Things I Do in London While Procrastinating – Zachary Ashcraft

There have been many changes to my environment and my routine since coming to London. Grocery shopping instead of a dining hall, taking public transportation to class and around the city instead of driving myself (I miss my car), and living with 6 other people comes with its own adaptations and sacrifices. Despite moving to another country and experiencing so many changes, there is one thing that snuck into my suitcase and came along with me: procrastination.

 

Now, this isn’t something new that I have discovered in London. Like I said, it’s something I knew very well in the states that followed me here. My procrastination hasn’t been so bad since starting classes, but it never is at first. The energy I save up over the summer allows me to focus pretty well for the first couple weeks of classes, but it runs out pretty quickly. And being in the middle of London doesn’t help either. Thus, this blog will be a chronicle of what I get up to while abroad while inevitably pushing back work I should probably be doing instead (if you are one of my professors and reading this – I'm sorry. I promise I’ll get the work done in a timely manner).

Since classes started last week, I have, for the most part, been able to blend together enjoying myself and getting work done. One day last week I didn’t have any obligations until a 2pm class, so I decided to spend my morning doing some work in Kensington Gardens. I sat just outside the palace gates and got a good amount of work done. It wasn’t a hot day, but it was definitely warm. However, I was sitting in the shade under a tree and it actually got quite cold with the breeze. When I finished my work, I had about an hour to relax before I needed to head to class, so I went out into a sunny part of the field and ate my lunch and laid on the grass listening to music. I was so relaxed in that moment that I could have stayed there for the entire 4 months and been completely content. Unfortunately, I apparently had forgotten that the sun can hurt me and I did not put on sunscreen to protect my ultra-sensitive skin. When I got to class I realized I had a very bright red sunburn on one side of my neck (the sun was ever so slightly in the west at the time and impacted one side of my body more than the other) and my face. Oh well, it faded after a couple days.

This past weekend I spent Saturday out and about pretty much the whole day. I took a stroll through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and didn’t realize how beautiful some of the hidden-away areas of the parks are. There is one area that is like a botanical garden; you can smell the flowers without even having to get your nose near them.

There was one area that was circular, outlined by hedges and benches with a fountain in the center topped by a statue of a man...wrestling a fish? Whatever it was, I liked it. The scene felt like something out of Alice in Wonderland when Alice goes to the garden, it was beautiful. I also saw the Princess Diana Fountain which, contrary to what you might believe at first thought, is not what you would think of as a conventional fountain. It looks more like a waterslide (a simile supported by all the children playing in it as I passed by. Should they be doing that? Probably not. Did they look like they were having fun? For sure, AND IT’S WHAT DIANA WOULD HAVE WANTED...MAYBE!).

  

I also saw a play after that which I am going to refrain from talking about here because I have to talk about theatre in almost all my classes and it’s not the goal of this blog. But it was a very intense play.

Wrapping up, I should also mention that I was lucky enough to attend one of the BBC Proms this past weekend as well, and I got a free upgrade into really amazing seats! Way better than the restricted view seats in the heavens, and I had a great time.

Culture Shock, Who? By Alys Derby

Whenever people talk about going to another country for any period of time, there’s always the warning of culture shock; most of the time, places are so different from an individual’s home country that they can feel out of place, stressed, anxious, and a general feeling of loss or worry. As a person who is already a generally/socially anxious person, I figured “why not?”

I have never been to another country, been on a flight for more than maybe three hours, left home for more than a weekend, and go to school a mere two-hour drive from my home, oh and meeting new people stresses me out – this’ll be great.

I expected to be a lot more stressed but, aside from one small panic when I got lost in the hotel, I’m having the best time. I love the city and the public transportation and living in the flat and walking to classes. I’ve visited two and a half museums and the Kensington Gardens. My flatmates and new friends have dragged me out to try the local pubs and clubs (something I’d never do back home), and I’ve even found a TARDIS right by my flat in Earl’s Court.

I’m still confused by the postal codes: they seem to change from street to street and have numbers and letters and a space in the middle... I’ll just have to stick to my GPS to figure that part out. However, the city is fairly easy to navigate, and most things are just a tube stop or two away. It also doesn’t rain nearly as much as I expected it to (although it is, in fact, raining while I write this), and AC doesn’t exist literally anywhere. Everyone knows cars drive on the left side of the roads here, and while that only takes a second to get used to while walking, it is an entirely different (and slightly nauseating) experience when taking a taxi – I think I’ll stick to the tube and regular old walking if it can be helped.

Overall, orientation week has been great – tea and cakes at the London Center helps us all get to know each other and see the center (which, hot take: is way more beautiful than Ithaca’s home campus). As we get used to classes and our internships, the LC has been there to help us with all of our questions and concerns no matter how small they may seem.

I look forward to getting to know more of the city, to seeing all of the museums and visiting the palace, spending sunny days in Hyde Park, and just generally experiencing everything London can offer me before I have to get back on a plane to the US.