to purchase and consume alcohol. In America, the drinking age is 21, which means college students cannot (legally) drink until around their third year of school. This completely changes partying. At Lancaster, there are nine bars on campus. Plus two stores that sell alcohol. So people start drinking on campus and by midnight they move onto the clubs, which don't close until six or seven in the morning. One could party every night of the week. At Allegheny, the people who go out to the (off-campus) bars are usually of legal drinking age. And most bars close by two or three in the morning. 
2. Another thing I began to muse about is the difference between one's first year at Allegheny compared to a first year at Lancaster. At Lancaster, the first year is basically a blow off year. One could essentially muck about, party every night, never go to lecture, and it means absolutely nothing. This never would fly at Allegheny. I had to study, study, study since my first year. I never really 'partied'.
3. All of my flatmates were first years. They could drink and party every night and then sleep until four in the afternoon. I, however, being caught between second and third year (in the eyes of Lancaster as they only go for three years), couldn't do what they did. (Which isn't something I would want to do anyway.) I felt like a grandma because of my need for consistent schedule and scholastic-goody-two-shoes nature.

After thinking of these things, I began to appreciate the differences. Sure it was kind of awful to be rudely awoken early on a Sunday morning by screeching club music. But was I learning what life was like for natives of my host country. The author of "American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'" write about how she was unable to fully immerse in her host country because of one specific detail. For her, that was the fact that she was treated as an honored guest over a family member. For me, it was that I was unable (medically and personality-wise) to party the same way as my English colleagues. I know it is a slightly odd comparison, but as I said earlier, I was still in a predominately white, English-speaking country not unlike my home country.