The Perfect End

I can't believe this semester is already coming to an end.  It feels like I've been here for just over a week, like spring break just happened two nights ago.  Every semester seems to fly by, and yet somehow each semester after that seems to go a little quicker.  I've never quite figured it out, and I don't think that I ever will.  I have come to realize it's going to happen, though, so I knew it would feel like no time had passed when I was packing up and moving out of 37 Hyde Park Gate. 

The farewell week of this semester has been busier than most, which I didn’t know was possible.  We had theatre, meals, and museum visits.  This week sounds very similar to most other weeks of the program, except for what happened at the end of it.  On Thursday night, we had a surprise event for our farewell dinner.  It turns out this event was a river boat cruise on the Thames.  It couldn’t have been a better experience, a better night.  The food on the boat was delicious, it was a vegetable and brie starter, a cranberry, mushroom, spinach, and tomato puff pastry entrée, and a chocolate mousse dessert.   We also were joined by Mary, Josh, Steven, and our professor Justin along with his family.  Justin’s son made the night!  He wandered around dancing, taking photos, and being the life of the party. 

There was a point in the night where I was able to spend a little time on the open upper level of the boat.  The view was indescribable.  To be riding down the River Thames on a boat with the city of London lit up all around me was something a lot more magical than I was expecting anything on this trip to be.  And it is not because I wasn’t expecting magical things, it’s because this blew any expectation I ever had clear out the window.  It definitely made it obvious to me how lucky I am, how lucky we all are, to have been able to spend an amount of time, however small, in this wonderful place surrounded by each other. 

I like to think I’ll be back here again before too long, but I can’t say with certainty when it will be.  I can say with certainty, however, that I know it won’t be the same.  Nothing can top, or even match, this experience.  My time spent in London has truly been a fairytale. 

End of the Semester Checklist

At the beginning of the semester, I created a checklist for myself of everything that I wanted to get done in my time abroad.  It ranged from countries to theatre to shopping to beaches.  I heard over and over again from others who had studied abroad that unless you wrote it down and worked every day on crossing things off, you’d leave with regrets that you didn’t do everything you wanted to.  And this was the absolute LAST thing I wanted to have happen.  So far, I’ve crossed out 95% of my list.  I’ve visited all the important sites, like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Parliament, and Abbey Road.  I’ve also visited a lot of the nearby cities including Brighton, Windsor, and Salisbury.  I also paid visits to many of the countries that I wanted to- Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Holland, Italy, and Scotland.  All this traveling hasn’t even begun to satisfy me, though.  I want to do more, I want to see more.  This trip has made me want to travel more than ever before. I want to walk the streets of Central Park in New York City, and cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  I want to go skiing on the mountains in Colorado, and visit the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.  I want to experience the cold beauty of Alaska. I want to try a fishing trip to Canada. I want to visit other places in the UK and England like Wales, Liverpool, and Manchester.  I want to visit other places in Europe including France- to see the beautiful countryside, Spain, Greece, Germany, Turkey- to lay on the clear blue beaches of the Mediterranean, and Iceland.  I would like to be able to pay my respects at a concentration camp in Poland.  I want to visit other areas such as the rainforests and waterfalls of Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile.  I want to see the kangaroos and koala bears of Australia, and take a boat over to New Zealand.  I want to visit the hot humid desserts of Africa and ride around on a camel’s back.  I want to dig a tunnel to China to get a glimpse of the great wall, and then head over to Japan. I’d love to zip line through the trees of Costa Rica, or take a cruise around the Bahamas. I feel like I’ve seen and done so much, and yet I’ve only just begun my journey around the world.  There are so many things to see and do; there are so many experiences to be had. 

