Although my time in London has truly been amazing it is quickly coming to an end. I am scrambling trying to plan my last couple weekends to see as much as I can. Packing is a weight on my soul as I am dreading trying to figure out how I am going to get all my stuff back into the bags I brought it in. Reflecting back on my time I can’t believe I had this opportunity to experience such a lovely city with so many adventures. I did and explored so many things, which has easily made this the best experience of my life. No matter how great a place can be going home is always exciting. I miss my family, my cats, and my personal space. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and having a break from work and school. Back home everything is familiar and second nature. In London I have to look up how to get everywhere and plan everything, there is a lot of thinking involved. It will feel very relaxing when I don’t have to think about and plan every part of my day. The first night I sleep in my own bed will probably be one of my best nights sleep. Although I miss my family and cats the most, I miss all of the little things I toke for granted in America. Not having to sign after every transaction and keep informing the credit card companies that I’m abroad will be a relief. Also, it will be nice to be able to call people and solve my own problems, as I am unable to call people in London let alone the international call back to America. I can’t wait until I can charge multiple devices at a time and not have to use an outlet converter. The last week of my time in London didn't feel at all abnormal. It just felt like my life. When everyone was saying goodbye to me, it felt as if I was saying see you Monday like everyone else not see you never. Even as I am home now, I still feel like this is my vacation, and I have work on Monday. Perhaps it is a feeling due to the fact I worked all the way up to the day I left and didn't say a proper goodbye to London.
Being at home, I can't sit still. I have the urge to do something, anything. In London I hardly ever watched TV except while eating diner or waiting to go do something. I watched two movies on the 8 hour plane ride back and felt like I was about to go crazy. While transitioning back into my normal life, London has made it impossible to sit around and do nothing. You may be thinking, wow thats a good thing. I was thinking the same thing, except there is nothing to do around where I live in Ohio. It will definitely take some adjusting.
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One of the first couple weekends in London, we all went on a tour to Bath and Stonehenge. It was really quite amazing to see the place constructed so long ago with so much history and insight into the human culture way before advanced technology and ease of today’s living. Seen so many times through photographs, I am lucky I got the chance to experience the sight in person. The next stop on the tour was the city of Bath. Simply Beautiful! Every building is made of the same pretty yellow stone with small winding roads where the buildings are all low and there are no skyscrapers or modern buildings. The Roman bath was really awesome to tour. I’ve learned a lot about Roman architecture and the Baths especially, so I loved being able to connect my knowledge to the place. It makes it all so much more meaningful when you know the history of a place and can point out and understand little details.
I’ve also learned a great deal about the Brighton Pavilion and John Soane’s house and museum. Ngoc and I went and explored both buildings as it had the same reaction and awe as the Roman bath, but possibly a little more. Brighton was a cool excursion. It is just full of little shops and beach. The beach is a rock beach, which is cool when you don’t want to get sand in your shoes. The water sounded amazing and so energetic washing the rocks up and down the shore. Ngoc and I watched the sunset and spent the rest of the night on the pier. We rode the rides and died laughing at the overall splendor. The one ride took us upside-down and spun us around over the water. Not scary, just so cool. Next we did the haunted mansion. It was so funny. The least scary thing I’ve ever done. We screamed just because it was funny. Everything about it was fun. On Other weekends I traveled with friends to Copenhagen and Barcelona. Both places are very different from each other and London. The nice thing about these two cities, and I imagine a lot of other cities across Europe is that you don’t need to really worry about public transportation. Everything is walk able which allows the opportunity to truly explore the city and look around. Copenhagen was a girl’s trip that involved seeing the colorful houses, going to a hippie village, walking along the canal, and more. The architecture and overall presence of the city was different from other cities I’ve been to. A lot of the buildings were painted bright colors and which gave the city a nice energy. Unfortunately we went when it was snowing, but it just gave us a different experience. We went and saw the little mermaid statue, which was covered in ice and walked up the circle tower to see the whole city. The tower was awesome because it was just a ramp no stairs. Barcelona was my favorite between the two. I saw a lot of the Gaudi architecture including the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. So beautiful! I also learned about Gaudi and his architecture in my history of interior design course at university. Seeing it in person was so unbelievable. The detail was truly unimaginable! I didn’t realize before I went that the cathedral is still under construction and has passed to a different architect, as Gaudi is no longer