Transportation in London

June 28, 2017

One of the main reasons I chose this specific Dialogue was because of the internship class. I loved the idea of working for a London nonprofit; getting to interact directly with people and learn firsthand about how the U.K.’s social services and nonprofit sector differ from the U.S. For me, this internship means spending a lot of time traveling through the city of London. Although I am currently living in the Whitechapel area of Central/East London, my internship site is located in West Croydon, which is in South London. To get there, I have to walk about a half a mile to the Whitechapel Tube stop, take the train to the end of the line, and then walk another half a mile to my internship site. The whole trip takes about an hour and a half to two hours, Monday through Thursday. Thankfully, my Friday class is located on the ground floor of my buildings, so I get to sleep in and just take a quick walk downstairs. I’m not an early person, so it can be hard to get up that early in the morning, but it’s definitely worth the work I get to do once I’m there and the sites I get to see along the way.

The London transportation system is incredibly large and comprised of overground trains, underground trains, and of course the bright red double decker buses. To get to my internship, I only need to use the overground trains, but I will use the underground and the buses to get around the city as needed. On the overground, I get to see the scenery change from urban skyscrapers to nature and residential buildings as I get further and further away from Central London. The buses are my favorite, especially when I’m sitting on the upper level. The narrow roads and sudden turns make me feel exactly like I’m on the Knight Bus in Harry Potter.
All public transportation is very clean-no food is allowed-and very fast. Although, like in most places, public transportation gets very crowded during rush hour, I am usually able to avoid the worst of it since I’m traveling outside the city rather than into it. However, just like the T in Boston, the Tube is very temperamental in rough weather. I don’t mind though-it’s a nice reminder of home.

Written By

Danielle Dottor

Hi! My name is Danielle Dottor, and I am a double Criminal Justice and Human Services major and a double Cultural Anthropology and Ethnomusicology minor at Northeastern. I've just finished up my first year, and this will be my first Dialogue. I've never actually left the East Coast, nevermind the country, so I'm really excited for this experience! I'm very interested in and passionate about working with children and adults who have experienced trauma and all of the difficulties that can arise from that. In particular, I've worked with domestic violence, sexual assaults, hate crimes, and human trafficking cases. In London I will be working with older youth who are struggling to find, afford, and/or maintain housing, which includes addressing the domestic violence/abuse concerns that may accompany this need. I will also be taking a class called Intercultural Studies through Human Services, which focuses on understanding how the culture, politics, education, and economy of a country affect and inform their social services. Since this will be my first time abroad, I am particularly interested in learning about how London's nonprofit systems and client needs differ from those in the U.S. I plan to use this knowledge to inform and improve the way I work with clients in the nonprofit system back in Boston and beyond.