Study Abroad in London

From the time I arrived in London, there’ve been feelings of excitement, joy, wonder, intrigue, and these have pushed me through everyday. Extremely aware of the change this trip was going to have over my life, I entered with open arms. Although I was told this wasn’t going to be a vacation, or a summer camp experience. I didn’t realize how much work I was going to put in for a month. I could’ve visited, on my own, for two weeks and had an experience that wouldn’t have been as grueling. However, I wouldn’t have visited just about every museum in London. I say these things not out of contempt, but precaution to anyone reading this with the interest of attempting their own London Summer Study. It will be hard work, it’s not always going to be fun, and you’ll have to stick it out if you want to accomplish anything. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
The thought of accomplishment is what has kept me through everyday; knowing I’m taking in the culture when I’m least aware of it, I’m learning about myself, and this is changing my perspective of the world. There have been students on this trip that didn’t want to change; they wanted the world to change for them. Thinking of the French as rude, or the English as snobbish were just among the few complaints I heard. I’ll admit is took a second to get used to no one wanting to make eye contact on the tube, or when walking down the street, but anytime I found a ‘reason’ to make conversation, such as the grocery store, I was overwhelmed with polite, interesting people.
With class 3 days a week, going on field trips for all of them and doing personal field trips on the four days off a week was a bit brutal for me. I didn’t realize how hard I was pushing my body walking sixteen hours a day. Having seen the Tate Modern, National Gallery, Courtald, Kenwood House, the British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, and my personal favorite, the Victoria and Albert Museum has been the highlight of my experience. Not just rushed through them, but took in the variety of master works, Cassett, Cezanne, Courbet, Dali, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Pissaro, Picasso, Pollock, Monet, Manet, Rubens, Rembrant, Raphael, Rodin, Renoir, Rothko, Seurat, and Van Gogh just to name a few of my friends that I got to spend some time ‘chatting with’ on this trip.
I do have only one complaint, other than the students who would complain about something everyday throughout most of the trip, and that was the food. Being fed the food here was torture. The environment, however, in which we were placed, is a safe one, just outside of downtown London in a pretty side of town. There are flowers in just about every house, on the sidewalks, and through all the yards. The busses travel to London every 8-10 min from here, and the tube is within walking distance, which puts all of London within walking distance, and the train/tube/bus comes from both Heathrow, and Gatwick the airports of London. It’s very convenient to live in this Hampstead just north of downtown London, and very expensive, the apartments are all one-million pounds for a 2 bed, 1 bath.
I wanted to thank a few people who made this trip really worth while. First off, my parents without whom this wouldn’t have been possible. Maggie, the director, who has been a part of CCSA since forever, was the greatest help in any situation and always a pleasure. My professor, Ken Shipley, did a great job dealing with the huge variety of people that would attend every ‘field trip’, and all of their attitudes. A man I respect for his strength in guidance, pursuit of wisdom, method in teaching, and humor in everyday. Sam with whom I discussed books, art, politics, and didn’t know before this trip but will never forget.
Katie from KY, laughter is a necessary part of living thank you for making it happen everyday. Wait for that guy your worth it. To Holly from MS, your constant smile, positive outlook, and wise advice I couldn’t have done without. Miklos and Peter from Hungary, I know you learned from me, and I learned just as much from you. I enjoyed your thoughts and insight into the world, thank you. I am looking forward to your visit.
I was unaware of just how large the organization is until the other day I asked how many schools are involved. From my class alone we have 7 schools recognized:
Amelia Armstrong, and Mary Courtney Black from Mississippi State,
Cheryl Bak, Victoria Case, and Christi Cotham from Belmont,
Kim Balvere, Ben Schnurer, and Tina Urbi from Austin Peay,
Kristen Swartz (Austin Peay Alumni)
Sarah Hunt from University of Kentucky,
Rachel Jordan from Eastern Kentucky University,
Jennifer Parker from MTSU,
Rachel Lewis from Bellarmine University,
Amanda Perrigo and Bethany Sherer from Western Oregan University.
The directors are just as spread out with Maggie Monteverde from Belmont, Sam Faulkner from Moorehead, Ron Cella and Celia Wall from Murray State.
I will miss you all whether big or small. Your in my life forever more, I wish you all the best and that we will meet again soon.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 9:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.