alive. The ceiling and Rambo effect of the stained glass made the whole interior so magical. We stayed in a place about 15 minutes away from the beach in the Gothic Quarter. Jess, Ryan, and I went to the beach for sunrise and enjoyed a peaceful morning. The sunrise was beautiful and we could see the incoming storm in the distance over the ocean. It was such an extraordinary opportunity! My most recent trip was to Chester England, located on the border of England and Wales, is now my most favorite place in the world. It is an old Roman fortification that continued to be occupied through the medieval and Saxon periods. There are ruins and structures still left from the different periods. I walked along the whole Roman fortification wall and saw the port towers. There were ruins from the Roman bath and amphitheater. Inside the walls, the city is mainly built in the Tutor style. The whole city is a fairytale come to life! Before I left, I found this garden under the water tower, one of the towers to the main port into the city. There was no one around, beautiful flowers and the exterior of the wall. It was so peaceful; I just sat there and soaked it in. My favorite place, I’d have to say is Piano Works. It is a live music bar where the musicians play covers to songs by request from the audience. I Love live music and dancing. This place has both…Look Out! I have had my fair share of creepy encounters there, but that is typical of any bar or pub. The place is like five steps from our apartment, which makes it all the more convenient. I’ve shown up in basically pajamas and work clothes, which are equally as casual, where everyone else is dressed up. I don’t think any of us care. My second favorite place…I say my second favorite, but it’s really my first and not only one place. Bubble Tea. It only needs the two words but has many locations. I think I have grown addicted to Bubble Tea. Maybe.
With that, I have done a lot of other exploring around the city. The first week I worked in the Vaults, a three-month theatre festival, setting up my company’s show. The Vaults is located in the abandoned underground tunnels under the Waterloo station. Very cool place also right next to the London Eye. I see a lot of London’s main attractions traveling to and from all of the venues. Going to the Old Library, I cross Tower Bridge which is beautiful. Riding the front seat on the second floor of the bus is the best way to get acquainted with the city. Locally, I’ve done all of the touristy things like climb the Great Fire of London monument, saw the changing of the guard, walked along the Thames, visit all of the markets and museums, and simply walk around and sight see the different areas of London. By spending an extended amount of time here I was able to experience some of the main attractions through an event or activity as opposed to just tour it. I went to church at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abby. I also got to experience China town and see Trafalgar square during the Chinese New Year activities, and we had a picnic in Hyde Park. It makes it all so much more memorable to do everything spread out and during an event. As being a part of London for these three months I’ve done equally as much non-tourist activities. We went to the movies a couple times seeing Black Panther and I, Tonya and I saw a couple shows including Wicked, 42nd Street, and Neverland. All were so amazing! Needing to eat, of course, I’ve definitely taken the opportunity to try as many different places as I can. Food is so good! Cool activities I’ve indulged in are the extreme indoor put put course, a ball pit bar, ping pong bar, and a Winterland, a little area decorate like a winter wonderland with food, drinks, and games all inspired by the season. I am basically always in Shoreditch as it is relatively close to where I live and a ten minute walk from where I work. I can’t really say what is my favorite area in London. Each spot has its own characteristics that I appreciate differently. Shoreditch is a fun, hipster, arty place, where Picadily circus is energetic and the central down town spot for activities, and Mayfair is a beautiful walk around with amazing big classical buildings. Traveling through London has a different perspective from me than my friends. I walk to work every day and will walk anything up to 45 minutes to get somewhere. My friends take public transport to and from work and pretty much everywhere. I can image they are more sick of it and get more frustrated than me. It is however fairly convenient throughout the city. I have to take National Rail to Sheffield, which isn’t too bad either. Nice seats and very fast, but pretty expensive. I traveled to Brighton one weekend, and we took the coach bus. I think I have taken almost every form of transportation from the bus, underground, overground, Uber, Taxi, to the National Rail, Coach, and Plane. Food, everyone’s favorite topic. The food in London is delicious. I find myself eating when I’m not even hungry just because it tastes so good. There are a lot of markets around London that have great food as well as cool things. There is a vegan market in Shoreditch that has the most amazing Tofish and chips. This is a rather large piece of tofu wrapped in seaweed battered and fried. Scrumptious. I’ve found that there is a huge vegetarian and vegan vibe in London, where most places offer choices satisfying both diets. It is wildly more accepted on both the animal rights and environmental mentalities, where in America it is slightly offensive to others to be a vegetarian or vegan. Whatever the diet, there is a wide variety of cuisine from around the world to indulge in. I tend to stay within the Asian and Indian cuisine, and it is all AMAZING!
