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Published: December 21st 2008
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I sat on my bed earlier this week and had the moment. It was about 4 in the afternoon and the sun was setting and I had the most perfect and gorgeous view of the London Eye and the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. I’m excited to be going home but after seeing that sight, I know I am going to miss London forever.
I’m going to miss my London afternoon adventures and how it’s so easy to just turn a corner and find that a huge sight is right in front of you. It’s the London Eye, Parliament, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus…
I’m going to miss Thai food and definitely Wagamama.
I’m going to miss my floor mates (most of them). Even after all the drama, I will miss the kitchen parties too.
I am going to miss the coffee shop around the corner that has the most amazing chai recipe. The barista likes me too. He always calls me madam and gives me extra punches on my coffee card.
I’m going to miss the classmates that turned into great friends.
I’m going to miss the diversity of the city.
I’m
going to miss people-watching on the Tube.
I’m going to miss Regent’s Street at night.
I’m going to miss the overwhelming craziness of Harrod’s.
I’m going to miss reading in Hyde Park.
I’m going to miss the annoying street vendors.
I’m going to miss getting asked for directions and how it made me feel like I really belonged here.
I’m going to miss opening my blinds in the morning and closing them at night and seeing all that London has to offer.
I’m going to miss the British slang and I’m sad that I wasn’t able to work it into my vocabulary as much as I had wished.
I’m even going to miss the first few hours I had in the city when I had two heavy suitcases and was separated from only person I knew.
I do have a small list of complaints.
I’m not going to miss grocery shopping and cooking for myself.
I’m not going to miss my dorm room.
I’m not going to miss the exchange rate.
I’m not going to miss the hours of editing group papers when I am the only
member of the group who speaks English as a first language.
I have also had many “firsts” this semester.
I’ve never been to so many museums.
I’ve never skipped so many classes.
I’ve never felt so uncomfortable in so many different places.
I never thought I would get over the accent. But I did.
I’ve never mailed so many postcards.
I’ve never been lost so many times.
I’ve never cared so much to learn everything about one city.
I’ve never missed home so much.
I’ve never had to sleep on this crappy of a bed.
And I’ve never spent so much money!
Everything that I have experienced in the past three months has been too awesome to put into words or pictures. It’s impossible to share the full experience. I can’t give people the bloody hell gasp that happens when you see something in the city for the first time. I can’t make people feel the confusion and frustration that I felt trying to find my hostel in Venice. And I can’t share all the fun I had in the snow in Switzerland. These are things I still
can’t get over and will hopefully never forget.
In the information packets that Marquette provided, I read about culture shock, not only when arriving in England but also coming back to the States. I hadn’t really thought about it but I get it now. After all that I have seen and done in the past few months, everything back home seems so insignificant. What’s the County Club Plaza compared to Regent’s Street? What’s the Milwaukee Art Museum compared to the National Gallery? What does Kansas City or Milwaukee have to beat or even match London? What does the United States have over England? That’s what I’m preparing myself for. I know that I will come home and brag and brag but I don’t want to look down on my home cities. Kansas City and Milwaukee are very different from London but that doesn’t mean that they are bad cities.
I talked to a friend who is also studying abroad and she asked if I think that I have changed much. My immediate answer was yes. I think part of the change is a difference in my worldview. For starters, we live in a huge world! Never in my
life would I have imagined that I would live with five people from England, one from Germany, one from Portugal, one from Greece and two from China! When you look at it that way, the world seems a bit smaller. But in reality, I still haven’t got the slightest idea what is out there.
I thought that I gained independence when I left for college but I’ve gained even more here. Most importantly, I can feed myself. Even if it’s always chicken with rice or pasta and tomato sauce, the job can be done. I have successfully weaned myself off of microwave meals.
I feel confident enough now to go just about wherever, whenever. I can do almost anything by myself. At the beginning of the semester I was dependent on others when we were going somewhere. But today I could tell you what Tube line to take, what stop to get off at and what train to catch without using a map (usually). Two summers ago I was nervous when I had to transfer planes at LAX and now I’ve worked my way through airports when the signs weren’t even in English.
I am so grateful
for this experience. I only wish it could be easier to share. I have met people, traveled places and seen and done things that many people don’t have the opportunity to do. I have wanted to study abroad since high school and I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen it through. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.
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