Welcome to England!

                Today marks two weeks since I have left the United States and it has been quite a busy two weeks! I am currently attending St. Mary’s University in England which is about thirty minutes outside of London. It is located in a peaceful neighborhood in a town called Strawberry Hill, which is as adorable as it sounds. The houses are like something out a story book, and next to my school is a castle like house made out of white stone. It is picturesque England and so far it has been amazing, even though it has been an adjustment, especially where money, food, and driving on the opposite side of the road are concerned.

            At St. Mary’s, I am one of about 50 study abroad students and I have met people from all over the world and all over the United States. It has been an experience that has gotten me greatly out of my comfort zone and forced me to do things that haven’t always been the easiest for me, like put myself out there, and doing these things have already reaped great rewards. I have become more independent and have made many new friends here and together we have traveled around the area, going to the quaint towns that surround the campus and of course to London.

            So far, I have been to London twice and I have guided me and my friends around the city with the help of my map. I visited Queen Elizabeth II Tower, or Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, where I saw the mummy of Cleopatra, Piccadilly Circus, the London Eye, Hyde Park, where I saw a statue of Peter Pan and ate lunch on the Serpentine River, Trafalgar Square, and, my favorite, the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221 B Baker Street.

 I have seen so many things and been in awe of some many sights, which was one of my goals for when I came here. For a great part of my life, I have longed to stare at something in awe and wonder and know that hundreds of years before, someone was doing the exact same thing as I did, and here I can do that, because many things are old and historical and beautiful. At home, not much is older than 150 years old, but here, many buildings and pieces of work are much more than that, and I find that amazing.

           

My other goal when I came here was to not be afraid as much anymore and I can say already that I am not. Now of course, I am still always on my guard, but when I went into London, I was able to lead my group around the large city and get us back home without fearing that we would get lost and on the first day at school, when my friend and I did get lost on the way home from a pub, we were both able to keep our cool and find our way back. For me, those were big events, because it was facing my fears of getting lost and getting lost in a big city and overcoming them, and it made me feel great that I could do it.

            Now, while I am here, I will be doing a lot of traveling, but I am also in school. Last week, I started three of my classes, and this week I will be starting one more. I am enrolled in a history of Queen Elizabeth class, one on women in America, another on writing adaptations, and a theology course on biblical interpretation. So far, all the classes have been extremely interesting and I am enjoying all the information that I get to learn. I am also enjoying my schedule, because at Thursday at 10:00 a.m., my weekend begins and I am free to travel and do what I want, while also doing homework.

Here, you have class once a week and the majority of the work is independent study, so there is a great deal reading to be done. For the most part, I feel lucky that my school has prepared me for this, and I feel as though that is one less thing for me to adjust to here.

            Overall, I am having a great time and I am loving all that I am seeing and while I miss home and the food, there is more than enough here to keep my mind and myself occupied. For example, this upcoming weekend I will be taking a tour to Bath and Stonehenge and I am very much looking forward to seeing both, especially the architecture of Bath. I will be sure to take many pictures and post them here!