Letting Go in London

When the day to board the plane to study abroad in London finally came, I was ecstatic but hesitant at the same time. I had been planning this trip for around a year, and I was finally going to be living in a city that I had been in love with since middle school. I was confident in my decision to go abroad with CEA because it allowed me to save money, live in my own room in a shared flat with students from all over the world, and take advantage of all the excursions that CEA had to offer. However, adjusting to a new city with new people made me nervous. I felt unsure of how I would fill up my free time without knowing anyone beforehand. 

I quickly discovered day-to-day that living in London allowed me to take advantage of my surroundings and do so many things without planning it all ahead of time. For example, the second day of orientation, I grabbed lunch with girls on my program that I had just met and we ended up seeing so many amazing sights by just walking around (with the help of CityMapper of course). In just one day, we saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye and Buckingham Palace.

Since I am usually the one who handles the logistics with my friends back at home, it was a relief to know that CEA had planned so many fun adventures for us around London. My team and I ended up placing 3rd in a scavenger hunt around the city, even though we arrived 20 minutes late. 

Additionally, I loved taking a  bus tour around London to see spots I didn’t know anything about previously. Driving around the city at night even gave us beautiful photo-ops.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of my stay here in London brings, even if I don’t have it all exactly planned out yet.