I have survived my first week as a Londoner, & can say that within this short time I have already learned a lot. As I start to form a routine & discover where my place is within my study abroad program & the city of London itself, it becomes more & more apparent that I have no idea where my place actually is. Which is fine, because during this trip I don’t want to limit myself from the many experiences that could pop up!
Something that I knew would be a common sight in the city, & was very much looking forward to seeing in person, are buskers. From Ed Sheeran to Tracy Chapman, many of today’s well known artists began as buskers. As a music enthusiast, I love walking through Tube stations or down busy streets & seeing talented artists share their skills.
When strolling through Bermondsey on Sunday, a lovely busker had asked my friends & I to hang around as audience. Jokingly, I asked him if he was going to play Ed. I didn’t even need to mention Ed Sheeran’s full name & he knew exactly who I was referring to. He played two of my favorite Ed songs in succession just for me. 🙂
A lovely busker in Bermondsey! He serenaded me with Thinking Out Loud & Photograph. He’s the next Ed Sheeran, look out for him on BBC Radio 1!
Aside from the music in London, another thing that I know for certain is I am one of those people who actually enjoy museums, unlike my mum who says she just can’t appreciate them no matter how hard she tries. London is a wonderful city for me to be in, considering that all museums are free!
I had the amazing opportunity to enjoy Afternoon Tea at the British Museum with some lovely gals from my program. I felt quite posh & proper, which was a nice change to my futile attempts at making oatmeal in a microwave with my roomie.
Tea & some sweets on a Friday afternoon.
Up until this point, the majority of my time has been spent with my roommate & the girls across the hall. They’re wonderful & I enjoy their company, but I’ve also noted that it’s important to make like a tree (& leaf! That was especially for you, Mel. 🙂 ) & spread my roots everywhere. Hopefully that will encourage a well-rounded experience during my stay in London! See below for an example.
Celebrating #Chuseok & Korean Culture @ The British Museum!
None of my roomies had signed up for Afternoon Tea (which was later resolved,) which meant I had to forge my own way. The evening ended up wonderful, as I spent it with two gals from my program that I hadn’t hung out with before, experiencing a culture I had little knowledge of. Although far from expected, it was a lovely time & had I not gone out of my comfort zone (the people I’d become familiar with) I wouldn’t have had the adventure that I did. Don’t be afraid to branch out! You do not have to spend all of your time with the same people; in fact, I hope you don’t! I love my roomies & I believe that they are becoming life long friends. Because I can foresee a a lifetime of amazing memories with them, I feel fine spending some of my time forging new friendships & experiences with other people.
Avocado & Bacon burger with a side of crispy fries @ BRGR CO in Soho.
One of my many goals during this trip is to find & support as many local or mom & pop businesses to experience London through the eyes of a local. Like I would back in California, if a tourist or visitor asked me where to go for coffee, rather than directing them to the nearest Starbucks, I’d send them off to Insight Coffee Roasters. When I return to London someday, I will be so glad that I curated a list of local staples to come back too. 🙂
Some of my roommates who weren’t able to go for the Afternoon Tea with the program wanted to have our own tea experience. We found this quaint little patisserie in Birmingham called Patisserie Valerie that offers an Afternoon Tea for Two. Although not as upscale as the tea I had at the British Museum, it was still a pleasant experience, most likely because I was with lovely company!
I am quite smitten with the buildings here in London.
It’s only been a week yet it feels like I’ve lived in London for ages. Every day is a new & exciting adventure. I can’t wait to share more of my escapades with you!
Today marks my fifth official day in London & I’d like to say that I have adjusted quite well so far. I haven’t yet had a breakdown & don’t even cry when I ring up my mum & dad. That in itself is an indication of the growth I’m already experiencing. Had you told me a year ago that I’d be in London, living independently & immersing myself in the culture, I would have never believed it.
The city is extremely beautiful from the very little of it I have seen so far, & I’m beyond excited to explore more.
The Tower Bridge
Up to the present, London life has been beyond mundane. I’ve gone to Waitrose to get some groceries, successfully rode the Tube (with transfers!), went to Tiger (almost like a Faux Ikea), & have walked up & down Kings Road, a very posh street in Chelsea which is just outside my door. Aside from the obligatory sight seeing, my roommate & I still struggle with our microwave (why don’t they have keypads to punch in your own time?) & we’ve managed to shut off our fridge, which we only discovered when we tried to pour some milk for our tea.
Doing adult things are proving difficult, but I know that it all adds to the experience. Years down the road my roommate & I will look back & laugh at how silly it all is.
