We soon piled all of our stuff into a bus and made our way to our host school. Upon arriving to my host school, I met all of the program directors and went through an orientation. Everyone was really nice, and they began to help teach me how to navigate my new city.
Since then, I have continued to make London my new home and I feel very welcome here. All of the program assistants and directors are very kind. They are always eager to help out if I have any questions. Some of them have also moved from the U.S. to England, so they are able to understand how to help students make a smoother transition.
I do a lot of activities with larger groups of students who also attend my host school, but I also do things alone. In one of my classes, there are several plays and workshops that the class is scheduled to attend together as a group. Often after these events, we will get together for ice cream or dinner and talk about the play or workshop that we just attended.
My host school also plans group dinners, so we will all go out and eat together! These dinners are always fun. There are always so many people! My host school plans weekend trips to different parts of England, too. So far we have visited Corwall, and soon we will also go to Bath and Yorkshire.
There are a few differences that I have noticed while studying abroad. One of the biggest ones I have noticed is that people in London keep to themselves a lot more. Small talk between strangers is not very common. For example, when I was on a train once, a lady sat down beside me. I just said hello and started a friendly conversation, and I received a very strange look. It is almost seems as if it's kind of rude to do that here.
