Week Two: First Week of Classes & Free Trips!

So after being here for a week and doing some sightseeing and exploring, classes finally started! I am taking four classes here this semester, all having to do with one of my majors. I am taking two business classes: Distribution and Retail Management and Advertising Management. I am also taking two media classes: Web Design and Fashion and Media.

I started off the week with going to a class called Contemporary Visual Culture and after one class I knew I wasn't going to like it. I didn't want to be in a class that I knew I was going to be miserable in, so I went to talk to my advisor and she suggested the Fashion and Media class. I am happy with my decision to change classes!!

Classes are so different here than they are at St. Mike's. Instead of having a ton of assignments throughout the semester, we only have two or three assignments that count for our grade for the entire semester. To make life more interesting, our final exams are worth up to 50% of our grade. Also, in every class I am in we have a huge group project to do. I have had to do plenty of group projects in the past, but not in every class I am taking for the semester! It will be interesting managing four different groups, but it will be worth it!

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Since I only have class Monday through Wednesday, I have a four day weekend! Thursday wasn't too exciting, but on Friday my friends and I went to Oxford Circus to do a little shopping and more exploring! There are a ton of stores there, including a Primark, which until recently was only a European store. They just put one in Boston, which is great news!! I had never been there before but it was quite an experience. Honestly, I love shopping and this was just plain old overwhelming, but in a good way! Everything was extremely cheap (in price) and there were sooo many options! Easily my new favorite store! Friday night Richmond had a start of the semester party at a bar called Loop. It was a lot of fun and it was cool being in a bar with other people from my school.

Primark!!

Loop Bar.

Saturday during the day we got a free trip on the London Eye. We waited in a ridiculously long line to get on, but hey it was free! The experience was really cool though, so I am glad I did it! The view was absolutely amazing. I really want to go back and see it at night, the view would be even more amazing!

On top of the London Eye!

On Sunday we woke up bright and early to go to a day trip to Bath, England. My friend Abbey studied here over the summer and it was somewhere she told me I had to go! It was such a beautiful city. Obviously, much smaller than London, but very quaint and cute. We got a free entrance to the Roman Baths, which are so cool. They are the only hot water springs in England. They are surrounded by Roman ruins. They have built a whole new building over the ruins, with a museum inside that shows the actual ruins. I was kind of disappointed there was a building built around them, I think it would have been really cool to have left them the way they were and built the museum and exhibit around them. Still, it is cool to have said I have been there! On the way out you get to try the actual water, which is said to having healing powers. As soon as I took a sip, I wish I never had. It was warm and tasted like..... iron. Ew. But, hey at least I can say I've had it! After the trip to the baths, we got to explore a little. Walking around and seeing the cool little alley ways and shops around the city. We ate lunch at a place called The Stable, which was a pizza and cider place; it was cute! Our tour guides then took us on a quick walking tour of the city, which was cool. We got to see the "circus" which is a perfect circle made of apartments and a rotary in the middle of the city. We also go to see a huge park the Princess Victoria opened before she became Queen. After our day in Bath, we boarded the bus again for the two and a half hour drive back to London! It was a successful weekend!

Panorama of the Roman Baths!

That's all for now! Next weekend we are going to Paris... stay tuned! :)

Week One: Exploring London

So I have been here for about a week now and I absolutely love it. This week was insanely busy with orientation events for all of the study abroad students.

Once I arrived to my dorm on Tuesday morning, I settled in and unpacked all of my things. My room is extremely small and the bed is really uncomfortable, but I can deal with that because I am able to explore Europe! Later on in the day we received a walking tour of Kensington, the bureau that I am staying in. Kensington is the wealthiest bureau in London so all of the houses around my dorm are extremely nice and very very pricey! Kensington Palace is just a few minute walk from where I am staying, which is where Kate and William live with their kids. After our walking tour we got dinner in the dining hall, my first taste of food since I got off the plane earlier that day. We ended the day with an introduction to Imperial Bar and Imperial College, which we have access too through our school! I met a few people there and it was interesting trying English drinks! My first day was the longest day, I was up for more than 24 hours!

On Wednesday we had a bus tour of London! We woke up and ate breakfast and met in front of my building by 11:30 to walk to the busses! On the bus tour we got to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, we drove over the river so we could see the London Bridge, and we also drove by the London Eye! That night we had tickets to see Wicked, which was awesome to see in London! It was my first experience on the Underground too! In order to get to the theater we had to take the tube. It was an overall exciting day!

