It’s almost impossible to recall my first few weeks here in London. Those were the days when I didn’t know the Piccadilly line from the District, the 94 bus from the 237. That was back when I called it a trash can and not a bin, the bathroom and not the toilet. Looking back to those first few weeks, I have never felt more like a Londoner now.
Falling into a rhythm of catching two trains and walking 10 minutes to class every day wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. Coming from Rollins where it took 5 minutes to walk from my dorm to one of the cafe’s to my classroom, it was definitely different. Now, I could do it in my sleep. Meeting our professors, one of whom calls my class “America” collectively, I realized we were in for a whole different style of learning. In these classes, we barely spend any time in the classroom. Learning is done on a street corner in the East End or under the looming presence that is the Houses of Parliament. One of my classes consists of watching a movie in every class and then discussing it. How lucky can one guy get?
In my first week few weeks, I got incredibly sick. For about 2 and a half weeks, it was all I could do to get a shower, throw on some clothes and drag myself to class. In the Bahamas, where I was born and raised, a cold or flu would dry up within days, what with the heat and my mother’s loving care. However, here in London, where it hovered around 0 every day (mid-thirties in Fahrenheit), I just couldn’t get better. There’s not much worse than being sick in a foreign land, but I persevered. I haven’t had a sniffle since so I think it’s safe to say I’ve been effectively immunized to the scourging plagues of London.
A common phrase among us exchange students was “I can’t believe I’m in London right now.” It took ages for that to wear off but still, there were so many things that are different here, and so many things that are the same. It feels like a dream, a parallel world. Thinking back, it was pretty hard to believe.