Tea Parties

When I was 6 years old, I used to throw tea parties for all my friends.  Getting dressed up , drinking out of plastic cups, and eating cookies was our definition of an afternoon well spent.  I don’t think I ever imagined (or ever could have imagined) what it was actually like to go to a real afternoon tea in England.  Afternoon tea at the Gore Hotel last Wednesday was everything I could have imagined and more.  It was fancy, filling, and delicious!  We started out with just some tea, and then went on to enjoy crust less sandwiches.  There were sandwiches of all varieties, my favorites being the cucumber and egg with mayo.  The sandwiches were followed by scones, one plain and one raisin, served with clotted cream and homemade jam.  Last but not least, we finished with some desserts.  The varieties of desserts were all rich and scrumptious.  They included éclairs, chocolate fudge brownies, and lemon tarts.  By this point in the meal, I was completely full, but I definitely made room anyways.  I made it through one éclair, one petite lemon tart, and halfway through the most rich and filling brownie I had ever tasted.  I could barely move after the meal, but I felt it was for a good cause.  The atmosphere was also really great.  It was a beautiful spring day (warm enough to wear a simple spring dress), and I was surrounded by all my friends.  The tea was also followed up by my first ever trip to the ballet.  We went to the Royal Opera House to watch a performance of Cinderella, which was also breathtaking.  The gracefulness of the dancers and talent of the orchestra really combined to put on an exceptional show.  Being that I had never been to the ballet before, I had no idea what to expect.  I was once again blown away (I have started to expect this of my London experiences).  The fluidity and movement of the dancers painted the ever-so-familiar story in my head with a very unique and distinct style.  It was definitely an experience which inspired me to attend more ballets.  Although we are all trying avidly to avoid the fact that our beloved UW London Semester is coming to an end, it makes it a little bit easier to face knowing that I have seen and done so many wonderful things in my time here.  In just one day I was able to experience two things which I would have never had a chance to do on my own, but things I will definitely now try.  And that’s what I had the most desire to get out of this experience. 

39 Steps to Piccadilly Circus

Theatre was never something I had much interest in.  I saw West Side Story when I was younger, and that's about as much experience as I ever had.  I knew coming to London meant new things, and I learned from students who had been in this program previously that theatre was something new I got to enjoy.  Little did I know that going to see "The 39 Steps" was one of the very first things we would be doing.  This was an exciting first step for me to take.  Though I was still a little jet lagged and overwhelmed, I was exhilarated as I began to explore what London had to offer.  As I stepped off the tube for the first time ever, and began to climb the never-ending stairs out of Piccadilly Tube Station, I wondered what this place could be like.  I’d heard about Piccadilly Circus before, people talked about it all the time.  But when I reached the top of the stairs and looked around me, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The dark night sparkled contrasted the appealing bright, shiny lights on the ever-changing billboards and illuminated the statue in the middle of the circle.  There were tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs.  People of all shapes and sizes were walking around, talking, and generally seemed uninterested in what was going on around them.  To me, this was all fascinating.  If I could have imagined what a night out in London would look like, this was ten times better than that  If it were up to me, I could have stayed and watched the scene for a lot longer, but everyone else was starting to make their way towards the Criterion Theatre.  We managed to make our way inside, and searched the building for the correct entrance to our seats.  The theatre was very much how I expected it- a picturesque old-time theatre with velvet seats and two different levels.  I sat down next to some of the people who would become my closest friends, and watched a frenzied comedy- frenzied because it only contained 4 actors acting as many more than one character each.  I really enjoyed the show, and I enjoyed the experience even more so.  It gave me more motivation than I already had to not let one minute go to waste while I’m fortunate enough to be in London. 

A Daily Routine

Life in Madison is pretty basic.  95% of the time, life revolves around school.  Waking up for lecture, finishing up homework for discussion, deciding which library to study at, preparing an analysis for lab.  Oh, and then doing it all over again.  I don't know how anyone could ever get by if they didn't enjoy what they were studying.  But, here? Here everything is different.  Here every day is a new adventure, here every day is filled with new people and new places.  Here there's never an excuse to be inside (even if it's raining).  Here is never the same thing twice.  Here I wake up in the morning and get to go for a jog in the beautiful Hyde Park.  Lately, there has been all types of flowers blooming, and leaves have begun to grow on trees.  There's people walking dogs, people walking, people paddle boating.  All new people, all new adventures.  After that, I usually shower and make breakfast.  Then, depending on the day, I'll either head off to class, head off to do errands.  These errands can range from grocery shopping to mailing post cards. My least favorite of these errands I occasionally have to run is doing my laundry.  The "crypt" laundry room in Metrogate really freaks me out, and it takes forever!  After that, I usually stop by a sandwich place or run home to make lunch- anything from pizza to stir fry.  If I don’t have class in the afternoons, they are usually spent shopping.  Sometimes for shoes, sometimes for school supplies, sometimes for souvenirs, but mostly for clothes.  Anywhere from Camden Market to Kensington High Street to Oxford, I'm usually down to go on a shopping spree.  My wallet doesn’t generally have as much fun as I do, though.  After this, it’s dinner time.  I didn’t realize how much my schedule revolved around food until I began to write this week about my daily routines.  Anyways, dinner comes next. Though normally I make myself dinner at home, sometimes there’s more exciting plans such as going out to dinner for a friend’s birthday, or eating a delicious dinner at an Iraqi restaurant for a pound.  After dinner, I’ll usually catch up on some TV shows or do some reading.  I also get my homework done, unless we have an evening event such as a pound trip to the theatre or to a ballet.  The thing is, I don’t usually get up and do it all again the next day.  Each day is different, new, and exciting.  It’s definitely a lifestyle I could get used to.

