Tag Archives: dorms

Don’t call it a tube, you’ll sound far too American.

IES Dorm Room

Here’s a picture of our dorm room (like I promised)!

Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since the last blog – this past week and a half has been packed full in an attempt to prepare for the start of classes and adapt to life in London. Since it’s been so long and I have so much to blog, I’m making it into 2 parts!

Last Tuesday morning we had a free day so some of us decided to wake up and meet downstairs around 10am to journey over to City University. Our plan for the day was to find our way around the campus, go to a 99 pence store (comparable to a dollar store – “pence” is their change), and find the closest ASDA (Wal-Mart). The weather that morning was actually nice; it began as partly sunny. However, I knew that I was in London and I took my umbrella with me anyway. We took the underground and got off right near City University. When we arrived, we got our bearings and headed to the University; it only took us about 5 minutes to walk to the campus. When we got there, my initial thought was “it’s a lot smaller then Penn State”!Social Sciences Building We walked around the small(er) campus and to the back side of the buildings where we entered the student building. When we got inside, there we’re very pleasant receptionists sitting there so we decided to ask them where the closest 99p store is. It turns out that it is located in the beginning of a shopping market right by the underground station. The market had a lot of great shops and stands with great prices! We took a walk to the end of the market and then finally found the store. We were able to buy a lot of necessary things in there; I ended up getting most of my toiletries and soaps there for only 12 pounds! From there, we found a cute panini caf� that had a lot of options at a very low price. The panini’s were really good! We got back on the underground and headed for (what we thought) was the right direction to ASDA. We found out after arriving that we went in the wrong direction. I was perfectly fine with that – it’s all part of the adventure! We hopped right back on the underground and went in the right direction. We arrived at our destination after about a 45 minute underground ride. We then had to get a bus to take us the remaining distance (this was one of the first times I was on a double-decker bus). Once we got to Clapham Junction (location of ASDA) we were ecstatic to finally be there! As we were walking up the hill to get to ASDA, I spotted a Whole Foods!! I was so happy! I didn’t go in that day because I wanted to see what ASDA offered so we walked to ASDA and spent about 2 hours in there. This store is not even comparable to Wal-Mart back home; it is amazing! There are so many organic brands there; ASDA even has their own organic brand which makes buying organic much cheaper. I was in heaven. I picked up most of the staple items I needed and after a long while spent roaming through the store and a long time in line, I was finally at the register. I was scared to see how much I was going to be spending; to my surprise, I spent under 40 pounds! The prices were great; even though it is much more expensive when converting to dollars. Collectively, we had so many bags to carry back to the bus stop. It was incredibly entertaining and I’m sure hilarious to watch but it was quite challenging. Nonetheless, we arrived to the bus stop and were able to get off at the stop right in front of our dorm building. Later that night, a few of the girls wanted to go to a pub for a light meal and some drinks. I’m not a fan of beer or hard liquor so I decided to have a rose wine. It was fun just hanging out and talking with the girls and getting to know everyone. Only one other person that came out was from PSU, one of the girls is from Wagner and another is from a small school in Minnesota.  I was pleased that I was at least meeting people from somewhere other than Penn State.

Wednesday morning, we had to get to City University at 10am for our first day of orientation so we left the dorms around 8:50. My commute takes about a total of 45 minutes, but I am the type of person who needs to get to my classes early so I usually leave an hour and 15 minutes before I have to be on campus. When we arrived at City, we realized that we had 10 minutes to get to the room and no idea where it was! We ended up finding our way, but we were about 5 minutes late. The orientation lasted from 10am-4pm (16:00) and then at 4pm, we met for a Cheese and Wine welcome social. That was really fun because we got to meet other people in our program that were living at the University dorms.  When we got back, I had to put together my timetables for my classes. Timetables are pretty much equivalent to schedules at home. There is one huge difference here; they don’t make you schedule the class time you want to attend, just the class name. I thought that was pretty odd; however, I was reminded that attendance for European students is very unimportant and class time usually doesn’t mean much to them. Thursday was a tough day for me; I celebrate Russian Christmas on January 7th and Thursday was my Christmas Eve. This year was the first time I have ever been away from my family for Christmas. Thankfully, our meetings at City were mainly about our academics at the school and didn’t take too long. That night I was able to come home and skype my whole family; it still boggles my mind that I can video skype my family internationally (with no fee)!!  Later on that night a few of us were sitting around trying to figure out what we could do so we took the bus to a place called Piccadilly Circus for a while and walked around. This area is more or less a smaller version of Times Square in New York City. It was pretty cool to see all of the nightlife and shops around there. There was also this really cool frozen yogurt place called Snog’s.Snogs Ceiling It was so cute; the ceiling changed colors and it was very trendy. We didn’t walk around for long because it was close to midnight on a Thursday so most places were getting ready to close. Friday morning, I found where a Russian Orthodox Church that my uncle recommended was located. I went to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints which was only about a 15 minute bus ride/walk away from my dorms. I had a bit of trouble getting to there because I got lost when I started walking but I eventually made it to church (and only 5 minutes late).  I like to think that I have a pretty good sense of direction but I was still very happy when I found it. Russian Orthodox Church It was a beautiful church and a familiar service but there were so many people there! The church itself is pretty small so it was a tight squeeze.  It was very calming to be in a familiar setting for Christmas morning; although, I was really upset that I was away from my family. This was a weird feeling for me because it was the first time ever that I was truly homesick. By the end of the service I was calmed down and confident that I was alright; this is all part of the experience. After the service, I traveled back to the dorms and met the girls downstairs. We decided we were going to spend the day at Harrods, Top Shop, Zara, and H&M. Harrods Department StoreHarrods was unbelievable! The size of this department store was enormous (an entire block!!!) and it included every single designer you could think of, cars, a grocery store, a bakery, a restaurant, a (Harrods) gift shop, and a cafeteria. I was in awe! We left there after about 2 hours and went to Zara, Top Shop, and H&M. We then left our shopping extravaganza and journeyed home in the pouring rain. It was already dark when we were heading back but it was before 5pm (17:00).

