LONDON @londoniscallingaya - Tumblr Blog

I don't know if you answered this before but would you ever consider living in London or staying longer?

Oh yeah definitely. I’m planning on getting a holiday work visa for the UK in a little over a year so that I can live there for a while. If it were up to me, I would be living there already ahah.

#honey-bee-allie

I actually am going through the FIE program! I'm not sure which building I am staying in yet but it will be somewhere in the Kensington and Chelsea area. Thank you so much for this info, I am soooo excited to go I can't wait! Is there anything you wish you would have known going over there that you wish you had done?

Ah, awesome!! I was in 15 Manson Place, which is really nice because it was renovated the summer before I did my program. And no worries! Umm well with the FIE program you're surrounded by people from your school/those in the program from other unis in America and so I guess I wish I made more of an effort to try to make friends outside of FIE. You get a student card to the uni nearby and can go to their pub and I would say that's a relatively easier way to mingle with Brits so definitely take up on that. I also wish I would've gone to the markets more because they're awesome, especially Borough Market. Get a card that doesn't charge extra fees for using your card abroad (do research before you go and open a new account, which is what I did unless you're with a bank that already has good deals for that).Also this wasn't a problem for me, but everyone ALWAYS over packs. Pack a week ahead and then a few days before you leave go through it and get rid of half or at least a third of what you have in there. If you need anything you can always buy things over there- esp Primark that's really cheap. Plus everyone buys so much clothes and other stuff while over there and people had problems packing everthing at the end. There was definitely something else I wanted to include but it's slipping my mind right now so if it comes to me I'll message you :)

#Travel #study abroad

Hi! So I am studying abroad in London in the fall semester (staying in south Kensington) and was wondering if you could tell me a ballpark of how much $ to save if i want to go to other countries when I'm in Europe.. I am not totally sure how much I should be planning on saving and thought you could help me out since you have been through it! Thank you!

Shoot I hope this wasn't sent a long time ago... If it was I'm so sorry- I'm backpacking right now so the only form of Internet I have is on my phone.But ah, so exiting! You're staying right where I was based!! I'm so jealous. By chance, is your program through FIE? But it all depends on where you want to travel to and how often. I personally didn't travel all that much while studying abroad- I did 3 trips total, to Berlin, Santorini/Athens, and Lisbon. Because you're based in London, flights are a little more expensive but you can still get round trip flights around $130. But to give you an idea, my flight to Berlin was about $230, flight to Santorini/Athens was about $350, and the flight to Lisbon was $130. With airlines such as Ryan Air, Easy Jet, etc, the earlier you buy, the cheaper since they have a select number of seats at certain prices. I think I had saved about $4,000 or something but came back with $1,000 or so. I did do quite a few day trips from London but they're not too expensive and within the UK you can always look into megabus or National Express as they're much cheaper- they both have bus routes on mainland Europe too and if you can sleep on buses, there's cheap overnight buses from London to Amsterdam or Bruges and some other cities. I think a big part of why I came home not being broke is because I was quite money conscious and I didn't travel to other countries as much. Plus, traveling from the UK, you kind of want to keep in mind the travel time to get to where you want to go, especially if it's just for the weekend. Like to Italy, it's a 3 hour flight or so and that's why a lot of people from my school chose to go there for our fall break rather than a weekend. Always stay in hostels- they're a cheaper alternative and if needed, you can make your own food which cuts down on costs. Although when I travelled while studying abroad, I never cooked because I was only there for the weekend. Right now the dollar is getting stronger against the euro and the pound so it might make a little difference for you if it stays this way. Another option to travel but to stay on a bit of a budget would be going to Central Europe. Everything is ridiculously cheap there ie: beer in Prague is $1.50 and you can get a good meal for $5. I'm sorry that this is kind of all over the place and I don't even know if this helps or not. But if you have more specific questions, feel free to send them my way.

#study abroad #traveling

I started a blog and have a few posts on it already. I thought this would be a great way for me to reflect back on my study abroad and travels as well as give travelling related advice. Of course there'll be posts about the present when I go somewhere or something exciting happens in my life. If you want, go take a wander.

#blog

Geographical Coordinates of London.

