Girl Gone Brit

New Yorker studying abroad in London

[girlgonebrit]

Weeks 4-6

Woops! Time really has been flying. I’ll stick with some high lights, since a lot of the past few weeks has been classes, work, and errands. Not very exciting.

On September 29, we had a welcome dinner with my college. The university here is split up into 4 colleges and ours, Froebel, hosted a formal dinner in the Portrait Hall of one of the main buildings. Everyone dressed up and we took lots of pictures. There was a cocktail reception, followed by three courses - a salmon thing I couldn’t eat, duck, which I shockingly liked, and cheesecake. Most of us went to the bar afterward. I only stayed for one drink since I had class at 9 am the next day, but it was fun to hang out with everyone.

That Thursday, I officially dropped my Writing Multicultural Britain class. I was sad I had to do it, but the more I talked to the people in the English department, the more I knew it was the right choice.

The day after that, Serena and I went into central London for the afternoon. We started out with a trip to Primark, a chain store located here that sells clothes at an incredible discount. I picked up a skirt, a tank top, a blouse, two pairs of tights, and a scarf I wear ALL the time for about 40 pounds. We went to a much nicer than we were used to Pizza Hut after, then sat in Hyde Park to watch the sunset. Just before the sun was totally down, we went back to Hammersmith and watched The Intern. It was such a cute, fun movie!

At the beginning of week 5, I began feeling really ill. I had barely been able to sleep Monday night because of my neighbors and how poorly I felt. I stayed home that Tuesday in hopes it would help me feel better, but on Wednesday I had a walk planned along the Thames for a group project. It was a rainy, miserable day and we walked for three hours. By time I get home, my body was completely giving up and sore.

I felt awful for most of the rest of the week, but got up early on Saturday for a trip to Brighton. There were some train issues getting there, but it was lovely to be on a beach again. It’s been a few years. We walked around a bit and sat where we could - neither Serena nor I had gotten much sleep and the cold meds were only helping me so much. Brighton’s a cute little town, but there’s not much to do, especially in the off season. We ended up heading back earlier than planned.

Once again, I felt even worse after going out. I spent two days barely leaving bed until I had class again on Tuesday. After class, I went to Asda and stocked up on cold meds for my whole flat since most of us were feeling awful. Of course, once I got my hands on cold medications, I started feeling better.

That Wednesday, the 14th, Serena and I went to see The Book of Mormon. It’s actually cheaper to get decent seats here than it is in the states. The show was funny, but some of the content was rather offensive.

The next night, I went to see Les Miserables by myself. The theater was beautiful and the show was incredible. I had actual chills several times. And of course when I got home, the Mets were playing the Dodgers in Game 5 of a best of 5 series, so I stayed up to watch it - fortunately they won, so it was all worth it!

Last Sunday, Serena and I went out to Abbey Road Studios. We had some travel snafus that ate up a decent chunk of our day, but it was still cool to see. After that, we went to Camden, which is famous for its market. By time we got there, it was late afternoon and we still had to eat. We only had time to stop in a couple of bookshops before we needed to head back and the market was closing anyway.

This week has been pretty quiet...because we’re leaving for Dublin tomorrow! Serena and I both have most of next week off thanks to Reading Week (but both of us have our Wednesday classes). So we’ve been buckling down to get all our assessments that are due this week and next week done and staying in. But tomorrow afternoon, we’re getting on a plane to Dublin from Heathrow, coming back Tuesday night, going to class Wednesday, then I set out with a different friend to Munich on Thursday! Finally taking advantage of my proximity to...all of Europe, so there’ll be plenty to write about next time!

[girlgonebrit]

Week 3

Last week was a bit early, this week is a bit late. So it goes!

I stuck to having a lazy day last Sunday and just stayed in and worked on readings for my classes since there were quite a few of them and finished the book I had been reading on the train to and from Bath.

On Monday I had my first class, Writing Multicultural Britain. It was a really interesting class, but I’m going to be dropping it. I can’t take as many classes as I would at home here without getting charged extra, so today I’m starting the process of letting it go since it was the one I had to add on late after getting here. After the class and some emails, Serena and I went to Asda - or we attempted to. It was a cold, dreary day and we waited about an hour for our bus with a handful of other people. Towards the end of the wait, we started bonding with one of the other ladies who lived at the end of that particular bus’s line.

Tuesday I had my Literature in London class, which was pitched as a study abroad specific class, but there were non-study abroad students in the class and the lecturers all seemed to think we were just freshmen. I’m hoping that issue gets corrected this week.