Lyrics of London

It's always exciting to be able to relate to celebrities.  Whether your high school, hometown, or state is mentioned in a song, movie, or book, there's definitely a feeling of enthusiasm.  Being from Memorial High School, Eau Claire, WI doesn't give you many such opportunities.  Chippewa Falls, WI, is mentioned in the movie Titanic, and Milwaukee is referenced in Love Actually.. and that's about all I've got.  I've been listening to songs about London my entire life, most the time without even realizing it.  So, as I began to look into traveling here, I became accutely aware of all the London references I heard in songs I played on a day-to-day basis.. and those I was just hearing for the first time. 

So, as I decided to write this week about my favorite musical London references, I had to figure out a way to group them.  I thought grouping them by places I've been, and places I have yet to go, would be the easiest way to go about this.

Places I've been.  Along with Cat Stevens, I've visited the infamous Portobello Road.  Both Elton John and I have gazed Across the River Thames, and I can relate to Third Eye Blind when they mention a party in somebody's London flat.  Lily Allen talks about a woman "struggling with bags from Tesco".. and as my arms throb from my walk home from the grocery store yesterday, I realize this song probably could have been written about me.  Kate Nash, the Postal Service, and I have all experienced impatiently waiting for a tube at an underground station; I've been to Earl's Court along with Morrissey.  I know what it looked like when the Red Hot Chili Peppers walked through Leicester Square, and I can relate to Bon Jovi's midnight in Chelsea.  Both the Rolling Stones and I have hit up Knightsbridge.

Places I haven't been (or places I wouldn't want to be).  I have yet to walk on Abbey Road- made famous by the Beatles, and haven't had the experience of waking up on a doorstep in Soho like the Who.  The famous nursery rhyme is the only time I heard London Bridge is Falling Down, and I've never waited for the last tube of the night like Simon and Garfunkel. 

The most recent song I've found I can relate to is due to the beautiful, sunny, recently-present spring weather.  In Lily Allen's song about London she says, "The sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why, would I want to be anywhere else?"

Danmark: København og Århus

Having only spent one week split between two different Denmark cities, I can't even begin to do it justice.  I loved everything about Denmark: I loved the people, the architecture, the streets.  I loved the bakeries and the small canals.  I loved having familiar faces to show me around, rather than having to figure it all out myself.  It was nice catching up with friends, though it seems like just yesterday we were discussing how crazy it would be to hang out in Europe the following semester. 
When I initially asked my friend Sam why she wanted to study in Denmark, she told me she wanted to travel somewhere "off the beaten path".  Well, she definitely did.  Though Copenhagen does attract a fair amount of tourists, Aarhus, even though it is the second largest city in Denmark, does not.  It consists of mainly locals: hanging out at their favorite pubs, riding on the buses, grabbing a cup of coffee.  It's definitely a different feel than traveling in the touristy cities; there aren't annoying tourist shops every time you turn around, there aren't bars or pubs where only tourists hang out.  I couldn’t even find a postcard to bring home!
There are a lot of fun things to do, though, especially when you have your own personal tour guide.  Not only was there a lot to do, but a lot of the things things I definitely hadn’t gotten to do in a while.  We went ice skating, biking, shopping downtown (that, I must admit, does not fit in the category of things I hadn’t done in a while), we rode on a ferry, and dressed up for Halloween. It was a mixture of old and new all wrapped in to one.  It was comfortable where it was also fresh and unique.  It was making new friends and getting to spend time with the ones you already have, and have missed. 
I’m so glad to have had the experience I did over spring break.  Denmark was breathtaking, and not as cold as everyone said!  Both the people and the landscape were welcoming, and I was able to instantly feel at home.

FASHION WEEK

It was a harsh reality shock when I began to learn the fashion rules of London in my first week here.  No longer could I wear sweatpants for 3 days in a row, hell, I couldn't even wear them out in public.  Uh-oh.  Along with this, I also learned that I needed to start showering every day, because here it’s more unacceptable to look like a grunge ball.  This was definitely an adjustment, but I’m sure my roommates are thankful. As I began to examine the fashion of those around me to try and better fit in within this foreign culture I had one main observation: there was a lot of black.  Black leggings, black tights, black boots, black gloves, black scarves, you get the idea.  I guess I understand.  Black is an easy-to-wear color: it goes with everything, it’s slimming, it never goes out of style. 

