Spending a month in London was amazing.
Downright AMAZING.
I loved it so much, it was such a wonderful experience.
I am a super, super shy person, and leading up to this trip I was freaking out. I’m pretty sure I was even wearing on the nerves of my supremely patient and wonderful mother, who helped me immensely throughout this whole endeavor. My flights over were on both ends of the spectrum. The first one I sat with an adorable little girl who told me about her vacation in Hawaii, and the second one I struggled to get even a wink of sleep as an obnoxiously loud baby cried most of the time. As soon as I arrived I was a bundle of nerves, trying to figure the whole immigration thing out on my own because I was way to quiet to ask for help. When I managed to get through the line and get my luggage and find some USF people, I was so relieved. Jennifer and I managed to find our ways to the dorms without much problem, running into Prof. Stiling on the way. Once I got settled in my room and everything, I knew I would be okay.
Well, kinda. Throughout the trip I got lost numerous times, managed to lose my wallet, and all the wifi troubles made it hard to contact my mom. Plus there was the whole thing where POKEMON GO CAME OUT BUT I ONLY HAD WIFI TO CATCH POKEMON!
But besides those few hiccups, I generally had an amazing time. I saw so many things: Kew gardens, Darwin’s house, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wellcome Collection, The Taming of the Shrew in THE GLOBE, and lots more. I also saw Big Ben, Stonehenge, and King’s Cross. It was so exciting to see all these things that I had only read about, and to see all this exciting art. I’ve seen many art galleries, and I always think they’re such a wonder to walk through. Although honestly, the Lourve was really nice but so, so crowded, I think I liked the V&A museum better. (Don’t kill me, insane art critics. Mona Lisa is nice, but I don’t get the hype. Plus when you hear your whole life she’s smaller than expected your kid brain will expect her to be the size of an envelope. She was bigger than I expected.)
My classes were fun. I’m waaaay more of a biology nerd than an art nerd, sorry! So I really had way more fun in bio class, but seeing the art of London in HUM 1020 was not bad. While I feel that the class was not super organized because all the students planning the excursions were super busy, and rushed, the class was still a lot of fun. Some excursions, like V&A - AFTER the meetup mishap, and the Wellcome Collection were so much more fun than say, some of the walking tours. Especially since I had like ten minutes to grab lunch before those tours and had to tote around my bio work the entire walk. Not as much fun. But overall, I feel like I learned a lot.
I think the most important part of the trip to me was how I started to do things on my own. As I said, I’m super shy, very introverted. Well, kinda introverted. I love people and am super talkative but I have to get to know them and that can take LOTS of time. So I spent a lot of the trip missing my friends and wanting to be home, but I tried to balance that with going out and meeting new people. I think this trip helped me come out of my shell, a lot like leaving for college did. I know my mom thinks so, she keeps telling me how I’m “so different!”
I think this trip was so worth it, and I now have memories to last my lifetime. It was an amazing experience, and I LOVE THE TUBE. Seriously, I love the whole city. When all the Brexit stuff settles down, I need to seriously consider moving there. An American born in Luxembourg living in England.
Downright AMAZING.
I loved it so much, it was such a wonderful experience.
I am a super, super shy person, and leading up to this trip I was freaking out. I’m pretty sure I was even wearing on the nerves of my supremely patient and wonderful mother, who helped me immensely throughout this whole endeavor. My flights over were on both ends of the spectrum. The first one I sat with an adorable little girl who told me about her vacation in Hawaii, and the second one I struggled to get even a wink of sleep as an obnoxiously loud baby cried most of the time. As soon as I arrived I was a bundle of nerves, trying to figure the whole immigration thing out on my own because I was way to quiet to ask for help. When I managed to get through the line and get my luggage and find some USF people, I was so relieved. Jennifer and I managed to find our ways to the dorms without much problem, running into Prof. Stiling on the way. Once I got settled in my room and everything, I knew I would be okay.
Well, kinda. Throughout the trip I got lost numerous times, managed to lose my wallet, and all the wifi troubles made it hard to contact my mom. Plus there was the whole thing where POKEMON GO CAME OUT BUT I ONLY HAD WIFI TO CATCH POKEMON!
But besides those few hiccups, I generally had an amazing time. I saw so many things: Kew gardens, Darwin’s house, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wellcome Collection, The Taming of the Shrew in THE GLOBE, and lots more. I also saw Big Ben, Stonehenge, and King’s Cross. It was so exciting to see all these things that I had only read about, and to see all this exciting art. I’ve seen many art galleries, and I always think they’re such a wonder to walk through. Although honestly, the Lourve was really nice but so, so crowded, I think I liked the V&A museum better. (Don’t kill me, insane art critics. Mona Lisa is nice, but I don’t get the hype. Plus when you hear your whole life she’s smaller than expected your kid brain will expect her to be the size of an envelope. She was bigger than I expected.)
My classes were fun. I’m waaaay more of a biology nerd than an art nerd, sorry! So I really had way more fun in bio class, but seeing the art of London in HUM 1020 was not bad. While I feel that the class was not super organized because all the students planning the excursions were super busy, and rushed, the class was still a lot of fun. Some excursions, like V&A - AFTER the meetup mishap, and the Wellcome Collection were so much more fun than say, some of the walking tours. Especially since I had like ten minutes to grab lunch before those tours and had to tote around my bio work the entire walk. Not as much fun. But overall, I feel like I learned a lot.
I think the most important part of the trip to me was how I started to do things on my own. As I said, I’m super shy, very introverted. Well, kinda introverted. I love people and am super talkative but I have to get to know them and that can take LOTS of time. So I spent a lot of the trip missing my friends and wanting to be home, but I tried to balance that with going out and meeting new people. I think this trip helped me come out of my shell, a lot like leaving for college did. I know my mom thinks so, she keeps telling me how I’m “so different!”
I think this trip was so worth it, and I now have memories to last my lifetime. It was an amazing experience, and I LOVE THE TUBE. Seriously, I love the whole city. When all the Brexit stuff settles down, I need to seriously consider moving there. An American born in Luxembourg living in England.