Over the course of my time here in London, I have experienced so many different things. One of the most important things I have discovered is the cultural experience curve. I have really loved living in London so far but there are many things that have taken a while to get used to. For example, when at Rollins I can easily get to class within 5 minutes. When I am at home, I can easily jump in my car and get to the places I need to within a few minutes. Here in London, it takes a really long time to get anywhere. I cannot just walk over to class within a few minutes. It takes me 40 minutes to get to class and work everyday. This takes a lot more time out of my day than I am used to which has been hard to get used to. I now really enjoy the commute and I have to understand that is just how London works and everyone does this. The other thing that is hard to get used to is the workplace culture. The workplace culture is different from the workplace culture in the United States. Many people are a lot less direct with what they want in the U.K. For example, they often will tell us to do things “if we have time” or “if it is okay with us” but that really means that they need us to do it. This idea is very different from what I am used to in the United States because bosses will often just tell you to do something and give you a specific time when you need to be done with it. This is something that has taken a lot to get used to but once I understood what was actually being asked from me it was easy to understand. Overall, the cultural curve is something that I have really experienced in London. It has definitely been an adjustment but I know that it is a part of the learning curve.
