A month later
I am about a month into my study abroad experience and that has allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my experience so far. Coming to London has given me so many more opportunities that I would have been able to receive doing a regular semester in Columbia. I believe I’m in the comfort stage now. It feels familiar. I go to work. The tube is not daunting. I’m able to find my way around and know what drink to order at a pub. I’m trying to branch out to meet people when I can.
Last week, there was a bit of upset when my travel card and my phone were stolen. Initially, I was pretty heartbroken. It wasn’t the money or the phone (it was only £5). However, I did lose the numbers of some of the people who I had met here. And we weren’t facebook friends yet, so there’s little way to recover those numbers again. However, I’ve moved past the experience and learned from it. Being a smart traveller is good all the time, not just when you are travelling to another country. This skill will help me a lot when I’m going to Italy over spring break.
I’ve gone clubbing. How many people can say they went to a foam party? After this Friday night, I can now say that I experienced that. Would I return? Probably not. After getting soaked in the night club, we then had to return home while we were all wet. Not the most comfortable return, but I took the night bus and got home safely… with my phone and travelcard.
Soaked post-foam
I’ve shopped. This was the weekend of markets as well. There are so many! In Lawrence or Columbia, markets like this might happen once a month or you’d have to go to specialized antique malls to find treasures. Here, all of the cheap treasures are open 7 days a week… and very busy on weekends. I found some really funky rings and other jewelery items. I wanted to buy a lot of items, but I am constantly reminded of my budget as well as the fact that it all has to come back with me in two suitcases.
We checked out the Camden Market, which is an area known to be full of Goths. We heard a club with music blaring, which was quite intriguing. We walked inside where there was a dancing girl and they were sporting neon, space-age outfits. After continuing through the store, we kept seeing ridiculous clubbing outfits. I’m not sure what clubs these people are going to, but I’ve never seen such outfits outside of a Disney movie set on a different planet.
On Sunday, The Up Sunday Market and Spitafields are the markets to attend. They are within walking distance to one another. At Up Sunday we tried some delicious Moroccan food (you could have tried anything really. The Ethiopian food looked good as well)… Then we headed for a chocolate brownie at Spitafields. Sometimes I feel like I am eating my way through London. We saw some really fashionable items. I did splurge to buy a top shop dress for £2.50. I’m not quite sure where those dresses come from, but I can’t pass up a dress for under a fiver.
I’m getting ready for a couple of trips. The first is this weekend to Wales. It’s an all-inclusive stay at a five-star high adventure resort. I’m going coasteering and kayaking in a winter wet suit. The trips to cities such as Amsterdam and Edinburgh are great, but cities are similar to one another. I’m ready for something completely different. It’s a seven hour coach to get there, but once I am hitting the ice cold water and jumping off cliffs, it will be worth it. We also booked our Spring Break trip in two weeks. What a price! We are going to hit Athens, Rome, Florence and Venice. It will be a very full week, but there is no better time to do it. We have ten days and I’ve never been to any of these places. A couple of the other students are going to Morocco. So, this was a long entry, but a lot of thoughts have been ruminating lately. I want to do London to the max because I’m not quite sure when I’ll be back again. I love it here and could see myself living in the international capital (of the world) some day. That’s the excitement about travel though. Each city is more spectacular than the next. While I still love London the best out of all the trips that I’ve taken, there seems like a possibility just to stay. It’s inspiring. However, even while I feel like I could stay and work here, I know in the back of my mind that it just might not happen thus reminding me that I need to make every experience count.