Midwestern living in London

By Sam S.

Feb. 2, 2020



It’s been three weeks since I left home to embark on the five month adventure that is studying abroad in London. Before coming to London I’d never left the U.S., and I barely ever left Missouri. Now here I am 4,000 miles away from home navigating the city on my own. I’d have to say it’s been one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.  Don’t get me wrong, it has been a blast so far and I am beyond excited to see what the next four months have in store for me, but I have never done anything like this before. I knew that moving to a new country was going to be an adjustment, and an adjustment it has been. There are several things I have encountered that I have struggled with; here are a few …

Transportation

I grew up in a suburb and have never had to use public transportation before. If I want to go to the store back home, I hop in my car and drive five minutes to the closest Walmart. If I need to go to the store here, I have to take the tube or the bus. Don’t even get me started on trying to navigate the different tube lines and stops I have to take.

Rush Hour

London is a large city with almost nine million people living within the city limits. On top of those nine million there are a lot of people who commute to the city for work and various other reasons, making it busy at all times. When you are out in the city there isn’t a single minute where you will find yourself alone. This is a bizarre experience for someone who lives in a town with less than 10,000 people.

Cheese!

I knew there was going to be an adjustment with the food over here but I never expected to have to get used to the cheese or lack thereof. I have only been able to find two types of cheese since I’ve been here and they are so different than our cheese. I will never take advantage of the cheese in the states ever again!

Communicating with family and friends

At Mizzou I am constantly calling my family and friends just to chat, even if it’s only been a few hours since we last talked. In the past three weeks since I’ve been here, I have only talked to my family a few times. By the time they all get off work or my friends get out of class it’s almost 11 p.m. over here and I’m usually already in bed. The time zone has made it very difficult to be able to talk to them, and I usually end up staying up until 2 a.m. just to have a conversation with my mom.

University

I was made aware of a few differences in the education system but still didn’t know what exactly to expect. A normal class at Mizzou meets for about three hours throughout the week, the classes here meet for four hours once a week. When I found out I only had classes three days out of the week I was overjoyed; when I found out how they hold their classes I dropped all excitement. There is a lecture, workshop, and seminar all on the same day. The lecture is similar to Mizzou’s lectures, seminars are a time to work on our group projects, and the workshops give you time to work out problems that relate to the lecture material. Sitting through four hours hearing about the same material can be very draining.

No Sweet Tea!

England is the home of afternoon tea and has a wide variety of tea, but I have yet to find aplace that serves a nice glass of sweet tea. I survive off sweet tea back home – it’s my lifeline! I personally don’t like coffee so instead I always order a glass of sweet tea to help with my caffeine addiction. It’s starting to look like I need to finally give that up and that is going to be the biggest adjustment of them all.

London Eye
View of the London Eye at sunset over water
About the blogger

Sam S. is studying abroad on the University of Westminster program in London, England.