Leaving with a New Lingo

I have a love for words. They can be strung together so elegantly and have such a powerful impact. My time in London expanded my vocabulary quiet well.

I now say “I’ll meet you at the till” or “Did you tick it off your to do list?” or “I’ll have it for take away” or “Is the queue long?” or “Where’s the loo?”
If you are familiar with British English, there is nothing significant about these phrases, but to an American, they don’t quiet sound right. It’s a cash register, a check mark, take out, line/wait, and restroom. These words seem easily interchangeable and the general point is obvious whichever way you say it, but the fun part is that it is different and by applying these easy changes to your vocabulary, you don’t feel like such a foreigner. You feel like you are apart of a culture. Without even realizing it, these words pop into my every day language. Not that I am complaining. I love it and I hope that I will be able to keep these phrases in my language, if anything else so that I am able to remember this experience that I am not ready to be over.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

I may not have the accent down, but I do have the words. So please, can I be a Londoner?

What I Learned in London: Do Something New

           Streets of London

108 days of adventures. 108 of new experiences. New friends, new cities, new everything has made me a new person.

I learned so much in London. I learned about a new culture, a new history, a new lifestyle. Honestly, it is one that I can see myself being a part of for a very long time.

There is so much to do that I feel like I don’t have any time to experience it all. I could have done something new everyday, and still would not have felt like I was accomplishing anything at all. However, the thing I did experience made me want to be a Londoner. I would love to live this life every day of my life. There is really something for everyone!

Go on adventure, walk a different way home, talk to someone new. London is a city that doesn’t allow one to get bored. While I leave back for my state of Texas in a couple of days time, I know this place will always be with me. I fell in love with London and everything new that I experienced that came along with it.

What I Learned in London

I am an American college student that has now spent over 10 days in London. This blog has been a few of the many things that I have observed and learned while abroad. While I could write so much more about how amazing this city is, I have complied the top ten things that I learned in and about this amazing city.

10. I hate pigeons
9. Pret sandwiches are the best
8. British commercials/ ads are very… different… from American commercials/ads
7. Travelling to other countries is easy
6. Public transportation is the greatest
5. “Pedestrians first” is not a fathomable idea. But “pedestrians last” is
4. Everything is expensive
3. It’s never acceptable to not look your best everyday
2. Keep you’re head up while walking the streets… you might just spot a celebrity
1. 4 months in London, and it’s still not enough time

Most importantly, I would learn it all over again in a heartbeat.

To Live In a Castle

How amazing must it be to live in a castle? Growing up, little girls all over the world watch movies and wear tiaras, wondering what that life would be like.

This past weekend, I visited Windsor Castle, about an hour trip out from the center of London requiring a tube and train transfer. This castle was occupied by King Henry I and King Henry II. Windsor is beautiful with its stone walls and its panoramic view of England that stretches to the horizon, a very suitable place for the King of England to live. However, being in Windsor and seeing the states apartments with the thousands of weapons and hand crafted plates, I wasn’t left thinking “how amazing this life must have been”, but more of “it is too exhausting to live here”. By that, I meant Windsor Castle is HUGE. I really do mean HUGE. Walking around for an hour and a half and I was exhausted and I just think how tiring it must be to live there since it requires a five minute walk to even leave a single room. Granted, there are royals living in this building, and they did not occupy the entire castle all of the time, but regardless its a days event to walk the grounds.

I know every girl wants to be a princess, I do too. When we envision our castle, its huge and elegant and perfect, just as fairy tales taught us that it should be, but it never crossed my mind that the larger the castle the harder it is to enjoy everything within it.

That is not to say that every girl shouldn’t dream big, or strive to live in these great, beautiful homes, but the fabulous lifestyle that we associate with royalty may not be all that amazing when they need a golf cart to get from one side of their castle to the other.

Still have those Midterms

When you move to a crazy, new, and exciting city you want to do everything. You want to see everything and try everything. The world truly becomes a place of endless opportunities.

London is one of those great cities that is able to offer whatever you are looking for. There is history, there is romance, there is fun, and there is life. It is one of the many things that I love about the city. That, and the fact that I can communicate with the same language. (It is very difficult and stressful when you cant understand someone).

The one thing that doesn’t change however when you move from city to city at the age of 20 and are still in the education system is the existence of midterms. You tend to forget while you are out exploring, that you still have to study and pass classes. This is one of the biggest heartaches of studying abroad.

What makes midterms while studying abroad especially difficult is when you have them while everyone else is on spring break. You see, at least for the program I am in, SU London, we started school a week later than the rest of most of the United States. That part was fun because we were still on winter break while everyone else had started school, but now it is not so much fun. As our calendar is shifted by a week, we also have to deal with the fact that everyone’s friends want to come visit and we still have responsibilities with the books. Life then becomes the ultimate balancing act.

