London Calling!
I have arrived! I was desperately tired upon arrival after not really sleeping much at all on our red-eye flight and fell asleep right away on the bus to our housing, only to wake up in the middle of Trafalgar Square as we passed the Museum of Natural History, the London Eye, and the Thames River. I was in awe. I have something to admit: I didn’t really know anything about London before getting here. I didn’t know what the main attractions were, how the culture differed, or how large the city was. I just jumped into this Dialogue blind. That being said, I am absolutely loving London! The city is beautiful! I would liken it to a cleaner, more manageable New York or maybe Boston’s big brother.
I’m sitting in the 18th floor common area in my building that has floor to ceiling windows on three sides and I can’t see the end of the city anywhere. It’s massive. Not only that, but London seems to be expanding at the moment. There are construction cranes all over the place and buildings are being renovated every few steps. Yet, it still feels doable. The Tube is like the T in its simplicity, except it’s way newer, cleaner, and more efficient. The architecture in the older areas is unfathomably impressive. We went on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour yesterday and I just couldn’t get over how much history this city has. It makes you realize just how young America is. The buildings and city layout just have so much elegance and class. It’s really interesting though because juxtaposed with Buckingham Palace and Big Ben are buildings in the financial district that look straight out of the future— not just New York style sky scrapers, more like Dubai style feats of engineering impossibility. And on top of all that, there are also neighborhoods that still tell stories of the industrial revolution with their narrow, cramped brick apartments with sloped roofs and chimneys for every unit.
My orientation to London was a blur because it was right after we got to our housing and we were all exhausted. However, a few points did stick out to me. I was surprised to learn that London shuts down early! Everything closes quite early and has very limited hours on the weekends. Even though many of my classmates were very disappointed about this revelation, I was secretly not too upset. I am someone that loves to sleep, so going out early and coming home just after midnight sounds perfect to me. I was also surprised to find out that London gets a ton of daylight in the summers! The sun rises around 4:30 and doesn’t go down until around 9:30, or half 21 hundred, as the Londoner’s would say. I did not expect that at all, and it’s very cool and different from any place I’ve been before. Lastly, I was sort of disheartened and definitely put on alert to be told that since London has so many tourists (they’re from all over and absolutely everywhere), there is a pretty significant scam and pick-pocketing problem. Although I have felt completely safe everywhere in London thus far, I am on constant guard with my wallet and bag. I just know that if I did have money, my phone, or my bag stolen my spirit would be completely crushed, so I would rather be safe than sorry. It’s definitely something that I wasn’t really expecting to have to worry about though, which is definitely naive of me, to think that since London is so similar to America in so many ways, that everything would be the same. I am learning a lot about London but also about myself being here, as I continue to question my preconceived notions and beliefs and get to know the city better. Even though we have such strong connections to England, especially in Boston, I still do feel some degree of culture shock and I am eager to explore that and to continue to broaden my perspective while here.
