Hannah Radner – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

It All Starts Here

AdminOctober 2, 2014December 17, 2018

The ways in which I have spent my first few days are indicative of the benefits of spending an entire year in the same city. Were I to be here for only a semester, I would feel rushed to hit up all of London's tourist traps and to make plans for weekend excursions. Because I know I will be here for nine months instead of three, I feel little pressure to fill my days with multiple museums, walks, shopping and other attractions.
So far, in the way of touristy things, I have been to the Tower of London (to which I will definitely return) and the London Eye (likewise), as well as on a few boat rides down the Thames. Over the duration of the year, I will, of course, explore as many museums, parks, and other attractions that the city has to offer. Having more time to do it just means that I will have a chance to see and appreciate each place more in-depth. I will also have a greater chance to see lesser-known attractions and find the nooks and crannies that have stood the test of time.
I am a creature of habit, and whether I am at school in DC or here in London, I will continue to be myself. One thing I always liked to do in DC was go for walks to clear my head. My friends and I call them "crisis walks." There need not be a crisis in my life to merit a crisis walk, nor has a walk ever turned into a crisis in and of itself. In fact, something good usually comes of it. Today, I went on my first crisis walk as I meandered my way from my dorm down to Covent Garden. One thing I have noticed about London in broad daylight is that it is always bustling, whether you are walking on a busy street or a side alley. It is easy to tell where it is safe to walk.

On my walk down, I found a sort of side plaza that may end up being one of my favorite places in the city. Called Neal's Yard, it is nestled between the buildings that line Neal Street, Shorts Gardens, Endell Street and Shaftesbury Avenue. Shops include a hair salon, a pizzeria, a walk-in back rub establishment, a skate shop, and a few restaurants. Most importantly, it can provide a much-needed splash of color on an otherwise dreary London day (99% of days) and a leafy green oasis in the middle of the urban jungle. Benches surround plantings of tiny trees, and locals and tourists alike continuously pass through it to get from one main street to another. It will be places like these that I hope to find over the next several months.

The Home Stretch

AdminSeptember 29, 2014December 17, 2018

By Hannah Radner

I am heading into my last few full days at home (thank gooodness). Those of us who are active members on the LSE General Course Facebook group continue to converse about how people at home think we have flunked out of university because we are still here. A common greeting is some variation of "Hello! When are you leaving?" With a sigh and a somewhat frustrated chuckle, thinking, "I was born ready, please get me out of here," I reply, "Wednesday. I leave on Wednesday night."
Having a great deal of free time between the end of my summer job and my departure has allowed me ample time to get my fill of things I may miss over the next nine months, including the best ice cream ever at the shop where I used to work, fresh bagels from the shop next to it, my dad's pancakes, Pizzeria Regina, and free public restrooms. Boston is my home, but it is not my only home, and in the future it will become one of many. I hope to make London one of the many, just as I have made DC a home. I will miss it, though, along with some other things, in no particular order:

1. My cat, Fuzz. She has been moody all her life, and she is not afraid to let us know when she does not like to be touched. I was always convinced that she didn't like me even though she lived in my bedroom (litter box and all) during the first few weeks we had her. It took me nearly 11 years to figure out how to get her to not run away from me, but I did it. Rub her ears and she dissolves into a puddle. I will miss her "I'm plotting to kill you/you're all idiots" face and her little kitty paws.

2. Eastern Standard Time. I will miss this mostly in relation to my new time zone, which is five hours ahead, and only when it involves communicating with people stuck five hours in the past, which is my entire family and 99% of my USA friends.

3. Any food I find out Britain does not have. I have asked Siri multiple times if they have x kind of food in England. So far, I have found that they do have donuts (they even have two Dunkin Donuts in London! I am saved!), bananas, peanut butter and cheddar cheese (according to Wikipedia it originated there). The jury is still out on bagels. I will keep you updated, as I am sure this is a burning question on everyone's mind.

4. My bed. I always find ways to make my dorm beds comfortable, whether it be with mattress toppers or soft blankets, I do what I need to do. My bed at home though will always be the most comfortable for some reason.

