Though I don’t live in the Outer Banks, after traveling there every summer for the past twenty years I do feel like a local. Surrounded by so much family, a beautiful beach, and town, I found it harder to leave than I anticipated. No, this is technically not my home, however that didn’t make it any easier, instead it made it harder to cut my family vacation short for my London study abroad trip. Yet, who am I to complain? A week with my toes in the sand and then straight off to the London streets to learn, explore, and discover is certainly nothing to complain about.

So, before I have to brush the sand from my feet and lace up my tourist sneakers to travel around London, I decided I wanted to write down a few thoughts on some expectations for London that excite me and also what I have no clue about.

On the top of my list for my cluelessness column are my classes and the food. Every time I ask someone what cultural food London has the answer is always fish and chips. Yes, I assume London does have fish and chips, however I won’t be naive enough to think that London ONLY has one cultural delicacy I’ll experience. I’m not a picky eater by any means, yet I can’t help but be a little bit nervous about whether I’ll like the food or not (aside: this partially stems from the time I first spent two weeks in Germany and subsequently couldn’t eat pork for months afterwards).

My other, the classes, gives me feelings of nervousness and excitement mixed. With a tentative class excursion already in hand, I know that our day-to-day adventures will be well planned, unforgettable, and wonderful. Personally, having a partially structured schedule is a relief so that I can get myself more organized with what I want to do in my free time (hello Harry Potter tours and the London Theatre). On the other hand, the nervousness comes from those well-known first-day-of-school nerves, albeit now escalated in a foreign country. For example the questions: will I like my teachers, how can I fit in papers, homework, and readings, what if I completely flunk my classes, all continually spiral around in my head among the other never-ending what-ifs that follow.

Another smaller yet still significant “how do I prepare for that” I expect to be a bit challenging for me is the culture of London. Not many people, myself included, realize that London does have a vastly different culture than the United States. Although I cannot expand (yet) on just how/why/in what ways London is majorly culturally different from the U.S., I’m going in with an open mind and heart to face, enjoy and experience everything I possibly can while abroad.

Next, I will move on to my expected experiences column. Top of the list for me are the theater shows. As a dear lover of all things Broadway, I cannot wait to see all sorts of shows in London from Shakespeare to Wicked.

Similar to this is the history of literature that I’ll be exploring in my classes. As an English education major, I’ve always wanted to learn about literature beyond reading a simple book or play, and I also plan to teach in a similar manner. By visiting London, I get the amazing opportunity to learn literature first hand and then later incorporate what I’ve learned from London in my classes in the future (this trip crosses this item off of my bucket list). This goes hand in hand with field trips, which I’m by far the most excited for while in London. Our professors have so far set up a TON of awesome, already planned and varied types of day trips to take around London and neighboring areas that also coincide with what we’re learning in class. Again, as an education major, I love seeing how other teachers teach beyond a textbook. The Harry Potter tours/sightseeing also fall under this category. My preteen self has waited long enough to experience the magic of Hogwarts, so look out for later posts focused around this!

Lastly, my fellow travelers. One of the best parts about this trip (so far) is that I’ve been able to communicate with the other students in my class. Though this could sound simple and silly, what a relief it was for me to find out that most of the other kids on the trip love Ed Sheeran (who will be in London when we are) and Harry Potter, and seem like genuinely great people to spend a month abroad with. Since I’ve been abroad a few times before, I know the unexplainable bond you create with a group of people when traveling abroad. Usually traveling abroad allows you/forces you to step out of some type of comfort zone (i.e. trying new foods, being in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar culture, to name just a few). Regardless of how big or small that comfort zone you leave is, you’ll always remember the people by your side, experiencing similar thoughts, feelings, and sights that you are.

To learn more about my experiences and a broader list of unexpected experiences that later occur, continue to follow my blog as I document my study abroad experience! Thanks for reading, and cheers, love!

Location: Outer Banks, North Carolina