So while we are able to be out exploring new things, the tether of being a student gets tight at the most inconvenient times.

 

Right out of a magazine

Yes, I know I am in London, one of the fashion capitals of the world. I try hard to keep my fashion always on point, as much as I can anyway ( I am huge fan of leather leggings… I proudly own four pairs, various styles and colors of course!). My outfits are always complete with jewelry that matches and of course the shoes as well. I do what I can to keep myself together. Back at school, you will see a typical girl wear leggings, UGG boots, and an over-sized t-shirt, but living in London is something else. Fashion is to be taken seriously. I prepared for this obviously. I love fashion and I couldn’t wait to see what the street wear was like. I read the magazines, watched the fashion shows, and followed designers on instagram, but nothing prepared me for the fact that in addition to people wearing high end clothes and looking amazing 24/7, they themselves also look high end.

I cannot tell you the number of times my friends and I are walking down the street and see a gorgeous amazon with legs to the heavens, hair perfectly imperfect, wearing an outfit that if I put my entire trust fund towards it I could afford, and let us not forget her gorgeous beau next to her with great fashion sense himself might I add, and we just look at each other, my friends and I, in complete shock at the beauty that walks the streets of London.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my hometown of El Paso, Texas, but you will never see a girl like that walking the streets. I mean these people look like they are straight out a magazine. They wear clothes with the names of brands I haven’t even heard of because lets face it, I couldn’t dream of affording them. But I am not only in a fashion capital, I am among models. It’s like Burberry couples run this place, or at least the street anyway, and my “fashion” cannot compare. Granted I will never look like those girls and I don’t mind that. I love my petite, curvy figure at 4’11”, but I have step up my style game. I want to walk the streets, and own it like they do. I want to have that Blair Waldorf/ Carrie Bradshaw strut knowing that I look fabulous and there is no one can tell me otherwise. So in light of this experience I have come away with an even greater passion for fashion and adventure in the clothes that I wear.

However, in life everything needs a silver lining, and my silver lining for this brooding jealousy inside me when I see these models is that I am getting fashion tips from them without them realizing it and for that, well I see the glass as half full!

The day I became a kid again

Part of the pains of growing up is the inability to hide from what life throws at you. Well I mean, I guess you could, but you would have to come back eventually. Society says so. I think college is that weird transition time where you want to be all grown up, but not really. It’s that time where you realize that your lunchbox days are over and you flip from day to day whether that is a good thing or not.

                        Hogwarts

But no matter how old you get, there is always that one thing that makes you become a six year old. That one place where your childhood comes back. A place where worries go away and your imagination returns. The Making of the Harry Potter, WB Studio Tour was that place for me.

Let me begin by saying, when I was in the 1st grade the first Harry Potter film came out. My mom would read the second and third book to me and my brother as a bed time story. By the time the fourth book came out, I was able to read on my own and continued to finish the series. I was at EVERY first showing of each film. The first couple of films I would get to the movie theater at 6 in the morning (this was before midnight showings existed… If you could ever imagine such a time) and then at midnight as I got older. The final film came out when I was in the 10th grade. This entire series spanned my childhood, from the 1st grade to the 10th grade, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it. I didn’t only see Harry, Ron, and Hermoine grow up, I saw myself grow up. I think because of this, people my age, in their early 20’s, are especially attached to this magical world. We truly “grew up” along the characters. I know what you may be thinking, this girl is total Harry Potter nerd, and let me tell you, I am proud to be one.

So when I walked into the Warner Brothers Studio Tour, chills went through my entire body. I couldn’t stop smiling. I was apart of a world that meant so much to me. I got to walk through the doors of the Great Hall. I got to visit the Dursley’s house. I stepped inside the night bus. I was next to the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets. I walked down Diagon Alley. I visited Olivander’s wand store. I stepped into Dumbledore’s office. I learned how to fly a broom. And most importantly, I made it to Hogwarts. I saw it with my own eyes, the “fictional” world come to life. I stood where the characters stood. I saw what they really wore. I was in their world, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I was a kid again.

I think the greatest thing of it all was that I got a chance to be a kid in a place where I am forced to be a grown up. I am in a strange city with strange customs, and I need something to comfort me. Harry Potter was that comfort. It was something that I knew, and that is why I needed it the most. Because even 13 years after I saw the first film, it had the power to bring me home.

