My
two week “ski break” vacation was not over yet with the flight out of Reykjavík. I was headed for a 10 day stay in London, one
of the 5 places I’ve at some point called my home. Fun fact: strangely enough, all of the cities
I’ve lived in outside of the States start with the letter “L” (Lille, London,
Lyon).
The
last time I was in London was mid-January of last year, 2012, when I was
finishing up my second semester of studying abroad. That semester was kind of a “why not?” experience;
since I added my degree in philosophy I knew I’d be in school for at least 4.5
years, so to even it off I decided to go abroad again and graduate in 5
years. Choosing London was an easy,
straight-forward decision for me, but only because I’d already been in France
for a semester. This is where I get kind
of judgy of other study abroad students.
For me, studying abroad is about being immersed in a culture completely
different from your own (having to acclimate/struggle to make your way in a new
language and society), so, while France isn’t the most culture shocking country
I could’ve chosen (it was important, however, for my studies, and let’s be
real, Sundays in France are annoying to say the least), I still think choosing
Anglophone countries is kind of a cop-out.
I do, however, give props to everyone who even makes the effort to leave the
States for any amount of time, and yes England is different in its own ways,
but I think people could push themselves a bit further when it comes to
studying abroad. Basically studying
abroad comes down to what you think is most important from such an experience:
partying and not having to work too hard in the same language, or struggling
every day with a new linguistic or cultural situation which is frustrating but in
the end rewarding (or some variation of these).
This is mostly the language/culture geek in me speaking, because I think
such an experience is really important for self-realization and learning more
about the world, but really, if you have the opportunity, take advantage of it!
Okay,
judging done. I really do love the UK,
so now I’ll explain why I chose it. So
since I’d already had my dose of trying to swim my way through the big ocean of
French bureaucracy, I decided to go somewhere I knew I’d just have a really
awesome, relatively easy time. I decided
to take the trip for me, without feeling guilty about not choosing a really
exotic place, because I do, after all, really love British culture. As I said, London was an obvious choice, and
not only because of the fact that they speak English there or because I was
limited to a certain amount of programs because of financial reasons. I’ve also always wanted to see what life is
like in a major world city, either London or Paris (life goal: to live in each
of them at some point). I think one of
the biggest reasons I went to London was the music scene (indie/folk/punk/modern/oldies),
a theme which will show up later on in this post, as well as the fact that I
enjoy a lot of British tv and movies.
For a period in high school and early college I really only listened to
British indie. I can’t really explain
why. It was just always better, and
there was a scene forming around London in which all my favorite groups somehow
had a connection to each other and these bands hardly came stateside. I knew I had to go and experience it for
myself, a place where people knew what bands and tv shows and movies and actors
I was talking about... ah yes, I’d fit right in.
Last
year wasn’t the first time I’d been to London or even the UK (I’d been to
Scotland on a few occasions with friends or to visit friends, and to London
while I was on my first study abroad trip), so my arrival last year was really
not a huge eye-opener. It was nice
arriving in a place that was so familiar already, allowing me to profit from
being a non-tourist right away. I was
also living in very central London (literally 1 minute from Waterloo station
and the South Bank) which was most convenient.
I definitely made the most of my time there; I saw a lot, went to some
plays, went to a lot of concerts, went out a lot, made a lot of awesome friends,
traveled a lot, visited or was visited by a lot of my friends in Europe, learned
some philosophy, and really felt like a local in the end (as you should when
you study abroad!).
Surprisingly
though, I didn’t cry when I left London, unlike the time I left Lille. It was a completely different farewell. By this point in my life I’d already done
what I thought was the impossible: seeing so many different countries and
cities and small towns, visiting my European friends I met in America wherever
they live in Europe, having Americans come visit me, visiting Americans where
they live abroad in Europe, etc.
Basically the world had shrunk for me.
There’s no longer any such thing as “impossible.” This goes hand in hand with my feelings on
traveling: get out there and do it while you can because the “when I’m older”
excuse really turns into “never.” The
world is only as big, scary and daunting as you let it be. Even when I left Lille I thought I’d never
see some people again because I was still in the mindset of “this is a unique,
once in a lifetime chance to be abroad” and “America is way on the other side
of the world!” and I couldn’t foresee my future, of course. This may be true for some people or casual
acquaintances, but having made many international friendships over the past 5
or so years, I know that with a little effort seeing each other again is not
impossible. You really just need to get
your priorities straight. If you don’t
travel now but say you wish you could, yet you do something else, then
obviously you have other priorities. Mine
for example revolve around my friends, family and traveling and I’ve put a lot
of effort into traveling to see friends and family. My lifestyle isn’t impossible, I just have to
make it possible, with the one obvious hindrance being finances of course, making my travels less frequent than I'd like but still existent. So I left London not with a teary, woeful
goodbye, but rather a “see you soon,” knowing I’d be back because it was
important to me.
I was originally going to make this post about my revisit to London, but I think it'd be kind of nice to have a separate post looking back at some of the highlights from my semester because I didn't blog back then:
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| Afternoon Tea at the National Portrait Gallery with a view of Trafalgar Square |
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| Seeing Doctor Faustus at The Globe |
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| Stonehenge |
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| Eating Nando's with the best people. |
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| Camden!! |
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| This Mexican restaurant in Greenwich whose
delicious food always prevented me from making it to the Prime Meridian
at the Observatory on time. (With Marta from Spain/friend from MU) |
Visiting Deanie in Cambridge:
Celebrating THE birthday week of a lifetime with some very dear friends who came from near and far to be there (taking a quick trip to Cambridge to visit Deanie for a Harry Potter themed dinner, sharing my small room with some of my best friends, eating a very posh birthday meal on the OXO Tower garden terrace, some great nights out, visiting the Doctor Who Experience). Deanie (high school friend) from Cambridge. Tom (Marquette/study abroad in Lille friend) from Calais. Sadie (study abroad in Lille friend) from Lyon. And of course, all my great friends in London. =)
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| Managing to house these three in my single-bed room for several nights when we were only allowed one guest. |
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| Surprised with a caterpillar cake! |
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| The Doctor Who Experience!! |
My lovely trip to visit friends in Paris:
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| Alex, me and Georges |
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| Me, Melanie and Courtney |
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| Mes polonaises! Monika and Anna |
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| Winning tickets to see Noel Gallagher for free at BBC Radio Studios (300 pers. theater) |
My fabulous trip to Salzburg to visit my favorite Austrians:
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| Lukas! |
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| One of my favorite pictures I've ever taken |
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| Hanging out in the clouds above Salzburg with Tasha. |
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| Lukas & Andi |
Celebrating Thanksgiving in London with Leslie at Gordon Ramsay restaurant The Narrow:
Then celebrating it with Tom in a little French farmhouse outside of Calais:
Going back to Lille with Tom:
Visiting Sadie in Lyon for her birthday (and seeing some of my first Fete des Lumieres)!!:
And finally, lots and lots of awesome concerts and club nights.
My semester in London was hands down the best semester of my undergraduate studies. I saw old friends, made new friends, traveled a lot (even visited my first home abroad: Lille!), and enjoyed London and England to the fullest. It was the perfect formula for happiness. I honestly don't think there's anything I would've done differently. No regrets. London is a place that holds many precious memories for me and going back this February was a great trip down memory lane as well as a really fun week+ full of new memories and friends.
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