Since being here, I’ve acquired a few articles of black clothing that I now feel I could never go without. 

A long black coat- waterproof of course- that I wear pretty much everywhere I go.  I wear it out on rainy days, out on sunny days, to the market, to the grocery store, to class.  It never fails to match my outfit, and it’s long enough to keep my legs warm, even when the cold London wind is blowing. 

A short black skirt- that I can wear out with almost any top.  I can wear it with shirts tucked in or pulled out, with tights or without, and with any color jewelry.  It’s fashionable and comfy, and for 4 pounds, I definitely feel it was a good purchase. 

Black jeans- original and chic, these jeans can slightly dress up any outfit they’re worn with. They work well if it’s too cold for tights or leggings, and they work pretty well with heels.

Black boots- warm and trendy, these boots go pretty much wherever I do.  They, also, are waterproof and keep my feet nice and dry when it's raining. They can be dressed up to wear out at night, or dressed down to wear around on errands. 

 This collection of black items, more than any other articles of clothing, will forever remind me of my experience in London. 

London's Cuisine

London has given me a different perspective on a lot of the rules regarding one of my all-time favorite things: food. As Americans, we have come to expect certain outcomes when it comes to food.  There are expectations as far as grocery shopping goes, as well as service, portion size, and condiments. 


Grocery shopping is always an adventure.  I feel I have begun to understand the basic rules, beginning with bringing your own grocery bag.  I have become quite fond of my orange-with-yellow-elephants reuable bag which contains the saying "I'm small, sturdy, and strong."  Although the corner got singed off in a lunch-time mishap after the last grocery shopping experience, it still carries groceries no problem.  This is very necessary because the walk from the grocery store to the flat feels like quite the hike when you're carrying 30 pounds worth of groceries.  Another rule of the grocery store? Always check the expiration date. The grocery stores here aren't too much different from the ones at home, besides the fact that they're a little more expensive, there usually isn't quite as much of a selection, and the produce expires sooner.  Flat 2 learned our lesson about products that expire quickly the hard way.


Going out to eat is a different story.  Often times you don't have a server, you simply order from the bar.  This isn't so different from America besides the fact that in America you are usually notified you need to order at the bar.  The tip is always confusing, also, because do you leave one?  Do you not leave one?  Is it included?  What percent do you leave?  The end of the meal is always full of chaos.  Also, as Americans, we are used to pretty large-sized portions.  Perhaps this is why a lot of us are complaining of hunger all the time- the British helpings are maybe half the size of American portions.  I don't know if I've seen any all-you-can-eat buffets or free refills.  Maybe it's best we become accustomed to not having these options.


They also don't have the condiments we're used to.  No ranch or honey mustard?  This would not go over well where we're from.  And, if there is ever salt missing from a table, we are instantly notified of this devastation by Lauren Rosenfeldt.


Cooking and eating in London is something to adapt to.  It's something we can learn from and hopefully something we'll always remember.

37 Hyde Park Gate

“There are few things pure in this world anymore, and home is one of the few. We'd have a drink outside, maybe run and hide if we saw a couple men in blue. To me it's so damn easy to see that true people are the people at home. Well, I've been away but now I'm back today, and there ain’t a place I'd rather go.

I feel home, when I see the faces that remember my own. I feel home, when I'm chillin outside with the people I know. I feel home, and that's just what I feel. Home to me is reality, and all I need is something real.”

When I decided to study abroad, it never occurred to me that London, England- and more particularly 37 Hyde Park Gate- would truly be a place I considered home.  It was a far away country, it was unknown sights and sounds.  It was more of a long-term vacation, but, of course, it was a dream come true.

Home always seemed to be where my parents were, where my bed was, a city I knew like the back of my hand.  Home was my kitchen, home was my closet, a place where all my memories were hidden. But, on my way back from traveling the past couple of weekends, I have come to realize that it absolutely is.  It’s where I long to get back to after being away, it brings me a sense of peace, and a sense of stability.  Its fake fireplace and freezing common room are things I found only too easy to accept. 

Do sometimes I think 37 Hyde Park Gate is going to drive me a little crazy? Absolutely. 

