A month abroad already!!! To be honest, the entire experience is still most surreal. It’s been something of a struggle, to find myself in a place so unfamiliar, and to have such an unpleasant time-difference between myself and my loved ones, but overall the experience is proving quite positive.
I don’t know why I didn’t anticipate the number of stairs in such an old city, but consideration escaped me, and I’m sore pretty much every night by the time I get back to my flat in Camden. My most steadfast friends have proven to be my cane and the kind strangers on the tube who offer me a seat when the car is otherwise full.
Classes are lovely, rest assured. The once-weekly three-hour block schedules is actually one of my favorites, so no complaints there, and the coursework is largely readings (which I’m thoroughly enjoying). Hopefully, the few projects I’ve done thus far have been satisfactory, though I’ve yet to see their results in the gradebooks.
The food’s been divine. I’m largely cooking for myself, and have absolutely fallen in love with British supermarkets. The food is much fresher, and much more diverse. I’ve found better okra here, in the United Kingdom, than I was finding in Florida! Tonight’s menu is a carrot soup with sundried tomato stuffed tortellini, with a nice trifle for desert.
The sights have been pleasant too! A special shoutout to that loveliest of museums, the V&A, where I often find myself after my classes are done for the day. My fondest London memory (as of yet) is likely the day I spent exploring the temporary Pink Floyd exhibit at the V&A. To think I was within inches of the Black Strat!!!
On the subject of sights, I believe I’ll close with a selection of captioned photographs, seeing as the trite expression “a picture’s worth a thousand words” does hold some grain of truth to it.
Buckingham Palace: as spotted from my tour of the city during orientation.
Myself, and my lovely flatmates exploring the city on our first day here.
Some familiar faces at the V&A’s Pink Floyd Exhibit “Their Mortal Remains”
Some cute street art near my home in Camden!
L.