Going abroad kicks your butt. I mean that in both the literal and metaphorical sense. I’ve only been in London for a month and I’m exhausted – from biking over the London Bridge to dancing at Imperial College, I have been moving around since the second I got here. Sleep seems a million miles away.
But being here has also kicked me out of apathy. While I value and enjoy my college education, it’s easy to become lethargic about schoolwork and socializing – especially when everyone becomes busy and schoolwork gets the best of you. By the end of the semester, like most people, I was in the “finals slump” – slightly crazy, lazy and anti-social.
I guess there’s something exciting about wandering the crowded streets of London. Maybe it’s because being in an unfamiliar city makes a person crave adventure. Or, maybe it’s because I think if I wander far enough, I’ll apparate to Hogwarts. Whatever it is, it’s pretty magical (see what I did there?) and it helped me get out of my cat lady mode. Having what seems like the world at your doorstep can kick anyone out of a mid-college life slump.
A wise girl band once sang, “Never give up on the good times.” My inner Spice Girl decided that this would be my London motto. These would be the words I would remember as I embarked on all kinds of unexpected adventures. I came to London with a lot of expectations, but as the Spice Girls sing and preach, “living is a state of mind.”
I’ve learned that London does not meet my expectations – it completely exceeds them. Let’s say it spices them up. At orientation, a professor told us that we shouldn’t think of London as what we see in movies. And he was right: It’s not like the movies, it’s better.
EXPECTATION: British people are polite, but cold and distant.
REALITY: British people are funny, witty and incredibly friendly when you strike up conversation with them. Case in point: I visited my friends at University of Essex. Did I know where I was going? No. And yet . . . these people I didn’t know shared a cab with me to campus and then walked me to my friends’ dorm to help me find where I needed to go.
EXPECTATION: Everybody hates Americans. They believe we’re loud, obnoxious and overly patriotic.
REALITY: I can’t tell you how many times people ask me to say a certain word because it sounds funny. This is followed by comments like “I’ve been to America” or “I loveee America” or “I want to go to Americaaa.”
EXPECTATION: Super Bowl is an American thing. Most people in England would assume that it was a really serious cooking competition.
REALITY: The best cultural experience I had so far was going to Imperial College to watch the Super Bowl. There were so many British people watching the game and soaking in the whole experience. When the Star Spangled Banner came on, people started chanting USA.
EXPECTATION: I will get lost amidst the tube lines, buses and meandering side streets that make up London.
REALITY: I get lost every day and end up in some of the coolest areas. Unfortunately not Hogwarts (yet) but I’m working on it. Watch this space!
EXPECTATION: Driving the wrong way is no big deal. How hard can it be?
REALITY: A car has almost hit me many, many times. The “look left” warnings painted on the streets aren’t really helpful.
EXPECTATION: I will spend a lot of money.
REALITY: No comment.
EXPECTATION: TV shows aren’t as good as in America.
REALITY: I am addicted – “Made in Chelsea” (I ran into a cast member at a club . . .) and “The Only Way is Essex” are the equivalent of “Laguna Beach” and “Jersey Shore.”
So London has spiced up my life and expectations remain high – I have yet to be disappointed. And somehow, I have a feeling that won’t change any time soon. We’ll see what’s next in store. Cheers.
This is the second of Saba’s columns from London, where she is studying for the Spring 2012 semester. Reading not your thing? Check out a photo slideshow of her London adventures on freepblog.wordpress.com under “Abroad.”
Saba Hamedy is a College of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences junior, and was the Fall 2011 editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press and now a weekly columnist. She can be reached at sbhamedy@bu.edu.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