Would I trade it for anything in the world?  Absolutely not. 

The strong sense of affection I feel for this flat, and this city, is a stronger pull than the gravity that holds me to the ground I walk on.  I love the style of the windows, and the style of the doors. I love the tube, I love the parks, I love the shops. I love how much I’m learning without putting forth any effort.  I love the restaurants, the architecture, I love the dogs.  I love my flat- I love its creaky doors, and overwhelmingly loud toilets.  I love the door handles, I love the carpeting, I love the balcony.  I love being surrounded by my friends, and hearing about their adventures as well as sharing my own.  I love the tight knit, interwoven relationships that have been formed here, and I love knowing that these people and these relationships are not something that needs to be left here when I leave this wonderful place I am able to call home.

Transporting a Thought

"American students this is your stop.  This is O'Connelly Street.  American students this is your stop."

I am used to being watched.  I am used to being started at, scrutinized, and gazed down upon.  I'm used to sticking out.  It's something I've come to expect from my journey to London.  But, once again, as the bus driver calls attention to our group,  I feel my cheeks turn a little pink as all the eyes on the bus turn our way.  We all awkwardly stand up and shuffle off the bus, embarassed of not knowing our way.  The humiliation only lasts a minute, luckily, because as soon as I step off the large double-decker bus onto the gray and tan cobblestone path it hits me that I'm here- I'm in Dublin, Ireland- and who knows if I'll ever be back?  I only know that if I am ever fortunate enough to come back, it's not going to be for a long, long time.  So I better make the most of it. 

Busy streets, cars, hustling people.  All cities have these things.  The Guinness Factory, castles, Temple Bar.  These things are definitely unique.  Walking through the streets of Dublin, it's easy to separate the ordinary from the extraordinary-  and there's definitely not enough time to explore the extraordinary.  Starting out at the "Rod to God", "Stiletto in the Ghetto", or "Erection at the Intersection"- as our Irish tour guide would like to say- also know as the tall, silver, needle- like Millenium tribute located just a few blocks from our hostel, we work our way through the massive city.

I'm from the city- I'm from busy streets and gas stations on every block.  Perhaps this is why I'm fascinated with things not from the city.  I'm fascinated by the Irish coastline, small farms, and gorgeous rolling countrysides.  I'm fascinated by the serene feeling, the calm, the overwhelming sense of peace present once you travel outside the city limits.  I'm fascinated by the color green and anything and everything it entails. 

Green is the color of the grass, trees, and bushes.  Green is the color used to describe the effort of preserving it all.  Green is the color of flowers, leaves in the spring, and four leaf clovers.  Green is the color of Ireland.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons I loved it.  I loved the color, the history, the sense of nationality.  I loved the music,  I loved the dancing, I loved the accents.

I love to be at home.  I love having all my things around me, and I love sleeping in my own bed.  With all these things on my mind, however, I have to say that I love traveling the most.  I like seeing things that others deem important to view at least once in your life,  and I like seeing things that I deem important for others to view at least once in their lives.  I like experiencing different cultures and different lifestyles,  it makes me learn more about myself.  I'm so thankful to England and, now Ireland, for providing me with this opportunity.

So, as I begin my exploration of Dublin and myself,  I have to snicker a little bit at the bus driver's announcement at our stop.  I have to snicker as we all shuffle off the bus.  And, lastly, I have to snicker at those staring at me.

Natural History Museum

The moment I will remember most about the Natural History Museum occurred before viewing the exhibits.  It occurred before I learned about the history of the world, and about the skeletons of the many vast creatures that have roamed it.  It happened before I learned about the earthquakes, before the volcanoes, before the caves.  None of these awesome exhibits could even begin to have the impact on me that I had experienced just minutes before.  The moment I will remember most about my visit to this Museum was the first time I saw the building the museum is in, called the Waterhouse Building. 

          The building itself was designed by a man named Alfred Waterhouse, built between 1860 and 1880.  The entrance is a high-arched stairway built in a Romanesque style.  After entry, there is a large grand staircase which leads up to the second floor of the museum, followed by intricately painted ceilings, and elaborate sculptures.  The overall effect of the architecture of this building was absolutely breathtaking.  The old style of architecture- a mixture of Romanesque and Victorian- was so classic and simple in design while being complex at the same time. A lot of this is due to the simple yet elegant building materials, consisting of glass and bare iron. The amount of work put in to the creation of this astounding framework, especially without modern building equipment, is absolutely unfathomable.  It shows more than just determination, though. It displays teamwork, work ethic, and a respect for the arts.  It shows that the English in this time period had much more of a sense of true beauty than we do today.