This week really threw me right into life in another country. I was thinking about it and one of the reasons I like traveling so much is because I get to be somewhere that is different from what I’m used to.  Although London is probably the closest thing to an American city, it is definitely still a change from home. British products are different, people are different, different words are used, and so on and so forth.  Like I said, I love that about traveling to new places. Something that is going to take me a while to get used to is military time. If you noticed, throughout my blog I converted the afternoon to military time in parenthesis because that’s how they tell time (I probably missed a few spots in my blog). Hopefully, within the next week or so I’ll be using military time too. Also, everyday life and college life here is going to take some getting used to. So far, London has been very good to me and I love living here!

(The continuation blog should be posted tonight) 🙂


Location: Chelsea, London, England

“Just stay chipper”(pronounced chippa)

Hello again! Well, I’ve finally made it to the IES dorm and I couldn’t be happier.
I arrived in London Saturday night around 8:30 (London time); after getting my luggage together, I started on my two hour trek to my hostle. I quickly found out that I had no idea where I was headed. I walked about 5 minutes out of my way before realizing just that. Normally, I wouldn’t mind walking; however, i was carrying about 100lbs+ of luggage in an underground tunnel looking for the ticket purchasing kiosk. After purchasing a tube ticket, I hauled everything down the escalator and waited for the tube to arrive. It was about a 50 minute ride to my stop — this was a great time for me to try and relax my speeding mind (I had no idea how to get to the hostel after the tube). I must have looked pretty lost because after I got off of the tube and onto street level, a man that worked at the station came up to me and asked me where I was headed. I was pointed in the direction of the bus stop.
My next challenge was figuring out what each pence (change) was worth without looking like a mindless American. That took a while but I was finally able to get onto the correct bus. After 2 stops I was right in front of the hostel. I was so happy that I got myself there safely and for about 6 pounds total that I didn’t initially notice the 15 steps I had to climb with all of my luggage. Thankfully, there were 3 people walking into the hostle at the same time and they offered to carry my luggage up for me! I wanted to cry I was so happy. 
This was my first time in a hostel so I truly had no clue what to expect. Looking back, it wouldn’t have been bad if I were traveling with a group of people. I was unsure of leaving all of my luggage out in the open with 11 other roommates that wouldn’t even attempt to be nice to me. My first night in London, I slept about 12 hours. I was physically and mentally exhausted from my day of intense traveling and I didn’t want to move from my bed Sunday morning. Finally, I decided that I should get out of bed. I went downstairs to the common room and the computer room. I was uncomfortable leaving the hostel since I was by myself; it was on an incredibly “shady” side street. I chose to relax and de-stress while watching TV and skyping. I was overjoyed when I was able to fall asleep because it meant I was closer to arriving  at my dorm building. It took me a while to fall asleep and when I finally did, I woke up to the sound of drunken travelers at 2am. That was rather unpleasant.
I chose to wake up early and eat breakfast before my attempt to get to the dorms. I walked to the tube station because I didn’t know how to get a bus heading in that direction and then got a ticket to the correct station. After traveling 20 more minutes, I arrived at my station. This station was not equipped with an escalator or a lift which of course meant going up 2 flights of stairs with all of my luggage. By now you would think I was used to this but I was not. Finally, I got to the street level and decided I’ve had enough; I took a taxi the rest of the way. It was completely worth it — they dropped me off right in front of my dorm. I was ready to kiss the ground! I checked in and got my room key then headed up to my room. I was so happy to get here!! I got inside and started to unpack; it was amazing to finally be here. The view is really nice and even though the room is small, I really like the dorm.
After unpacking, a couple of us went on a short walking tour to the closest tube station. We all purchased phones and I stopped to get groceries. The prices truly weren’t bad! I was pleasantly surprised with the variety that was available for how small the stores were. The rest of the night was taken up with orientation and I can honestly say that I am exhausted! I can’t wait to sleep tonight.
Tomorrow morning a few of us are taking a bus ride to the nearest ASDA (UK WalMart) for some things that we need to stock up on.

