I Loved Living in London and I Didn't Want to Leave!

By Sarah Kelley

I studied abroad in London, England for 3 months during the summer of 2010. It was the best 3 months of my life.

Before you go:

While you’re packing, don’t forget to pack a few jackets. In May, it’s still pretty cold in London and you don’t want to be stuck cold, like I was. But once June begins, the heat wave begins as well. Keep in mind that there’s a ton of good shopping on Oxford Street, a street away from the study centre, and at all of the markets around London have clothes you’ll want to buy too: Camden and Portabello Markets were my favorites. Pack clothes you’re comfortable in and prepare for every kind of weather possible. Don’t over pack, you’ll regret it when you have to return to the USA and can’t fit all of your new purchases in your suitcase. Don't forget converters! The previous students will leave straighteners, blow dryers, etc, that fit into the sockets there, so don't worry about those! We all bought little go-phones to keep in contact with each other while in London and used Skype, email and Facebook predominately when talking to parents or friends back in the USA. 

Once you get there:

Don’t be nervous about meeting people, at the introductory meetings and outings you’ll slowly get to know all of the people in your program and other programs. I’m still close with so many people that I studied abroad with; I never expected to find so many lifelong friends. Two years later, we still plan reunions every few months and keep each other updated with our undergraduate and post graduate lives. We went everywhere as groups, and the locals at restaurants, shows, and other places were friendly to us when we reached out to them.

During the first few days in London, a few of us explored.
This was our first venture to Big Ben.

A Typical Day:

I had classes three to four days a week, usually a class a day, which provided me with free time to explore London. Whether it was taking the tube to another side of town to explore a market, or riding around the bus to see all parts of London, there is never a moment where the culture won’t be everywhere. As far as the sites and locations I liked to go to, my favorites that you cannot miss while you’re over there are: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower and London Bridges, Camden Market, the Prime Meridian and Covet Gardens.

There are tons of museums for people with all interests, the majority of the museums I went to were during my classes. With such a big city, there are always new events going on. When I was there, there was the “Elephant Parade,” which had over 200 painted elephants around town to help promote how elephants need our help in order to save the species. I watched a red carpet event for the premiere of the second “Sex and the City” movie, and went to a popular Broadway play at least once a week (they have great student discounts). The best part about studying abroad in London is that there is so much culture and so much to learn from the city itself; therefore, my classes were all taught in different locations daily incorporating the culture of the city into our curriculum.

In front of the theatre before seeing the show "Hair" - it was our favorite show.
(I saw it 3 times while over there and again in the states)

Excursions and Daytrips:

While you may not “feel” like getting up to go on a daytrip or weekend excursion, do it anyways. Some of the best trips were ones planned by the GC’s (graduate counselors, like an RA). On my first session weekend trip we went to Wales, a green countryside with beautiful castles, beaches and mountains. Second session we ventured over to Cornwall, Bath and Stonehenge. We learned how to surf in Cornwall, visited the ancient Roman Baths in Bath and saw the famous Stonehenge rocks on our way back to the study centre. Everything is planned and it’s a fun time, you won’t regret going. There are one-day long trips as well, showing off the smaller towns in England which are each unique and fun in their own ways.

With your new friends, you’ll want to plan weekend trips to other countries around Europe. There are inexpensive flights from any of the three London airports, which aren’t very difficult to travel to. We had a group of twenty travel to Ireland for a weekend and accidentally planned to be in Spain when Spain won the World Cup- words can’t describe how amazing that was. Step out of your comfort zone. Studying abroad is the chance of a lifetime, so live it up as much as your wallet will allow.

One of the stops during our Cornwall Weekend Trip with everyone from session 2

I could go on talking about London for days. I took over six thousand pictures during the three months I was there and saved all of my show tickets, maps and brochures for the scrapbook I will one day make. The experience I had, the places I visited and the people I met contributed to the most amazing summer of my life and I couldn’t be more thankful.