I was lucky enough to be in London for Chinese New Year. There was a huge celebration in Trafalgar Square with great Chinese performers doing exciting things all day. The amount of people, not only in Trafalgar square, but also in China Town was unbelievable. That same day I went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, which was equally as crowded. Slightly uneventful, it was a cultural must see. There was a band and some marching both equally entertaining. The difference in atmospheres between these two cultural events was immense but characteristic of the event. The one thing about people in London is that they don’t move out of the way on the sidewalk. I have on multiple occasions had to just stop moving and let people walk around me as I’m approaching an actually wall of people walking four wide on the sidewalk. They also don’t walk on one side or the other. In America, you are supposed to walk on the right side of the sidewalk, here, people just walk all over the place. You would think since they drive on the left side of the road they would walk on the left side of the sidewalk. Not the case. Other than that, everyone is very nice. Most people I’ve encountered had been very chatty and willing to help you out. The working culture is a lot more relaxed than in America. Perhaps, it is just the nature of my internship, but I am just left to do my own thing. There are deadlines set in the calendar that I need to meet, but my colleagues are just following my lead for the most part. When I see everyone else working, they are also doing the same thing, just their own thing. There isn’t a strict boss and intern relationship. I am just treated as another member of staff where everyone is more friends than colleagues. I could describe everything as casual. Definitely a more enjoyable working environment that suits my personality. Holiday is an interesting concept. At my internship there is unlimited holiday. No one cares if you work from home, come in late, or leave early. Everyone is responsible for themselves and their deadlines. Although everyone has the opportunity to travel, they are so surprised that I go to different countries on the weekends. Perhaps Europe is so available for them they don’t feel inclined to take every opportunity to explore it. I suppose it is similar to the concept of me traveling to a different state every weekend. There’s no need, they aren’t going anywhere. Friends, if I can call you that, or maybe acquaintances, or maybe blog readers if you prefer, I actually screamed in shock of what was on the TV the other day. My roommates and I watch the TV some evenings after work. You may be questioning me like “You are in London why are you watching the TV,” but let me tell you it is an event in it of itself. The first show we got hooked on is called The Chase. Bazar no doubt but it is an old game show where people answer trivia questions against “the chaser” who changes every episode. They are ridiculous characters with ridiculous personas. The next show that peeked our interest is For The Love Of Dogs. The show is about an animal rescue that gives dogs new homes, and the cuteness of the dogs is only an added bonus to the real entertainment- the commentary. Again it’s ridiculous. We find these shows by just clicking the channel up button because we have yet to figure out how to get the guide to come up on the screen. We landed on a dating show one day called Dinner Date, another example of ridiculous commentary. The premise of the show is girls make dinner for this boy who then picks from the three of them to go on a real date with dependent on their look, overall vibe, and cooking. We have only seen one episode where the roles were reversed.
Finally… the show I mistakenly walked in on, and I feel it is important to say it was on at 9 pm was Naked Attraction. I walk into the living room and the screen was just showing a close up of a man’s genitalia where the rest of his body was blocked off. The host and guest were discussing his attributes based on the little window we could all see. Men were then eliminated each round where more and more of their bodies were shown until the full person at the end. I CANNOT believe this is a show. Instead of turning it off I did the only rational thing, call everyone into the room to see. After that proved to get a number of reactions we collectively got the rest of us from the neighboring apartment. We all watched blocking part of the screen with our hands acting as clothes to the people on the show. … Ridiculous… I have come to the conclusion that British TV is, you already know, Ridiculous. Food, on the other hand, is so good! As I mentioned in the fist post, I have a lot of dietary restrictions, which has been causing me struggles to find food that I can actually eat. Everything seems editable, but I keep getting sick from it. Regardless of how I feel after I thoroughly enjoy eating it. Just recently, in the past week I’ve decided to be more conscious about the ingredients in the food. This past weekend, a girl who studied with Ngoc and me in Cincinnati came to visit us on her way home from Scotland. She was a foreign exchange student from Switzerland last semester. Ngoc and I were wondering around with her in Shoreditch and came across a food market. All of us stuffed full from the bubble tea we just drank and brunch not that much earlier found something we just had to eat there. I found an ingenious dish called Tofish and chips. I had been craving breaded and fried fish for the past week because as you walk around London it always smells like good food. It was a large piece of tofu wrapped