I’ve been in the UK for almost two weeks now, and while culture shock is minimal, there are definitely some minor differences that no one probably thinks to mention, that I think are worth noting. Comparing the US to the UK is like one of those picture puzzles in a Highlights magazine from my childhood, where the pictures are mostly the same, but you have to pick out the minor detail differences.
Tag: travel
Spelunking Through London
I’ve spent the past few days bouncing back and forth from museum to gallery to museum/gallery duo. London has some pretty incredible museums and galleries, and I’ve been lucky enough to explore quite a few of them for school (meaning I get in free!) during my first week of classes. First up was the Cartoon Museum, which is more of a gallery, and is not your typical museum. It’s on a row with little cafes, and looks almost like a town house, except for the sign hanging out front proclaiming that you have arrived at the Cartoon Museum. I would describe it as a hole-in-the-wall museum, definitely oriented to a niche market of cartoon lovers. I am not particularly a cartoon lover, but it was still interesting. The inside was set up much like a high-school art show, with everything from political cartoons to Batman to comics framed and displayed on the walls. The entire feel was laid back, and the entry was only £3, a steal.
Monopoly is Code for Pub Crawl
When I first arrived in London, I met this awesome lady Rebecca who helps run the Fordham in London program, and she told me that my favorite part of orientation would be “Monopoly,” which she elaborated further to say was really more of a scavenger hunt, but then wouldn’t give me any more details. I was definitely intrigued, but also skeptical, because in my experience orientation is code for a few days of excessively long and dull talks filled with common sense information. While there was one day chock full of the usual mind-numbing boring information, I was pleasantly surprised that the next two days actually were not the usual orientation horror. I enjoyed a pizza party (complete with gluten-free pizza option, potato pizza, and a new tasting crust because in the UK, you can’t put sugar in bread), an entertaining talk from the local police (complete with a slideshow set to Greenday’s “Time of Your Life” and British speak such as “tea leaves” and “chopstick fingers” meaning thieves), and yesterday, finally, the monopoly scavenger hunt.
No one seemed to know what to expect from this Monopoly orientation, and all we received was an email telling us to meet at Walkabout, an Australian pub, and requesting that everyone dress up to the theme “British.” I’m not a big fan of looking ridiculous in public, and their costume suggestions included Queen of England and the Union Jack:
(I am not kidding, these are the exact images attached to the email invite and labeled “costume suggestions”)
Becoming a Happy Traveler: What I learned From a Day of International Airporting
Departure day finally arrived! I woke up this morning with a weird anxiety-excitement buzz, vibrating with energy in spite of the very short four hours of sleep I managed to get. I was anxious about leaving my family, but the anticipation has been building for this new adventure to start. I had a wonderful send off from my entire family, with lots of hugs and love and only a few tears on my part (don’t we look cute? The security guard was very confused on how to work an iPhone, but we finally got a good picture!). I am not a particular fan of flying, so I’ve been spending my days researching how to become a better traveler and at least relax, if not enjoy, flights. With one flight down (a short trip from Dallas to Austin), and my British Airways nine-hour flight to London looming in the next three hours, I’ve discovered some of the research I did was useless, some of it was on point, and that a large part of becoming a happy traveler is knowing yourself and learning what you need. So, what I have learned so far: