Mate, What Did I Get Myself Into?
February 12, 2018
I have now been in London, England on the CIEE Open Campus Multi-destination program for a few weeks and have encountered a roller coaster of emotions. From crying on the first night to not being able to imagine leaving, this trip will undoubtedly change me as a person.
NO TIME TO BE KNACKERED
Studying abroad ≠ slacking abroad. This experience is a test of making the most of your days while also allocating time for homework, sleeping, eating and doing laundry. (Weekend travels require even more preparation!
Four days a week I walk through the bustling streets of the big city for about 25 minutes to the CIEE school and every time, the city takes my breath away.
Students are trusted to navigate through the city, and we’re pushed out of our comfort zone. Each class has a few excursions to enhance the course by including the culture’s relativity. London supports the idea of “reading for your degree.” My ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘Mass Media in Europe’ classes are discussion based and debates are encouraged.
PUTTING ON MY BIG BOY TROUSERS
My student dorm-like apartment has 2 twin beds in a long and narrow room, 2 desks, a mini fridge and a stove top (that was incredibly tricky to turn on). There is a little bathroom with 2 buttons to flush the toilet, which I have been flushing incorrectly for 3 weeks (if you’d like to know, the bigger button means half flush and the small button means full flush). My first shopping trip I did not buy anything because I was stubborn and angry that I did not recognize anything (I was close-minded). Even the chocolate carried (which, by now, I have eaten way too much of) was Cadbury, and not my beloved Hershey’s!
Some of the differences that I have quickly noticed are…
Light switches are up to turn off and down to turn on
Football is not football! Football in other countries is where they kick the ball with their foot (so it’s soccer but don’t say that)
24 hour military time is used (Subtract 12)
£1 and £2s are in coin form
People drive on the left side of the road, and they speed up when people are crossing the road
Bags at the grocery store come with a charge
Smoking is common despite the scary packaging
Tap water is not always free
Garbage cans are few and far between
The “1st floor” is really the 2nd floor, which is above the ground floor
And lastly… Americans can be loud
COLD WEATHER, COLDER PEOPLE?
People are expected to be cold and rushed but I was shocked at the kindness shown to me. When people have the time to talk, they are quite pleasant! Topics usually drift to politics and the occasional mock of the accent (who knew I had one?!) The quiet mornings and busy streets give me time to get lost in my thoughts, appreciate this opportunity and gawk at the scenery as I walk through the city. The art-itecture is amazing!