I wish I was on Broadway

In high school I was a dancer. Actually, since the age of six I have been a dancer, from ballet to jazz to tap, you name it. It was something that made me who I am today, but I would never have considered it a career. I simply wasn’t good enough. That thought was ever more clear last night when I watched 12 year old Matteo Zecca brilliantly own the stage.

The star of Billy Elliot the Musical, could turn like it was nobody’s business, tumble like it was nobody’s business, tap like it was nobody’s business, and not mention sing and dance. He had it all. How nice that must be, to find that thing that makes you incredible, the thing that you are incredible at doing. I, who had danced longer than this kid has been alive, sat there in awe at the lack of skills that I have. I sat there with my jaw dropped at his incredibleness. I could just image the amount of intense training and complete skill it took for him for him to reach the point the he was at. All I can say is that that boy right there is a star.

The musical itself was brilliant. Although I had watched the film many years before, there is nothing like watching it live. The world swallowing you in, and this play had me. I have always been a fan of theater, Broadway and musicals alike, but the fact that I watched a British musical in Britain was that much more special. Not only was it an incredible play, but I am in an incredible city that allows for the magic to happen. And this show was magical.

The Super Bowl in the U.K.

The Super Bowl is an American holiday. An emphasis on the word “American”. Being in the UK has its benefits, I am immersed in a new culture and its incredible. However, the Super Bowl culture is not here.

I’m a Texas girl with a few of the stereotypes that come with it. I love steak, I own cowboy boots, I love country music, I was on a drill team in high school, and most of all, I watch football. But this year, it was a completely different experience. I, along with a couple of guys that live down the hall from me, went to a club to watch the game. Yes, you read it right. I went to a night club to watch the Super Bowl. Don’t misunderstand me however. It wasn’t a dance all night in stilettos and sing along to the DJ kind of club. It was just housed in a nightclub. There was, however, a pool if by chance you felt like swimming and celebrities (Adebayo Akinfenwa, AFC Wimbledon soccer player was 10 ft in front of us the whole night), but honestly some of them I didn’t know because I’m not British, I’m American and I was there to watch some football.

There were chairs (if you were willing to pay, which we did) and a giant screen where they showed the game. We were surrounded by mostly Americans, as far as I could tell, the channel we were watching did not. So what was different?

Well for one, the famous Super Bowl commercials? Yeah, that’s a strictly American thing. I KNOW RIGHT?! Bummer. The title of the program was “The Super Bowl: American Football”, as if that shouldn’t be a bit obvious. In addition, for those in the U.K. who lacked the knowledge on the rules of the game, they were continually explained within the program as well as where there should have been commercial breaks. Three men: an assumed journalist, a former NY Giant who grew up in London, and a sports man who I am guessing wrote Football 101, reviewed what happened previously to the audience. Also, with the noticeable time difference between American and Europe, the game started at 11:30 p.m., meaning I didn’t get home until almost 4. To say that that was just a few of the differences in watching the Super Bowl in the U.K., it was definitely made up by the fact that it was a GREAT game.

I was going for the Seahawks, only because I think Tom Brady needs to spread the love, don’t you think? You can’t be gorgeous, have great bone structure, be married to a super model, have a perfect family, live in a mansion, be a beloved quarterback in the NFL, and have three super bowl rings. Its just not fair. But regardless of all of that, I was on the edge of my seat the entire game and that is all any American who is not a die hard for a team playing can do.

All in all though, I had a great time with new friends, and Super Bowl XLIX was one that I will never forget.

How Did I Get Here?

When you decide to study abroad (or go anywhere rather) without knowing a single soul, it’s always in the back of your mind and stomach “Who am I going to hang out with?” Us humans love companionship, even this human right here.
When I left for freshman year of college I was in the same situation and I was fortunate enough to stumble on two individuals who I genuinely call my best friends today. Some of my favorite people, honestly. But that kind of luck, does it happen twice?
Well I moved to London anyway, not knowing if it would but hoping so. I mean finding one soul that I get along with couldn’t be too difficult, right? Well I did. It has been 10 days and I already feel at home (I think London itself played a role in that. Who doesn’t automatically fall in love and want to immediately move to London as soon as they step foot in it?). But regardless, I found my “clique” and I couldn’t be happier. These girls (there are 7 of them) are so smart, funny, incredibly sassy, and they make this trip so much more fun.
We’re all completely different on the outside and come from different walks of life, but we get along so well.
So where did all this realization come from? When I was sitting eating our after Stonehenge pizza (all of us having our own) and I looked at the people I now associate myself with. We were laughing, talking about gossip, sharing food,  and two weeks ago we didn’t have a clue who the others were.
It’s interesting how quickly you get close to each other when you’re all on this crazy journey together.