Living in London

By Sam Thomas


Through studying abroad on the FSU Broad Curriculum program, I was lucky to call myself a London resident for 3 months. One of the aspects of this city that makes it unique is that no other city in the world has as many things to do as London. Whether it is catching a play in the West End, having a picnic in Hyde park, trying different cuisines from all over the world on Saturday morning at Borough Market, or just taking a midday stroll along the River Thames.


I am a bit of a history nerd, so some of my favorite spots were the Imperial War Museum, the Tower of London, and especially the British Museum. I lost count of how many times I visited it during my stay, but the British Museum was a wonderful place to go and look at the Ancient Egypt exhibits or Greek and Roman artifacts in between my classes or whenever I had free time since it was conveniently located only a couple of blocks from the study centre.


One of the best feelings in the world was having the ability to walk out of the study centre along Great Russell Street, and either walk or take a short ride on the Tube and within no time be able to do or see something new.  I had this feeling everyday in London.

Before seeing "Hair" on the West End

The fast-paced lifestyle you get to live while abroad makes it tough to fully appreciate some of the things you get to do at the time. To this day when I look through old pictures from study abroad, I come across things I forgot that I had done.

Wales

One of my favorite spur of the moment trips was going to an amusement park (Thorpe Park) not too far outside of London. A group of friends and I were looking for something fun to do that day, and found a pamphlet for Thorpe Park in the administration office. It turned out there was a special that day that a two way train ticket to the park and park admission was only 40 pounds. It ended up being a very fun day, but what made it so special was how I was able to go somewhere like that on a whim, and the fact that you can do something like that everyday in London.  

My London Family

The only drawback to London is the city can wear you out with so many sights and activities to do and see.  I had to remind myself to have a “movie day” or “reading day” from time to time at the study centre.


I accomplished a lot during my stay in London, but the fact that I was still unable to do half the things I wanted to do attests to how vibrant a city it is.