Even though on paper England and the United States are similar, after spending four months here I can tell you that they are completely different. Only in America can I open my mouth and start talking and everyone listens — that part is true, the English accent does work wonders this side of the pond.

I love to travel. I’ve already been to New Zealand, Australia, Japan and then a bunch of countries in Europe. The chance to live in America was something I couldn’t turn down. I had never been to America, which made my decision to come a lot easier. But there are two very annoying parts of being in America.

First is everyone imitates my voice. The accent impersonation is awkward because everyone does the same tone, essentially Ross from Friends when he becomes a professor. In my 19 years of living, I have never met someone with that accent, at least not until I came to America.

The other irritating thing is that everyone thinks I live in London, which I do not. In England, there is a big stereotype that Americans think that London is the only city in England, and it rings true. When I correct them on where I am from, it is always followed with the question, “How far away from London is it?”

Only once someone knew where I lived, and that was because their dad was from a city an hour away from me.

But along with English misconceptions, the worst part of living in America is that I have to call it soccer rather than football. This is always very frustrating because I have had to correct and clarify myself on many occasions. If I am having a conversation and say “football,” it turns into me always having to explain if I am talking about the sport that kicks the ball around on a field or the sport that requires no feet, but rather hands to throw the American football around.

Although I have had some experiences in which it was not entirely pleasant, as a whole I would say I’ve had a fantastic time living in America.

I love saying things that no one understands and having the ability to watch some form of sporting event every day, which is something America has definitely done right. Since coming to the United States, I have become a Mets fan, which combined with being a Jets fan is possibly the worst combination of New York teams to follow. But I embrace it proudly.

Nothing could compare than going to New England’s Great State fair and fall staple: The Big E, also known as the Eastern State Exposition. When I was offered a chance to go, I simply couldn’t turn down the opportunity. I didn’t know what to expect, as all I had been told was that it was a huge fair.

I most certainly was not disappointed. I have never seen so much fried food in one place. There was fried everything: Pop Tarts, Snickers, Kool-Aid and even banana and Nutella sandwiches. By far, the best thing I will ever eat is definitely deep-fried Wisconsin cheddar cheese. It was quintessentially American and I loved every minute of it.

Overall, I am very happy that I decided to come to America and do a study abroad year because it has helped me grow as a person and has made me a lot more independent. By the time I go home, I will have been on four planes by myself and survived in a foreign land by myself for eight months.

America is nothing and everything I expected it to be; I can confidently say I enjoyed this experience entirely.