My Literature, History, Protest class was on Wednesday and even though it’s my earliest class at 9 am, I quite enjoyed it. The lecturer is funny and a bit flighty, but she covers really interesting topics. That night was another big party night on campus and predrinks were happening on our floor. I live right next to the kitchen, so that meant it was going to be loud. So I convinced Serena to go into central London with me. Our first stop was the Lush on Oxford Street - because how can I not visit the biggest Lush in the world? And man it was huge and amazing! What I could get was pretty limited since I don’t have a bath and nothing I bought could last longer than three months, but I found a couple of things. From there, we spent hours wandering Oxford Street and the surrounding area. We stopped in four different bookstores - three Waterstones and a Hatchards - attempting to find this one book. It was quite frustrating, but the last Waterstones had it! We also stopped in a food court for dinner and while the names were recognizable, the food options were a bit of a let down. We’d originally thought to go to KFC, but none of the sides we loved were there, so we went to a Pizza Hut Express location, which lived up to its reputation of being just okay. By time we got back, predrinks had wound down, but it was still loud all night with drunk students coming and going.

My Thursday class is in the afternoons, so I woke up late and spent an hour chatting with my flat rep. Then I did my readings for my class since they were all short before heading to the library. I had plans for the evening and needed to use a printer. I now know how to print - and that you have to pay for it - but my ID card wasn’t registering with the printer. Fortunately, I was able to just use my friend’s account, but I’ll have to sort that out next time I go. The class itself was Origins of Children’s Literature and I love it, but man I wish it was a morning class too. Having one class from 2-5 just kind of kills your whole day. But afterward, I had a mission. I hopped on a bus, then a tube, to get to Piccadilly Circus - my first solo trip into the central part of the city. Jojo Moyes, the author of Me Before You, was launching the sequel, After You. I was still in the middle of Me Before You, but I had two friends who were huge fans. So, I bought a ticket and printed out a letter from one of them to pass on to her, then bought two copies to send them. The talk was great and Jojo Moyes is just an amazing person. She signed all three books, took the letter, and was so sweet about all of it.

On Friday, it was hard to get out of bed. I was exhausted! I finally got myself up enough to go on another Asda run and pick up a box at the post office for these books to get mailed out. That was all I was really up to doing.

Saturday, homesickness him me like a wave for the first time. I could barely get myself to get out of bed and I kind of avoided seeing anyone. I’d had all these fun plans for the weekend, but none of them happened. Sunday got even worse as my anxiety started to spike over the whole dilemma of classes, so I only left to run to the Co-op (a beefed up version of a convenience store) to get junk food. The whole weekend was pretty lost in homesickness and anxiety and exhaustion. Sunday night, I also started feeling ill, but it seems to have mostly cleared this morning.

So, now I’m off to run a few errands - get the ball rolling on dropping this class, do some laundry, go to the post office, and pick up two packages - though I’m a bit worried one of them may have gotten sent to the wrong place. I’d hoped to go into central London today, but I couldn’t get myself out of bed and we have a flat meeting at 5, so I don’t want to risk missing it. But it means more down time to get back to my studies!

[girlgonebrit]

Week 2

Has it really been a week? (Well, it hasn’t quite been, but it’s very, very loud outside my dorm and I’m caught up on TV shows, so might as well get to it!)

Last Sunday did remain as calm as expected...mostly. We went to Asda - which is basically Walmart - on move in day. I don’t recommend it. Much as we needed things, some things we needed were sold out and the lines were bonkers. Never again! Then, we had out floor meeting, followed by a building meeting, and I got to meet all my other flatmates. They’re all so lovely and fun and I can already tell it’s going to suck to leave them. After the meetings, we headed to a bar for our college meeting. It’s really bizarre to me still that there’s a bar on campus and it’s regularly part of school activities.

On Monday, Freshers Week began. A friend from my home campus, Serena, and I went to go pick up our bands which was a rather excruciatingly long process for reasons I still can’t determine. But by time the event for Monday came along, I wasn’t feeling so great. The time change has done some strange things to my exhaustion level - I get tired early and wake up early, which is the opposite of what’s supposed to happen - and I figured I’d just be kinda miserable, so I stayed in. Instead of a big party environment, I had a really long chat with one of the other international students on my floor while we both made dinner.

