A Month in the UK, No Way!!!!

Wow!! Somehow, I have already been in Europe for an entire month, meaning I am already a third of the way through my study abroad experience! I hope time slows down because I am trying to soak in every possible moment of this amazing experience I am having!  

My time here has been great so far and quite shockingly, I haven't even felt homesick (knock on wood)! I am patting myself on the back because I have actually done a great job embracing the moment, which is something I usually struggle with. Oftentimes, I never find myself content with the present and I am always looking forward to the future! But here in London, I have been taking in all the moments, whether they be good or bad! For the most part, I have fallen in love with Europe. But of course, no experience can be completely perfect, and I have had highlights and not so highlights of this experience. So these have been my favorite things of this experience so far and the things that haven't been as easy.

THE BEST:

1. Having a best friend to travel and enjoy Europe with! Thank goodness, Morgan and I don't get tired of each other! We realized we haven't spent more than three hours apart, which is actually really sad, but that's okay because we always have fun together!!! (don't worry, we hang out with other people too, we aren't that big of loners! We just are always together too).

2. The awesome people at City University and in the Arcadia Program! Through our study abroad program, we have been able to meet AWESOME people from different universities throughout the US and the world. It is such a cool experience to be outside of the Chapman bubble (not that I don't love Chapman, because I do - it is like my fav place ever), but it's cool to hang out with and meet people from other places too!

3. Being in a city! I love that everything is basically a 20 minute walk or 10 minute tube ride away! I have always wanted to live in a city, so I am very grateful for the opportunity to do so! There is just always so much to do and the shopping scene is great!;)

4. Feeling like a grown up! Being here really makes me feel like an adult! And I know college does that for a person too, but this, wayyy more so! I am in essentially a foreign country, navigating my way around without the help of my parents! Morgan and I planned an entire trip (flights, hotels, bus transport to airport, activities, etc. to Ireland, + more trips to come) without the help of our parents or anyone! It was all on us! And we successfully executed our trip, with zero mishaps! Maybe it's silly, but it feels pretty cool to me knowing that I am responsible enough to do all these adult-ish things!

5. Getting to check soo many items off of my bucket list. Before I left on this abroad trip, I had a pinterest board dedicated to studying abroad! There were all these awesome pictures on it of places that I dreamed of going! I am so glad to say I have already made so many of these come true! Between visiting Big Ben, Brick Lane, having high tea, seeing Kensington Palace, the London Eye, Platform 9 and 3/4, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, Shakespeare's Globe, Tower of London, The National Portrait Gallery, Saint Paul's Cathedral, shopping at Covent Garden (favorite place EVER), Oxford Street, Harrods, and having the opportunity to excursion to so many places! The highlight of my trip for sure has been going to all of these awesome places, seeing so many great things, and making memories of a lifetime!!!

I'm still learning to deal with:

1. The drinking culture: When you don't drink, it can be kind of hard to be social with other people in the evenings. Drinking is a very normal social activity here and people are constantly talking about it, going to clubs, pubs, etc.!  And not that there is any problem with that at all because I totally get it, it just is not my nighttime activity of choice, which ultimately leads me to not doing very much in the evenings!

2. EXPENSES! Oh my gosh, things are so expensive here and the prices are deceiving. When I look at a sandwich at a restaurant and see that it is 11 pounds, my initial thoughts are "yes, this place is inexpensive!" haha jokes on me, because in dollars, that's actually about $16! Plus, every time I use my debit card (which is always), I get charged a handy dandy extra service/conversion charge, so yay for that!! My brain is in a constant battle of I want to do this cool activity, but oh my gosh, I can't spend more money! Looking at my bank account is a very stressful and terrifying thing that I try to avoid as much as possible!

3. SO much smoke! I guess I am used to my US bubble where smoking is pretty frowned upon these days, but all the locals smoke here!! The fire alarm goes off in my apartment building several times a week and I am 99% sure it is attributed to people deciding to smoke in their rooms! It makes me a little crazy! 

Even though I have had my share of frustrations with a few things, that's okay because I know that is all an important learning part of this adventure!:)

Thanks for staying up to date on my abroad adventures! 

Here's to embracing the good and the bad of each of our experiences!

<3Bren