5. Baseball. I know somebody somewhere in London must care about baseball. I will find the pub that shows the World Series and I will be there. Being a Red Sox fan forever and always, my preferred postseason does not exist, but how about those Nationals, right?

There are also things I will not miss about home:

1. My hometown. There is barely anything to do during the summer when people are home from school, but when there is no one gone, you are in at 8 p.m. and you are in for the night. Cities breathe life into me and this is no city.

2. Massachusetts drivers. No one knows how to drive. The end.

3. My neighbors. They are very loud at all times of day. I don't mind noise (again, I am a city person), but I prefer not to know every detail of every argument you have.

4. Most American news networks. Bring on the BBC!

5. WINTER. Average winter temperatures in London are in the 40s, and it rarely snows due to the lack of freezing temperatures. I am okay with this as I started to get cabin fever with all the snow days we had a GW last year.

Finally, there are things I don't have to miss because the UK has them!

1. Chipotle. But do they have sofritas?

2. Starbucks. Not really for the coffee, but the free WiFi.

3. Shake Shack. Overpriced times 1.63 in London, but still worth it.

4. Wagamama. Noodles matter.

5. NANDO'S. I feel so blessed going to school in the only city outside the UK that has Nando's, so it will be like going home, really. I will never have to miss Nando's.

This has been a comprehensive list of things that matter most to me, not including my family and friends (obviously on the "Things I will miss" list), because that's pretty much a given. I look forward to sending you all myriad postcards. My next blog post will be finally be coming to you live from London, England.

The Endless Summer

AdminSeptember 15, 2014December 14, 2018

By Hannah Radner

Local schools have ended and begun again and my summer job has come and gone. It's been 84 years. I am ready to leave for London.
I chose the perfect program for myself, and I knew it would be extraordinarily difficult. That is already proving to be true even though I have not even left yet. It is challenging my acceptance of delayed gratification. Study abroad has been my ultimate goal since I knew it was something that existed, probably some time in middle school. Now, my departure is just on the horizon. London's ten-day weather forecast is suddenly relevant. I am eager not just to move to a new city and explore its treasures, but also to get back in the school groove. Except for those who are studying in the UK, pretty much all of my friends and acquaintances have already been in classes for a few weeks. Those who are abroad in other places have been abroad for nearly two months already. My classes begin on October 6.
Alumni of the program have made it clear that upon our arrival to class, professors will expect us to have done some reading already based on instructions they post on Moodle (a Blackboard-like platform for class materials) without ever explicitly telling us like many GW professors do prior to the beginning of the term. Many an angsty high-schooler would want to slap me for this, but I just want assignments. I operate best under pressure when I have lots of work to do, a condition I am sure will be easily met almost instantly upon my arrival. It has already become clear to me that my academic success (and sanity) at LSE will be even more reliant on my independence and initiative than it is at GW. There is a plethora of information spread throughout LSE's website, and sometimes it takes some snooping to find what I need. For example, LSE only recently published its course timetables and updated course guides, so I found out that two of the four classes I wanted to take are not actually being offered. This brings me to the second challenge the program is giving me: flexibility. I anticipate needing to be flexible like this throughout the year. I did not let it get in my way; all I had to do was choose two different classes. The website informed us that new undergraduates would register on Monday, September 8. It became apparent that "new undergraduates" did not include study abroad students. Thanks to this, we are all sitting ducks.
The fact that registration at LSE takes place so late is already causing me some culture shock and a tad of anxiety. The school's study abroad program is so well established that I know it's not a problem, this is how they have always done things, they do this every year, they didn't forget about us. There are around 300 of us in the program and, as I have already had the pleasure of interacting with some of them thanks to the wonders of social media, none of us have any idea when we actually register for classes online. Some of us have received the dreaded "soon!" in an email response to our frantic questions. If you listen very closely, you may be able to hear my sighs of relief from across the pond as soon as everything has finally fallen into place. I just have to remember: delayed gratification, flexibility, and patience. Good things come to those who wait.