Tuesday still had me exhausted, but I eventually got myself up and out to Putney, a nearby town with a bit more to do. I browsed for an hour before finally caving and using some precious data to figure out where Waterstones was. I was looking for a specific book that I didn’t find when we went to the one at Covent Garden last week and it wasn’t there either. After a thorough browse, I went to leave and instead found a Paperchase, a stationary store. Notebooks, planners, pens, office supplies - a lot of my weaknesses. I did pick up a few things I did need, like an umbrella and glue and washi tapi, but also a few things...I didn’t really need. But they make me happy, so that counts for something.

Later that night, I got ready for Clapham Grande. For night two of Freshers Week, the school rented out a club for us to go to, including discounted drinks. We spent a few hours milling around our building and the nearby courtyard, hanging out and getting to know people before actually heading out. The club was more fun than I thought it would be. I don’t see myself going regularly, but I may have to make a couple more trips before the semester’s out.

Understandably, Wednesday was a bit of a slow day for everyone in the flat. Even after getting back, a bunch of us stayed up chatting, then I stayed up even later to watch episodes of The Late Show. But Wednesday was Thorpe Park day. Thorpe Park is an amusement park about an hour outside of London.

Unfortunately, Wednesday was also the first truly rainy day I’ve experienced since arriving. And it was cold.

But, we were determined to go! So, we waited an hour for a bus. Then that bus got lost. By time we got there, the rain had picked up and there wasn’t much light left. I hopped on a water slide with a few friends, thinking maybe getting myself as wet as possible from the start would get me ready to just move on with it and have fun. That...didn’t work. After that, Serena and I went to Burger King for warmth and food while our friends went on to other rides. When we finally ventured out, we went on a tea cup ride, then headed to look for our friends. We found them in KFC, all having finally caved to the need for food and warmth. While some of our friends finished eating, a group of us headed to the warming station they had around the park. There was one close to the KFC in the park, so four of us hopped in. Then three other people hopped in. When we said it’s not free, they offered to pay for the next round, during which two more people came in. Others were waiting, so the four of us went back into KFC and decided we were done for the day. Initially, buses weren’t supposed to head back until 9:30, but the miserable conditions led to the buses actually leaving at 8. As soon as we were all collected, had all our belongings, and had taken bathroom runs, we piled on to the first empty bus we found, which ended up being the second to leave. As soon as we got home, I ran for a shower and immediately changed into my pajamas and fuzzy socks, then started brewing tea. The rest of my flatmates arrived not long after and started the same process.

Then came Thursday. I slept poorly that night and the Burger King hadn’t sat quite right with me; combined with being cold and wet for hours the day before, I felt pretty awful. Eventually, I got myself feeling alright enough for another Asda run - mostly to pick up some cold supplies and things they had been out of on Sunday, as well as a few restocking odds and ends. But that was all I was really up for.

Friday started off the same. I still felt miserable and ultimately decided it was time to spend an entire day in. I drank a lot of tea and ate lightly until dinner time, not sure what my body could handle. But it wasn’t an unproductive day! I booked a trip to Bath for today and booked a trip to Paris for my birthday. I also scouted some West End show prices and seats I’ll be coming back to once I know what classes have field trips when. And I did do some actual school work - looking up the the readings and seeing what needs to be done for the first two weeks of classes. I also got to catch up on Young & Hungry and Skype with my family for the first time since arriving, which was really nice. It’s been strange not talking to them on a regular basis. I didn’t talk to them regularly when I was in NYC for school either, but I also saw them about once a month. Those visits aren’t really an option here though.

Today, Serena and I got ourselves up early, into London, and on a train to Bath. And I fell completely in love. I’ve never seen such a gorgeous place before. So much history and respect for it! We walked cobbled streets for hours, looking at shops. We ate the first decent pizza I’ve had since arriving and ice cream. I dragged Serena into three different discount bookstores (and I walked out with nothing!). We visited the Jane Austen centre and I was totally geeking out about it (and maybe spent way too much money in the gift shop), then we saw some of the Roman Baths (the lines were huge and it was a bit pricey, but we found a little balcony we could look over for free) and stopped into the Bath Abbey. There was more we wanted to do, but we only had about 6 hours. I’m already dying to go back there. And it certainly helped that it was one of the warmest, most beautiful days we’ve seen. It hasn’t rained much, but mornings have typically been cloudy and temperatures hovering around 60 - today was nothing but sun and closer to 70. Seriously, just phenomenal. I’ve never fallen in love with a place so hard.

