Beccy on Tour - My Semester Abroad in Raleigh, NC, USA

Rebecca Schaden 0:10
Hello, guys, and welcome to my podcast "Beccy On Tour" about my semester abroad in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. My name is Beccy, and I am your reliable source into the exciting world of American college life. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, stay tuned.

Hey, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of "Beccy On Tour". I hope you've had a great week so far. And I hope you found last week's episode as fascinating as I did. There were still so many questions I wanted to ask Dr. Henard. But that would have gone way beyond the scope of this podcast. Something I found especially interesting though, was what he mentioned about US American children, that they are taught from a very young age that they can do everything they want to do. May that be: "Become the next US president" or "Found a new company", nothing is out of reach or impossible. And I have to say, guys, I love that attitude, and how professors, career advisors and peers encourage each other to become the best versions of themselves, as well as work towards the career they know they deserve. And I hope that once I'm back in Europe, I can take at least a little bit of that grand thinking and positive mentality of the US with me, because I firmly believe that everybody is capable of realizing their dreams in the United States and in Europe alike. We just need to work hard, believe in ourselves and keep going even if life gets tough, because as Nietzsche and Dr. Henard alike put it so eloquently, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, or the German equivalent "Was uns nicht umbringt, macht uns stärker!". But as I promised you guys new content and updates about my life here in Raleigh every week. Let's get into it. And don't worry, guys, this episode is not going to be as long as the last one. But interviews are really hard to cut short. And I didn't want you guys to miss anything that my guests said. So I hope you can forgive me for that.

A lot has happened since I've recorded my last podcast episode. For one. As some of you might have already seen, I am now officially a member of the WKNC team which is the student-run, non-commercial radio station of NC State University. So you might have noticed a slight change in my logo. On the top left, you can now see that 88.1 WKNC logo. And on the bottom left side, you can see the name of my podcast, as well as the full name of the radio station. I'm thus proud to announce that this podcast as of this week, is created in collaboration with WKNC Radio. And honestly guys, I sometimes look at my podcast logo, or the WKNC homepage. And I cannot believe how quickly it all happened. I mean, I've only been here for a month. And I feel like this one month has brought me closer to my dream than ever. And I am just really grateful for this opportunity here. And to all of you guys who are listening who might be debating spending a semester or a year abroad. Do it! Because trust me guys, it is worth it. Not just career wise, but also concerning personality growth. But personal and professional growth are not the only things that are highlighted here at NC State. The team spirit and support people are showing their sports teams are like nothing I've ever seen before. Maybe that's because I've never played any team sports. But watching the football game yesterday was definitely an unforgettable experience.

As some of you might have seen on my Instagram channel, the stadium was packed with supporters of the pack. Just a little word game here.

It was a challenge to find unoccupied seats, especially because my friend and me were late because her bus was a no show, which seems to be a common problem here. But even upon waiting for the bus to take us to the stadium, there was a long line and it got worse in front of the entrance of the student section. Carter-Finley Stadium is separated into different

sections, one of which is called student's section. And as we didn't purchase our tickets, but got them for free from the university, that was the section we had to go to. Unfortunately, at the entrance, they had run out of white wristbands, which were used to make sure only students with tickets could enter these sections. We were still able to get in, but it did take some persuasion skills. Also, I've had so much on my mind this past week that I forgot to read the instructions for entering the stadium, saying that you're not allowed to bring a bag. And while they're apparently not so strict with visitors who have paid for their tickets, they're really strict with bringing bags to the student section, so I had to leave it behind at the entrance. Thankfully, I didn't have any valuables in it. Otherwise, I honestly wouldn't have known what to do. But I guess that's a lesson learned for the future to read the instructions because they are here for a reason.