On the topic of roommates, my roomie & I have bonded well with the girls across the hall & it’s comforting to know I have a group of girls to share this experience with. One of the concerns that was looming over me leading up to the trip was whether or not I’d get on with my roommate or others around me.
I’d say I lucked out with these lovely gals & cannot wait to experience London with them.
Photo with the gals in front of the Tower Bridge, taken by one of our advisors!
Here’s to many adventures in London on my own & with friends!
As I write this post, I am currently sitting at my local Starbucks where the baristas know me by name, familiarity & comfort at its finest. I currently am in this limbo where I am excited for my trip but also in great fear of the changes about to come. And although my emotions are not even near stable, I thought it would be necessary to discuss my feelings & expectations for the city I am about to live in.
I haven’t even left yet & already I miss everything familiar to me. This trip is the flagship moment in my life where I am going to experience independence in full-force. My dad won’t be with me to help with my luggage, my mom won’t be behind my shoulder reminding me to eat, & as trivial as those things sound, being accustomed to having my parents around to suddenly having to be self-sufficient, is a bit jarring. After all, I will be in a new city where everything is foreign, & that alone is more change I have experienced in my lifetime.
I have lusted after & loved the city of London for many years, watching movies & reading books pretending that I am there as well. One of my biggest fears about studying abroad in London is that I have built up my expectations so far & high, that once I arrive I may realize that everything I believed & dreamed of is not true.
Now, I am sure I am exaggerating & I will have a lovely time. But just so I can see how these feelings & expectations compare at the end of my trip, here is a list of ten things I hope to experience:
I really hope I can live through what my mother calls “four weathers in a day” that she claims London is notorious for.
With that said, I hope it rains a lot & I don’t get sick of it. I adore the rain & have packed boots & a nice coat in preparation & would like to see if I like rain in theory, or if I can really live in it.
I hope I don’t experience London & my other travels through my phone screen. Although having pictures are nice, those won’t compare to the experience of living in that exact moment.
I hope I get comfortable enough with the city that other people will think to ask me for directions!
Make at least one friend that is a London native. Try to establish a friendship that will last even when I come back stateside.
Go exploring by myself at least once a week. Become comfortable & confident in traveling alone.
Go to at least one concert or show.
Try one food item that scares me.
Become sufficient in riding the Tube.
See the Queen. (It’s a long shot, but hey, here’s to hoping!)
Will I accomplish everything on this list? Maybe, maybe not. But by the end of this trip, I hope to have gained a broader perspective about the world around me, & about myself as a person. I’ll check this list again once I have come home & reflect on how my feelings have changed & what expectations have been met!
Music is such a powerful medium; it can elicit feelings, retrieve memories, & even bestow some inspiration.
Going to London is by far the most exciting & fear-inducing endeavor thus far in my life, & with such emotions, I figure that music is the best way to articulate how I feel.
Below is my Pre-Departure playlist, London Calling, with songs that chronicle the feelings I currently have in the months leading up to my trip. I will most likely add to it as more songs impact me & hope that you will enjoy it, if you are a study abroad student or traveler alike.
Look forward to future playlists: Walking Down Piccadilly Circle // In London & London’s Goodbyes // Coming Home
Just last week I was messaging my sister that I was thinking about applying for the study abroad program & now I am going to London. I am going to live in London. It still has not fully sunk in that in the Fall of this year I will be on a plane flying to the one city I have lusted over for so many years.
Excitement is an understatement for the emotions I currently harbor, however, there is that minuscule bit of anxiety that lingers.
I have lived at home with my parents my whole life, which, if I am being honest, has not conditioned me for this experience. I don’t know how to be on my own & that scares me. But with the fears, I know how wonderful of an adventure this will be.
I am sure that I will get lost trying to figure out how to ride the Tube, forget that Dollars & Pounds are not equivalent, & will probably get criticized a few times for calling “chips” by the term “french fries.”
I’ll never know how to be alone until I finally go out there & do it. I will probably cry at the airport, on the plane, the first night, maybe even the first week, probably every time I speak to my parents, but it will be a testament of my growth as a person.
If you had told me one year ago that I would be living in London rather than just dreaming about it, I’d laugh out loud. Never could I have imagined that someone like me, dependent, anxious, timid, would ever do such a grand thing as studying abroad.
I am afraid, but more than anything, I am ready for this period of growth.
“A goal should scare you a little, and excite you a lot.”
Just last week I was messaging my sister that I was thinking about applying for the study abroad program & now I am going to London. I am going to live in London. It still has not fully sunk in that in the Fall of this year I will be on a plane flying to the one city I have lusted over for so many years.