I did not expect to be taken so off guard while trying to navigate around; however, I’ve learned more about traveling in 2 days then I ever have. Looking at the positives of everything so far is definitely the only way for me to learn from all of this. Well, that’s all for now! Goodnight everyone 🙂

PS- as soon as I can get my pictures to work I will upload some of the dorm room and view!


Location: London, England

A semi-organized post of my life in Leeds, UK

A brief overview of my life now is necessary, methinks. Let’s see how organized I can make this. 

STUDENT HOUSING
1. I have to cook. My culinary skills before coming to the UK were, well, nonexistent. Now, however, I am master of bacon and god of cheap food. I have learned that oil makes things not stick. I have learned that chicken and I do not mix on a grill. I have learned that bacon goes with everything from salad to bread to soup to pasta. I am becoming a chef. A cheap chef that specializes in canned soup, bacon, and salad, but a chef nonetheless. 
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2. Two words: No Roommates. This is the best part of student housing. I need my privacy and I like to conquer my living space with dirty clothes, music, and random things. I also like to sleep whenever I want, control the lights, and not worry about bothering someone else. 
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3. En-suite bathroom. My shower was broken when I first came. I reported it that day and the next day it was completely replaced! I have the newest/best shower in the building and everyone is envious. 
4. Flatmates are weird. I don’t particularly care for mine. The two guys I live with are OK, but we only pass by each other in the kitchen. One of the girls is quite nice, but too peppy and, frankly, she remains me too much of a stereotypical American girl (which I’ve never been too fond of). The other girl is, well, let’s just say no one gets along with her. She’s snobby and acts too posh. And steals my spatula, which is a necessary tool for my bacon-making. 
FRIENDS
1. I have an adoptive flat! It’s the one opposite mine. There resides Joe, Peter, Rachel, Freya, and Jenny. They are all English (well, Peter is Welsh) and fantastic. Elliot and Dora from the other flat on our floor have joined recently, as has the Canadian, Garen, upstairs. We go out a lot together and make flat meals and have fantastic times. I never made a real good group of friends at Penn State, but these people are just wonderful. We’re all dorky and quirky and cool in different ways. We don’t judge each other and since we’re all 19 or older, I think we understand a lot more about life than the other Freshers. 
EXTRA CLUBS/STUFF:
1. I joined film-making! I’m so excited. I want to work in the film industry and Penn State never gave me the opportunity to experiment, whereas here I am able to. We have a meeting tonight in an hour and a half. 
2. I also am joining belly dancing. Because I can. Because it looks fun. Because I want to do something random and different. 
3. The gym here is much newer than the ones at Penn State. It’s very high-tech with TAGs that monitor your workout at each machine. And touch screen monitors with built-in games. I am a gym-addict and I go once a day. Apparently girls in England aren’t so keen on exercise. I heard this before, but have definitely discovered it’s true. It’s sad that instead of running and being healthy I’ve found that many take up smoking and extreme dieting to stay “fit”. It’s part of the culture that I don’t care for, to be honest. 
CLASSES
1. Pros: Seminars. Lecture for 50 min once a week and then a seminar for 50 min once a week. Lectures are big and boring. Seminars are 10-20 students and a graduate student and it’s discussion and questioning. It’s a much more progressive way of learning.
2. Cons: Limited module choices. Since I’m study abroad, I can do any module I want, basically. But, for those in a degree they are only allowed one class a term as an “elective”. I found that it makes students have a much deeper knowledge in their specific subject, but that they are not as well-rounded in their education. 
CULTURE STUFF
1. My biggest fear is crossing the street. Instinctively, I am used to cars in America. This means I risk my life to cross UK traffic since I have yet to grasp they’re signs/postings/which side of the road the cars will be on.
2. The English drink a lot, but it’s so much more controlled than at Penn State…because it’s actually legal. It’s expensive, though. Penn State really should tell us about that additional cost. But, yes, legal drinking makes for a much more relaxed night out. It also means that there are fewer students vomiting because they’ve binged horribly or making terrible decisions. I always believed the US was a bit off with the drinking age, but now I have been assured that we are. 
3. The English do, in fact, drink tea. Lots of tea. 
4. “All right?” is apparently NOT a question. It just means “hey”. Don’t answer “Fine, you?”. They will be confused. 
5. Taxis are so much cheaper!
6. English society is, generally, more open than American. They are much more tolerant of different religions, races, sexualities, and thoughts than America is. They find it unreal that America still debates over homosexual marriages and abortion rights. But they are interested in US politics. They like to hear about all different sides.
7. Fancy dress is massive. That means costume themes. I went as Lara Croft for my first one, which was themed “English People”. 
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And that’s it for now. I am going to make a salad and bacon for dinner then head off to film-making!

Location: Leeds, UK