I am so excited to have finally arrived in Birmingham, United kingdom! After a long flight overnight we landed and got on the bus to Birmingham. The first thing I noticed as we traveled through the countryside was the cars driving on the left side of the road and the driver’s seat on the right side. This is a fact I knew about Europe and the UK, but seeing it in person seemed so interesting and made me even more excited to see all the different aspects of this country. As we traveled through the countryside and arrived into the city, my first impression of Birmingham was that it was very busy, active, and a diverse city. I noticed the many different cultures and races in the city that I am very interested in learning about.
After we were dropped off of the bus and we began exploring I soon realized how similar Birmingham is to Pittsburgh. The modern buildings, the history of industry, and the diverse culture are all aspects I see everyday in Pittsburgh that were very recognizable in Birmingham. We had lunch at this very delicious french restaurant called Bistrot Pierre and we sat by the canal, which is shown in a different view above. The canal, I learned, was built to transport steel and other goods to London. This is very similar to Pittsburgh and how they used the rivers to transport steel to other cities in the United States. The steel industry and the working class built both these cities which I find really interesting and I am excited to learn more about their similarities.
Another thing I immediately noticed was how young the city is. Many of the people I passed were late teens and in their 20s and were adventuring throughout the city. Many were dressed up and with large groups of friends. I found this to be very interesting because Birmingham seems to consist of a younger generation that has a large culture of going out, socializing, and exploring the town, even on Sunday. While in the United States people tend to not be as interactive and social with each other on a regular basis.
When we were walking downtown we all stopped and noticed multiple defibrillators with an AED and a phone accessible on the sidewalk. I believe this is extremely helpful to the city and this shows how health is treated more as a human right and is easier to access in Birmingham than the United States. This is something I definitely want to discuss with BCU students and faculty and discover more strategies they use in their city to improve the health and wellbeing of the community.
I am of course looking forward to speaking to the BCU students and being able to compare and discuss our experiences as nursing students and learn new things from them. I am also excited to really get to explore this beautiful city and learn all about their culture, traditions, famous spots, and meet new people. This is my first time out of the country so I am looking forward to being able to travel around and learn all about the United Kingdom these next two weeks!