Tonight, I’m taking it easy again. I can tell I’m still not 100% and classes do start on Monday. I’ll be spending tomorrow working on my first readings and going to find the buildings I have to go to - I have a vague idea, but I’d rather be sure now instead of being forced to head out much earlier than necessary Monday morning. It’s also probably going to be another late night - it’s the last night of Fresher’s Week and the partly only really started around 11, so it’s gonna go for a while. Having a window that overlooks a courtyard and the bedroom next to the bathrooms and kitchen make it kinda hard for me to ignore. But, it’s the last night that’ll be like this for the most part and hopefully, me staying in most of this week/weekend will make sure this little cold-thing doesn’t get worse.

[girlgonebrit]

Week 1

Hello from a semi-sunny London! 

As a quick intro: I’m Julie, a student at the Macaulay Honors College at City College, except this semester, I’m a student at the University of Roehampton. I’m a senior, so I’ll be graduating in May 2016 with a bachelor’s in English Literature. Internet’s a bit spotty and slow at times, so the bulk of my pictures will be on Instagram, linked at the top of the page.

I left New York from JFK at 6:30 pm on September 8 and landed at Heathrow at 6:30 am, September 9. The flight was actually pretty awesome - the timing meant I got to see the sun starting to set over Manhattan, then we flew over bits of New England, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Ireland, so we could see the lights in the middle of the night, and landed just in time to catch the sunrise, which was gorgeous. They also provided us with a pretty good dinner and breakfast, a blanket, pillow, toothbrush, toothpaste, and earplugs. I’m already kind of sad my flight back to New York is a day flight so it probably won’t include as many cool packages.

Everything involved in flying went smoothly - it took me half an hour to check in my bag and get through security before boarding and maybe 20 minutes to go through immigration and collect my bag. The university sent shuttles to get us throughout the day, so for two hours a growing number of us sat in the airport getting to know each other while we waited for the first one. The drive to campus took about 45 minutes, then we were brought to our dorms. My dorm is right by our all locally sourced cafe and overlooks one of the chicken coops on campus. It also gets some pretty stellar sunsets. The first day, I picked up my kitchen and bedding packs, unpacked my room...and promptly fell asleep for about four hours. I woke up, went to our pizza night, then came back to my room to settle in.

The next day we had orientation. I’d been chatting with one other girl who came over from the same school and we’d planned to meet up the first day to keep each other up...which didn’t work. So instead, we met up Thursday morning to search out some breakfast and go through orientation together. We wandered quite a ways before finding a little market to grab breakfast from, then rushed back for the opening speeches. Orientation was long, but pretty informative and they gave us plenty of down time. After all the sessions wrapped up, we headed to Asda to start picking up necessities. A bunch of other students had the same idea, so there were a lot of us wandering around, probably picking up more than we could carry. By time we got back, we were so exhausted, we stayed in and made food in the dorm and chatted with our flat reps for most of the night.

Friday was registration day. I got up early and headed out on my own, getting in line. Getting the ID and officially registering was easy, then I had to wait another hour to go into module registration. I was only signed up for three, but my home campus requires four to be a full time student, so it was recommended I add another. I did, but only after did I realize that credits wise, I might be best to stick to three. I’m waiting on word from one of my other advisers on that to figure out what’s best. Once my friend had finished her registration, we headed into central London, coming out in Picadilly Circus. We wandered for a while, stopped for a very late lunch, then continued wandering until we found a bookstore. After making a couple of purchases, we figured we’d head home. It was starting to get dark and it seemed like a lot of shops were closing down. We headed back and headed to our rooms for another calm night.

On Saturday, the school had organized a photo frenzy scavenger hunt in central London. We showed up a bit late and joined another group that was about to head out. We hit a lot of the major landmarks and took photos before heading back, all of us exhausted from being on our feet all day and having to be up early each morning since we’d arrived. It was not helping the jet lag! I ended up falling asleep around 8, waking up at 2, then feeling rather awake. I stayed up for a bit to shower, listen to the end of the Mets game, and watch a movie. I finally started dozing off as the sun was coming up and slept for a bit longer, though not very well. It’s like my body’s developed jet lag in reverse - earlier to bed, earlier to wake.

Today is our first day with pretty much no scheduled activities. We have a flat meeting tonight since everyone else is moving in today, but otherwise we’re free. I’ve been bumming around online and updating social media for a few hours, but I’ll be heading back out to Asda for some more groceries and things I’ve realized I need. If the weather holds up, I might walk around campus a bit too. And tomorrow...Freshers Week begins.