On that note, I remember there was one woman whose job it was to make sure nobody would bring in filled water bottles, empty ones were fine, but I guess they wanted to make sure we're not trying to smuggle in any dangerous or prohibited liquids. And she came up to us and ask us to empty the bottles. And she apologized at least four times for giving us instructions, even though that is literally her job. And I repeatedly told her that she mustn't worry. And that we're not upset. But I think that wasn't the case for everyone. And I wouldn't be surprised if someone gave her a hard time just for doing her job. And, of course, I wasn't thrilled when they made me leave my bag unsupervised at the entrance. But for one I get where they're coming from. And also, the people who work here have not come up with the rules and regulations. So why take it out on them. But I guess not everyone's going to agree with me on that. Sadly, we missed the beginning of the game and the little show they did. But one good thing about being a big group of exchange students is that chances are high that at least someone did a video recording. And so my friend Christy and I didn't completely miss out on the fun. Some friendly advice. If you ever think about watching a football game in summer, drink a lot of water get a hat or a cap to protect you from the sun, put on sunscreen and bring snacks because for one, it was insanely hot, especially because there was no shade to hide from the heat. And second, it was a very long game. If you think that soccer is long think again. Because the football game took three hours in total with little breaks in between, of course, but still, it's long, especially if you stay till the end. That being said, not a lot of people actually stayed till the end. Most of them left after an hour or two, which made sense because at that time, it was pretty obvious that we're going to win. But as we wanted to get the full experience, we stayed till the end. The football game itself, of course was exciting. But what I loved most was the atmosphere. The little show acts presented by the marching band, cheerleaders and other groups, and honestly, how everyone was hyping up the players and encouraging them. Even those of us like me who don't know a bunch about football. Well, I would say I do know the basics now because the girl we met at the game was kind enough to give us some insights. Still, I would say that most people don't primarily watch the games because they love football. But because it's a great way to spend your weekend, meet up with friends, get some food and simply have fun. Therefore, if you visit the United States, I strongly recommend you guys to visit a football game. And if you decide to study in the States, and your university has a football team, definitely visit one of their games, because it's a whole different experience. If you can cheer for your own team. On that note, in case you were wondering, we won. The score was 45 to seven for our Wolfpack. Yes, I am a proud NC State student.

And whilst the football game was definitely a memorable event, last week was pretty crazy. So I still have a bunch of things to tell you guys, starting with the story of how I broke two phones in one week. And some of you asked on Instagram how the heck that happened. Well, here's how. My old phone was already pretty damaged because I couldn't be bothered to get a case or screen protection when I first got it

Very bad idea and not recommended, by the way, but it was still working fine. So I wasn't too worried about it. Until Saturday, last week. My friend Christy and I had decided to take a trip to downtown Raleigh to check out the museums there. And it had been raining pretty heavily. Or, as the British would say, it's "raining cats and dogs". But according to the weather forecast, it was supposed to stop by 1pm, which was when we had planned to head out. Well, if you needed any more evidence that the weather forecasts can not be trusted. Here it is. The weather changed so rapidly from sunshine, to heavy clouds, rain and even thunderstorm that when I got off the bus, I was soaked in seconds. And even though I tried my best to protect my phone from the rain, as it was very sensitive to water, it was impossible to keep it completely dry. Even the insides of my backpack were soaked. And there were little rivers of water running down the streets. If you guys watched the news, you have probably seen news coverages of flooded cities and villages where people have to swim to get to their cars, homes or to the store. Well, that is not what happened. But I do have a vivid imagination. And they did issue flash flood and thunderstorm warnings that day. And I even received a notification by the National Weather Service on my phone, which was pretty crazy. Also, my phone was still working at the time. But due to being exposed to that much water, it warned about the dangers of charging it. And despite my best efforts, that warning did not vanish, until at some point, I wasn't able to charge it anymore. Long story short, I needed a new phone, which I ordered from Rebeelo. I think that's how you pronounce it. It is a company that sells used phones cheaper. And I also ordered a phone case and screen protection class, because I did learn from my mistakes, or at least so I thought. For some reason, the phone and the case and screen protection arrived separately. So the phone was delivered earlier. And as in today's time, one cannot survive without a phone. I decided to use it without the case and screen protection until they were delivered. And I think you already know where I'm going with this story. As if the universe is conspiring against me. I tripped and I dropped it. And now the back of the phone has some visible cracks in it. Thankfully, it is still working. And as soon as I received the case and protection class, I applied it to my phone. But still, it sucks. And now that I'm telling you guys about the story. I remember that when I was in England in 2018. The exact same thing happened to me, I broke my phone, and I had to get a new one. So it seems traveling does not benefit my electric devices.

Moving on, I would like to end this episode on a positive note. When my friend Christie was strolling through downtown, trying to find shelter from the rain. She stopped in front of a shop and a group of people in there was celebrating a baby shower. And because Christy had a bag with the NC State logo on it, they let her in. And they let me join them and even shared food and drinks with us. I was totally surprised by their hospitality, because technically we were strangers. But I think this incident shows once again, what a grand role universities play in people's lives here. A lot of Americans I've talked to here are the second or even third generation in their family who attends NC State. That being said, universities are not just places of education, but they're pretty much involved in every aspect of their students' lives. And they have a place in their hearts, even after graduation. And I think that is beautiful.

And with this hopeful observation, I will end today's episode of "Beccy On Tour". I hope you enjoyed listening and as always, if you have any questions, remarks, recommendations, or constructive criticism, feel free to DM me on Instagram on @beccy_schdn or @beccyontour_.

But for now, have a great rest of the week. And I'll be back next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai