The start of life in London

Hello Hello

So I have been wanting to start a blog from the moment I stepped off the plane, but somewhere in between falling asleep at the airport, getting lost every time I step outside of my apartment, and now, (still getting lost, but becoming more comfortable with the idea) I completely forgot to stop and record my life experiences in this wonderful city.

The point of this blog is really so that my friends and family can see what I’m up to, and I can be spared of repeating myself 10+ times. It would also be cool to be able to look back at this for reminiscing purposes - just to remember what an epic time I had during my youth, before I got stuck working in a cubicle for 40 hours a week (who knows what I’ll be doing, I don’t).

So, here I am, in London! I arrived a little over a week ago, on the morning of January 5^th. Travelling by myself was very intimidating, and I honestly had worries that I would board the wrong plane and arrive in the Nigerian airport or some other place to which I had not intended to go. But all is good, and I got here pretty smoothly.

My first day here was pretty uneventful - I guzzled 2 liters of water and then passed out for the following, more or less, twenty hours. I had orientation on the 6th and 7th, which consisted of various lectures about how to study successfully here at UCL and what to do for fun in the area. They also seemed to enjoy reminding us that they are ranked the 4th best university in the world, but more importantly, that Oxford is ranked a mere 6th. At least we know we are in good hands. There are a couple hundred study abroad students from several different countries, but of course, the overwhelming majority are from the US.

My room has a sink - unusual, but very convenient.

 I have a prime view of a building with multi-colored panels. It lays in nice contrast with the grey sky, and always brightens my morning when I open the curtains. 

I am living in one of UCL’s apartment buildings. I have a single room but I share a flat with three other students, who all go to school in the US. Unfortunately, I have to cook for myself while I’m here, but luckily I have super nice flatmates who happen to be good at cooking and sometimes generously offer to feed me. Otherwise, my cooking endeavors are usually pathetic, but I do make a mean plate of pasta. There are also a TON of good restaurants where I can blow my money. I love Indian food and there are probably 100 Indian restaurants within a half mile of my apartment. One person who lectured us at the orientation even jokingly said that the national dish here is curry. She might have been serious though.

Strangely enough, being in this great cosmopolitan place, I have found myself clinging to any sign of US culture that I encounter. When I pass a Subway or a Starbucks (which are actually pretty abundant here) I am comforted by a sense of familiarity. On streets or in classes I tune in to the sound of an American accent, again because it's familiar. Being in a new country and not knowing anyone at first was a little frightening, so I clung to these commonalities with the U.S. to ease my transition.

That’s how I felt for the first few days anyways. Now, I have met more people and am finally feeling like a true Brit (not really, but I like to think I look like one when I'm walking along the streets…this simply means wearing more black, and not walking around with a map in front of my face).

I have been having an unusually hard time understanding people in markets and other places. Everyone I meet seems to have a slightly different accent, but they all share the tendency to talk very quickly. So after asking for a third repetition, I just go with what I think they might have said and hope that my response somewhat relates to the comment or question directed at me. It usually doesn't.

In turn, I have become much more self-conscious about how I sound. Suddenly, I am the person who people recognize as foreign when I start talking. Sometimes I find myself wanting to attempt a British accent just so I blend in a little more....but drawing from past attempts, my interpretation of a British accent in fact sounds in no way British. Other times though, my “accent” is a nice conversation starter when people proceed to ask where I’m from and what I’m here for.

      
          So far, I have not seen any of the main, touristy sites. But really I just find enjoyment in exploring various streets in the city. I have visited Camden market, which is a great, vibrant place on the weekends where hundreds of vendors of food, clothing, jewelry, and other such things gather. I initially went that way on a hunt for rainboots (which are very necessary here, you know, considering it rains everyday) but was pleasantly surprised to discover the farmers market and the multiple cheap Indian food stands, as well as the numerous booths selling cheap vintage-y clothing. Needless to say, I spent half of my Saturday there.

           Let me just forewarn you, in case you don’t know me well, that a large part of my life is devoted to seeking out good food, especially since I am incapable (to the point of handicapped) when it comes to making it myself.
           That said, Saturday was also the day of my grand schawarma hunt. I love Arabic food, and when I woke up on Saturday I had an unrelenting desire for schawarma. I was still very unfamiliar with the roads and still without a map, so I essentially followed my instincts to get there - a very poor decision that resulted in 3 miles of aimless wandering and…no schawarma. I called it a day because it was getting dark, and well, raining (but there’s really no surprise there). So, on Sunday I woke up with a mission, not ready to give up just yet on my plans for finding a good schawarma wrap. The day turned out to be beautiful (NO rain whatsoever) so I looked up where I was going, wrote down directions, and walked for about an hour to get to the place. It was closed. BUT, it turns out that I arrived in a place people call “little beirut,” aka the mecca of arabic food and everything that I ever hoped would exist near my home in the states. So I simply walked into the adjacent store to get my long awaited chicken schwarma wrap. The place smelled delicious and I wanted to order everything on the menu, but refrained. From there, I walked to the lovely Regent's park and sat on a bench to enjoy my sandwich. It was the perfect way to end the afternoon.

My classes started on the 10^th, and while I was very excited about my class selections, it finally dawned on me that I was here to study and that everyday would not be spent seeking out good restaurants and site seeing. I’m taking a good variety of neuroscience-related courses which all pique my interest, especially one called the neurobiology of neurodegenerative diseases. It is also very refreshing to hear a professor lecture with a British accent. So all in all, my short time here so far has been a success and I am very eager to see how the next 6 months will go. I am determined to make the most of my time here, and take advantage of as many cultural opportunities as I can (which is embodied in an 8-page Word document entitled “Bucket List - the London edition”).

So I will keep all those who read updated! Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I will have more interesting stories to tell than my lame schwarma anecdote, so please don’t judge me too harshly just yet.

Over and out.