London is a beautiful city. It’s weird because I feel like the UK gets a bad rep for being grey and rainy (which it is) but I love the cityscape and the architecture. I think the very first thing I noticed about London is that it’s a very low city, as in low to the ground. Aside from the newer developed business districts like Canary Wharf, I don’t think you’ll find a single skyscraper in central London due to how old the infrastructure and roads are. It’s just such a change from the sprawling concrete jungles of most major American cities like I’m used to.
The city feels well maintained though. The public transportation system is probably the best one that I’ve ever experienced and it’s so nice to not have to wait any longer than 3 minutes for the next train or bus. Come on MBTA, step up your game!
Having been to three different universities now (inclusive of my current study abroad), it’s so interesting to see how different schools conduct their orientation programs. I’m not sure what Northeastern does for students who study abroad there but my freshman orientation program was pretty intense to say the least; a multiple day affair. When I studied abroad in Australia, there was the usual information presentations on the school, however all the study abroad students had the option to do a 3 day surfing camp orientation or a two day nature/wine county tour with a trip to an animal reserve. I chose the latter.
Here at Goldsmiths, since we all landed and moved in with little to no time before classes began, the orientation was more simple. Not a lot happened but I enjoy that; it lets us students explore the surroundings and get to know the school based on our own needs. I got a tour of the facilities, which is super helpful because sometimes I feel like this place is a maze, and I got to interact with the faculty a little to ask questions on the teaching and assessment styles. I think I’m gonna like it here. The students seem interesting and pretty cool. I told some people that I met that I was studying abroad at Goldsmiths and they joked that it was the ‘artsy hipster’ school. I’m not quite sure how to take that, but hey, at least it sounds fun!
