The Beginning
After a seven hour flight and a five hour time difference, we landed at London Heathrow twelve hours after we had left Boston. Exhausted, jetlagged, and with a full day ahead of us, almost everyone dozed off on the bus ride to our building. Since the airport was so far away from where we were staying, we got to drive through and experience a major part of London. The rural, nondescript landscape we left at the airport turned into a busy, bustling city. At first, the city was not as different as I had been expecting; I had to pay close attention in order to recognize that people were driving on the opposite side of the road. It was the design of the buildings themselves that proved to be the greatest difference. Although no two were exactly alike, each building looked like it had been designed to be an old English castle, with very intricate and old fashioned architecture.
Driving through Central London, we were able to catch a glimpse of London’s most major tourist attractions. Between my jetlag and the awe of being in a new country for the first time, it took me about ten minutes to realize that Big Ben wasn’t just an ordinary clock, and the London Eye wasn’t just a Ferris wheel. Compared to Boston and Providence, the two very small cities where I spend most of my time, London is gigantic, and full of people who walk with the confidence and purpose of someone who has somewhere to be.
Unlike many other Dialogues, we will be spending a lot of time working and living independently while in London. Each of us has our own apartment and our own internship, and are responsible for schedules and our own well-being. That independence was reflected in our orientation, which focused on getting to know our community and reviewing what our expectations were, in our housing and at our internships. The most helpful part of our orientation was taking a brief walking tour of the immediate neighborhood surrounding our housing, and identifying all of the local grocery and convenience stores and events in the area. That made me feel more comfortable and better prepared to face the day. This knowledge became especially useful after we checked into our rooms and saw firsthand all of the things we were responsible for buying and cleaning throughout the month. The independence and self-reliance became particularly clear to me that afternoon, when my jet lagged exhaustion caused me to sleep through our group travel to our welcome dinner. Instead, I had to quickly figure out how to use the underground train systems alone and during rush hour. It was an invigorating experience, and thankfully all went well. This first day in London has prepared me well for the month ahead, and already begun to show me how to make myself comfortable in my home away from home.