Thursday was just as exciting! We even got to explore a little bit on our own. We had the option of going to a seminar where someone came to talk to us about how to travel cheaply around Europe, so I went to check it out. There was also an Orientation fair that I went to, just to see what was going on in there. Afterwards my friends and I went and walked around Kensington High Street where there are plenty of shops and stores to go into! We went into T.K. Maxx (the UKs version of T.J. Maxx) and there was even a Whole Foods. The travel seminar and the orientation fair were in both of the Academic buildings, so I felt better knowing where those were for when classes start on Monday! That night there was a boat party that we got to go to! It was really cool being on a boat on the Thames in the middle of January. The sights from the boat of the London Eye and of Big Ben were so pretty. After the boat party we went to a bar across the street called the Walkabout, which was super fun. It was Karaoke night at the bar, so it was fun to dance to drunk British people singing awfully! The tube closes at midnight, so trying to get home was interesting. We had to take a night bus home, which is fun! I am slowly getting to know how to get around this city and its exciting to know in a few months I will be able to get around no problem!!

My roommate and I on the boat!

Friday was more relaxing. We had library orientations, but after that we went back to Kensington Gardens to take pictures. There's a gorgeous pond with Kensington Palace behind it. When we were there the sun was starting to set and there were swans and birds swimming in the pond. It was gorgeous and I got some great pictures! We then ventured off onto the streets of London to try and find a grocery store so we could get some snacks for our rooms! Walking around is interesting considering half the time we have no idea how to get around... We'll get it eventually! Later on as part of orientation, there was a pub crawl to three near by pubs and a club! It is nice seeing the local pubs for when we are looking for some place near school!

Our meal plan doesn't work on the weekends, so we have to find our own form of food! We went to try a place around the corner called Sandwich World, which was pretty cheap and decently good. After we ate headed out to Kings Cross Station to see the famous Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. Of course, I got the classic picture holding onto the carriage they put in that is halfway through the wall! Alan Rickman, the actor who played Severus Snape has just recently passed away, so next to the platform, fans had started shrine for him by placing flowers and candles with pictures of him. That night we went out to Piccadilly Circus to see Lumiere London, which is a light show that was happening that attracted a ridiculous amount of people! They even closed off the streets the light show was on. It was amazing seeing that many people in one place. After we saw the light show we found a pub and sat down to have a couple of drinks. We started to go home around midnight, we had a long day!

Off to Hogwarts!

Lumiere London at Piccadilly Circus!

Today, Sunday, was fun too! I finally got to sleep in which was nice because I had not yet gotten to do that! We went to Trafalgar Square to explore a little bit in the afternoon. Its a gorgeous place with fountains and a ton of street performers... in fact, a floating Yoda decided to pull me over and kiss my hand after putting his hat on me. It was funny, but a little creepy!! There is an art museum in the square called the National Gallery that we got to go in and explore. A cool thing about London is that all of the museums have free admission, so it is totally worth it to go in everyone and look around a little. Afterwards we went out to eat at a place called Garfunkel's,  where I got a great cheeseburger!!

Yoda!!

Trafalgar Square!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, I can't wait to see what this next week has to bring!

That is all for now!

Traveling across the pond...!

Hi everyone! 

For those of you who don't know, I am a Junior at St. Michael's college in Colchester, Vermont. I am a double major in Business and Media, Journalism and Digital Arts! For the spring semester of my junior year I will be studying in London, England! 

London has been some place I have always wanted to go, and it's a good spot for me to me in to study and travel around Europe. My dad always used to travel to these cool countries for business and I think that's where I get my love of travel from. 

I have traveled my whole life, and have wanted to explore the world ever since my parents took me on my first vacation. I've been to Hawaii, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona, Utah, and all around New England with my family. I have even done volunteer services in Antigua, Guatemala and I did an exchange program my senior year of high school to Valladolid, Spain. However, I have never gone off and done something completely alone before, and I saw this opportunity and jumped on it. 

I am so excited to live in a different country for a semester and study there as well. I plan to travel as much as possible and will continue to post about my experiences on this blog! 

I am currently on the plane to London as I write this and I couldn't be more excited and nervous. I have no idea what to expect and the anticipation of this trip has been eating away at me every since I got accepted to the program back in October. Saying bye to my friends and loved ones was difficult but looking ahead to what is to come this next semester makes the sadness of goodbyes totally worth it! I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you and all of my friends and family!!

Cheers!