By maxikaplan
Since arriving in London this past Saturday, it still seems unreal that I have the opportunity to call this city home until June 2014. At London School of Economics (LSE), like many other programs, the first week here is the school’s orientation with no classes, giving me the chance to meet new people, explore new places, and, my personal favorite, eat more Indian food than ever before. Unfortunately, nothing is ever free, and London will go out of its way to remind you.
After checking into my dorm, I was promptly handed a schedule of events that the LSE Student Union had put together for the students for orientation week. This schedule acted as a bible to my friends and I at night for many of our outings, with our days interspersed by LSE meetings with professors, deans, and academic advisors. There is, to the dismay of many, no hand holding when it comes to these events: make your own schedule, be on time for your meetings, and take advantage of everything that’s offered. I thought this theme contrasted nicely to the attitude of schools in the U.S., and it reaches farther than just LSE. I was happy to learn that this would be the extent of my culture “shock”—it could be worse, I thought. In many ways London reminds me of New York, and it has been easier getting assimilated here than I expected. With my first day of classes this coming Monday, I am in for a surprise after not sitting in a lecture hall since the beginning of May.
As I spent hardly any time worrying about my class schedule in this first week and worried more about where to eat and explore London, I was able to get a good feel for the geography of the city. Walking more than my body liked proved to be the best way to understand the city, though I wouldn’t quite call it an “understanding” after I gave a passerby some of the world’s worst directions to Covent Gardens this Sunday. After this week surpassed all my expectations of the LSE and London, it is hard to say what I am most looking forward to in the coming weeks while my brain slowly adjusts. But remembering that this is only the first week of 40 in my experience here is reassuring that there is much more ahead.
With the week finally coming to a close, I was able to meet on Friday night a family friend at a pub who currently works in London. It was an interesting experience to see someone who I know from home in a different country with me, but it was comforting as well to know that home is not too far. With around 15 other GW students in the LSE’s study abroad program, it’s been easier than I thought it would be to try and make LSE feel like a second home.