Lauren in England

Lauren Young Third-year student Journalism and Mass Communications and English Language and Literature Major University of South Carolina London, England Academic Year 2014-2015 Global Partner Program University of Westminster Provider: Arcadia University

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One Year Abroad: London England

It is utterly impossible to find the right words, let alone enough, to describe my lifestyle. It's messy, awkward, often times embarrassing and frequently involving a suitcase. I've spent the last year of my life living outside the box, the box being America that is. Instead of trying to come up with some longwinded, sappy post that you will most likely to roll your eyes at, I came up with this video instead. Here is my year, broke down into seconds from each day.

Thank you Arcadia Study Abroad - England and University of Westminster for hosting me!

P.S. I'm not responsible for any embarrassment that may ensue from your being featured in my video

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London, England: Despite being thousands of miles away from my friends and family, I couldn’t have picked a better way to celebrate my birthday. These people I’ve met abroad are on the same adventures as me. We’re on the pursuit of the same dreams and man do we do it so well together. Thanks for all who sent there love and those daring enough to celebrate with me.

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Brighton, England: Guess who finally turned 21? Guess who got to do it at the beach? I’ll give you a hint, it’s me!

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Berlin Wall, Germany: The largest remainder of the Berlin Wall can be seen lining the west bank of the river. It’s donned with symbolic street art representing a time of great repression. When the wall fell, men and women came from all across the world to tag and paint the wall as others came to pick it to pieces. Then and now, this stretch of wall has remained a hot commodity for tourists alike. An iron fist drives to uprise as well as art.

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Berlin, Germany: A beautiful downtown Berlin rebuilt from the rubble left behind by WWII.

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Berlin, Germany: Street art, any and everywhere.

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Berlin, Germany: Street art blossomed under the oppression of the iron curtain. When you steal someone’s ability to express their individuality, they will find a way to steal it back.

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Berlin, Germany: Deep fried pear filled with cheese, do you understand?

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East vs West, Berlin Wall: The little bit of the wall that still remains in Berlin marks a time of turmoil and oppression. A post soviet state now has reclaimed it’s place in history, etching years worth of constant surveillance, separation and death into a concrete wall.

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Wailing Wall, Old Jewish Cemetery - Krakow: Made from the grave stones of those uprooted, the wall now marks a place for those to mourn friends and family they’ve lost.

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Krakow, Poland: A beautiful city with a tainted past, now home to delicious food, history for miles and friendly people around every corner. 

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Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland: Birch trees dance in the wind across an endless skyline of brick fireplaces each one marking what was once home to a tiny wooden fortress, barley protecting its inhabitants from the harsh Polish winters. We walked endlessly across an open field, a graveyard for the dreams of everyone to enter its gates. A perpetual heaviness cast its shadow across the remaining buildings. A towering brick mountain marks the last sight thousands of entrants to this death farm would have seen before being stripped of everything that made them human. 

Do not tread lightly on a past now paved with dandelions.

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Birkenau, Poland: It’s taken me a very long time to be able to appropriately sit down and grasp my visit to Poland’s most infamous death camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau. 

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining partnered by flowers in full bloom. We shuffled between buildings donning numbers that so many before us had imprinted in heavy hearts as temporary homes. Inside sat decrepit rooms still emblazon with the remains of torturous conditions; tiny cots lining paint less walls, toilets set in neat lines. 

There are simply no words to describe walking down a hallway lined with black and white photos captioned with birth dates of thin men and women hardly older than myself. Passing rooms filled with shoes showing a life stolen from a woman’s shiny white heels, a man’s dust caked work-boots or a toddlers tiny penny loafers as I stare listlessly at my own shoes that have carried me miles leaves me empty. 

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25 Faces Every Londoner Will Immediately Recognise

CAN YOU MOVE DOWN PLEASE?

The many faces of living in London. If you’re planning a move to this lovely city I recommend finding a mirror and practicing these go-to moves.

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The Stoop, Twickenham: We finally made it out to a rugby match and it only required one of us to turn 21! Besides the fact that we had no idea who was playing or what was going on we had a lovely team in the stands behind us, rooting on our 21st birthday festivities. They even contributed to our strange American birthday rituals of signing a board and giving out cheek kisses. There was even a group Happy Birthday singalong as well. Drunk rugby fans are the best kind of guys to celebrate a birthday with- Go Gloucester!

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Cahoots, Kingly Court: It's every closet drinkers favorite thing, a pub underground to drown yourself in hidden cocktails. Best part about this secret little pub is it's a reconstructed tube station that went out of business in the late 1940s. The entire place is themed and service includes actors, adorably named drinks and loads of old fashioned tube gear to gawk at. If you're ever in Kingly Court follow the underground signs, you surely won't be disappointed! P.S. Their menu comes in old fashioned newspaper form!

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Little Venice, London: Enjoying the beautiful weather of a blooming city leaves me lost for words. This place will be equally as heart wrenching as a lost love and I’m not sure I’m emotionally prepared to move on from what I’ve settled my roots within.