          The entire building also follows the theme of the museum.  The art on the ceiling contains plant paintings, and the sculptures located both inside and outside of the building are of plants and animals.  The four sections of the museum contain articles that relate to what can be found in that section- from Darwin’s evolution to the age of dinosaurs, followed by  Earth’s ecology and the wonders of our planet.  As fascinated as I was by the exhibits and navigation of the museum, I could not get past the ornate detail that was engrained in every piece of the building around me. 

          In general, I have been quite astounded by all the architecture around me in London- which is not surprising, seeing as London is known for its architecture.  It is a fascinating subject to me, I think, because it is so unlike anything we have in the United States.  We have nothing to show for the first hundred years of mankind’s existence, whereas London has the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and countless others.  It is truly fascinating to be surrounded by all these amazing historical features.  A lot of the buildings from around London were built in the early 17^th century and follow Victorian style architecture.  The tall, connected flats that are the image of London housing “Georgian housing” stem from the Georgian Era of London, running from 1714–1830; it amazes me that the buildings were built steady enough to last through all these years. 

          All-in-all, the Waterhouse building (the Natural History Museum) contains 70 million artifacts. It is a huge, incredibly impressive museum in an even more impressive building.  To be able to witness something on the other side of the world with so much history and meaning behind it is an once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it is the sort of thing I hoped to experience on my trip abroad.

Introduction

For as long as I can remember, the things going on in the world around me only made sense when placed in organized, arranged patterns.  Each time a new piece of information was observed and added to my collection of knowledge, it was stored with other facts similar to it.  It was easier to process the objective versus analyzing the subjective.  This tendency began to surface in its simplest form, when, as a toddler, I would climb up onto the shelves in the kitchen and organize the disarray that was my mom’s canned food collection.  Everything works best, in my mind, when it is kept neat and structured.  Growing up, I was never told to clean my room, mainly because my room was kept neater than anyone’s who could have made this request of me.  Actually, quite often I was asked to inspect my sister’s room after she had been told to clean it, to verify that it was clean.

This obsession eventually led me to become a very rational person.  Simple calculations and formulas were always easy for me to understand, whereas writing stories and poems was something I had learned to dread.  To me, it has always been easy to solve a problem if you have an exact, infallible method of getting the answer and, once you have obtained the answer, to verify whether it is correct or not than to analyze the tone in a writer’s voice. No matter how complex the substitution or verification, it was always easier for me to break down the steps of a complicated calculus problem than it was to write the simplest of poems, because I merely had to apply a formula and verify that I had received the right answer. The majority of this perfectionist lifestyle can be attributed to traits I received from my father.  As he works with numbers day in and day out as a banker, I can only assume that his obsession with numbers had a great deal to do with my own.

 After discovering these pieces of information about myself early-on, I knew going into school that the classes I would succeed the most in would be the ones in which I could use numbers and formulas to derive the answers.  I also knew I needed to get away from my hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to really experience life as an independent college student.  As I began taking courses at UW-Madison the fall of my freshman year, I realized that the problems I had been learning about in class could be related to the world around me.  The background knowledge I was gaining could actually show how things worked in the world around me. These problems weren’t necessarily around just to improve my skills in any one subject, they were actual problems faced in professionals in the fields in which I was studying.  From this realization grew my desire to have an impact on the world around me.  Though I was always able to keep my life sustainably neat and organized, humankind has had quite the opposite effect on the world around us, and I hope that my studies are someday able to contribute to the creation of more environmentally friendly possessions and people.

 Being in London has provided me with the opportunity not only to learn about other people and cultures in the world around me, but to observe a different type of world, a different landscape.  The buildings and offices here are so much older and more antique looking; giving the entire city more of a “home-y” feeling to it, even though the population is so much larger.  The small corner coffee shops and cafes often serve homemade food which makes it not only better food, but often a more enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere than the busy, chaotic schedule I am used to encountering during a lunch hour. The history of the city is shown in so many monuments throughout the vicinity, and it is a place people from all over the world come to visit; that makes me realize how lucky I am to have the ability to spend an extended period of time here. The public generally takes the Underground Railroad, bus, or walks, and from this I believe only good can come.  I have high hopes for my time spent in London, as I know things here are so much different from what I am used to.  This change will force me to open my eyes and mind to the things going on around me, and gain a new perspective as I journey off into the world of employment.