I've been fascinated with and loved London since I was a kid. My admiration for the country grew more as I started to play soccer, and I fell in love with the city even more when I visited it in 2008. It's not just London that holds my heart, but England in general. For at least 3 years now, I've known I wanted to get a London related tattoo once I studied abroad there (I've wanted to study abroad in London since middle school). Before I left for London (August 27) I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to get that would symbolise London, but when I did research and stumbled upon pictures of people with tattoos of geographical coordinates, I knew that's what I wanted. It actually took a while for me to search for tattoo parlors, settle on one, and go set my appointment, but the fact that I had only a little over a month of study abroad left meant I couldn't put it off any longer. I ended up getting it done in Camden, and I absolutely love it. Not only does it represent my love for the city, a city that holds my heart, but it now also represents my time abroad and the memories the city holds. London is where my heart is; it's where I called home for 3.5 months and still see as my home even though I'm back in LA. I didn't get homesick when I went to London, but I find myself being homesick right now. I'm home, yet I'm not truly home.

#study abroad #tattoo #tatted #geographical coordinates #travel tattoo #ink

All the West End shows I saw. 39 Steps (not pictured), Wicked, Once (x2), Les Miserables, Matilda, and Mojo (x4). And none for full price except for the last time I saw Mojo in which 1 ticket was full price and the other wasn't.

Missing it already.

#west end #theatre #wicked #mojo #matilda the musical #once the musical #les miserables

My London Experience

My study abroad experience has been over for 2 weeks now. It seems like just yesterday I was in London and everyone was still in our flat, baking, watching movies late at night, etc. It's crazy to think how fast the 3.5 months went by, especially since the first month seemed to go so slow. Once the first month passed, time zipped by. When people tell you study abroad will be the best semester of your life-- or yet the best time of your life-- it's the truth. I always knew this would be the best time of my life because it's something I've wanted to do since middle school, but this experience went beyond my expectations-- making new friends, learning more about myself and the world, and being able to travel within England as well as within Europe. It's crazy how close you can become with people in such a short amount of time. Sometimes living with 10 other people, or in the other LMU flat's case, 14 people, can be a pain, but you learn to take the good with the bad because the good always overweighs the bad.

Calling London my home is something that I wanted to be able to do for so long, and I was finally able to do that. I was able to give other people directions not only within London (usually with the Tube) but within the Kensington area, which is where I lived. Not only did I take classes under British professors with amazing backgrounds and wonderful field trips, I also had an internship with an independent music PR company. It truly was the international experience that helped me grow as a person. While London was my home, a place that became so familiar with routines, there was still so much to explore. As nice as the city was, it was always nice to do a day trip somewhere and get out of the city.

The wonderful thing about traveling, whether it be over the weekend or a day trip, is that you learn so much about yourself and the people you're traveling with. You learn what kind of traveler you are, who you like/don't like traveling with, and you get to form closer relationships.

It's funny how I thought about the many EPL games I would go to once I got to England (only went to 1) and ended up going to so many West End shows (Mojo 4 times). I had this idea of traveling so much but in the back of my mind, knew that I wanted to stay in London more and didn't travel as much outside of England so I could explore more of the greater London area and do day trips within England. The outcome now is that I came back to LA with more money than I thought I would have, leading to me currently searching flights back to London/cities in Europe I really want to visit. I just want to travel more and see what the world has to offer.

Now that I'm back in LA, it feels funny. I never liked cold weather, but the cold weather wasn't so bad in London. The moment I landed in the U.S. (Miami since I had a Barcelona-Miami-Los Angeles flight back) I was dying of the heat. The following day home, it was too hot for me and it really wan't that warm in terms of the Redondo Beach area. I found myself missing the cloudy, grey weather of London. At times in London I missed driving, but I drove to The Grove today and hitting a bit of traffic made me wish I was back in London with my Oyster Card, taking the Piccadilly Line in the mornings to the Harold Pinter Theatre or the Circle and Central Lines to my internship. I miss the early mornings to get day seats. Every day I'm reminded of London and what I miss about the city and the memories it holds, and I just want to book a flight back this second.

In 3 days, I'll be back on campus to work a women's basketball game, which is one step closer to officially being back at school. And then it'll be another reminder of how I'm not in London anymore.

#study abroad #reflection