in seaweed braded and deep-fried. O my goodness… Delicious! I will be going back there next weekend for sure! Another thing I have been struggling with are the accents. If people are talking next to me very rarely will I understand what they are saying when they are speaking English. I’ve found that when people mumble or blur words together I say “what?” more than twenty times a day. I can’t tell if they realize I’m making them repeat themselves so much or not. I hope not. Also things are called different things in London than in America. When the confusion between not understanding a pronunciation and a term meaning something different mix there is an interesting outcome. The other day I stepped behind the bar to help for a bit and this gentleman asked me if I have any issues….I was like “What?” with the most confused and black face. He just kept asking about the issues, and eventually I had to ask the other person working the bar who realized the man was asking for tissues which actually meant napkins… My head was spinning. My acclimation into the country has been pretty seamless considering the above problems I have everywhere, except for the TV programs being exceptionally weird. I liked tea before I came and now I just drink and like it more. I’ve adopted the habit of putting milk in my tea and drinking sparkling water. Navigating the city and transportation had been a breeze. When I first arrived I looked around and said no way. The streets aren’t laid out on a grid but just kind of drawn wherever they felt like going around building and cutting them into odd shapes. After my first time getting slightly lost and traveling everywhere around the city it seems like second nature. I don’t even recognize the difference. I am no longer walking around in wonder but walking around with the sense of normality. My journey to London started with first reluctantly saying goodbye to my parents at the airport. Left with luggage that weighed more than me which would prove to be a hassle maneuvering later, I checked my bags and waited to board my flight. When I got on the plane, the girl that was supposed to sit by me switched with another girl who ended up being from my hometown. She is going to school in London and gave me the run down of the city with helpful tips on cellphones and public transportation. It was like magic how it all worked out because she is actually mastering in theatre and knew of Theatre Deli, the company I am traveling across the world to work with. My anxiety about traveling and navigating airports was instantly relieved; however, the thought of all of my luggage was still looming over my head.
After we landed, I took a taxi into the city to meet Sam at CIEE. Conner showed up next and then Yvonne and Ngoc. I soon realized I brought way to much luggage when I had two big suitcases, a carryon, a backpack, a purse, and a handful of coats while Yvonne had one medium sized bag that wasn’t even full. Needless to say Connor, Yvonne, and Ngoc helped me get it all up to our apartment. Yvonne, Ngoc, and I are all friends from UC working in the same program for four years now. Ngoc and I share a room, which is perfect for me because she loves to plan adventures and I love to just tag along. We both worked together in NYC for a semester at the same interior design company. Let me preface this by saying I have a lot of dietary restrictions. I had to bring my own food for the plan trips and most of arrival day, which consisted of little snacks like gummies and popcorn. When I finally put all my stuff down, I was starved. Starved. I mean I was starved. I rounded up the troops to go get food, but of course we chose a place that didn’t have food I could eat. I went across the street and had my first meal at Pret A Manger… definitely wouldn’t be my last seeing as it is healthy fast food more numerous than McDonalds per square block in America. Ngoc and I left our new friends at the pub and went on a little exploration. We wondered around taking in the marvel of our new home. I am a huge lover of architectural history and the history of interior design. I love London for that reason. Being surrounded by beautiful buildings built throughout history standing as a marker to the design period alluding to the social and economical attitude at that time. One of my favorite attributes of the city is the tiled/bricked roads and sidewalks. However, they hate me. I trip on every single unevenly laid brick or tile. Every Single One. You think I’m over exaggerating. I’m Not. I tripped walking up the stairs coming out of the underground….my face touched the stairs in front of me. The people behind me had to pick me up. To my credit, it was raining so the stairs were wet and very crowded. I should have prefaced this section by saying I am a klutz. The underground is fairly similar to every other city I’ve been to, confusing at first but easier when you learn the layout of the city. Crowded on some trains and almost vacant on other trains, traveling is always interesting and slightly anxiety inducing. My favorite mode of transportation is the bus or walking which allows me to see the city more and enjoy the journey not pushed up next to people in a metal canister flying through the ground. Oddly enough both of my favorite ways seem to be more dangerous to me. I have on multiple occasions fallen when the bus started to move or stop. When coming down the stairs, I have quite literally flown down the stairs and ran into the wall. I would say I should learn to be more careful, but I just don’t see it ever working out for me. |
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