London – Page 3 – GW Blogs from Abroad

How To Do Paris in 8 Hours

AdminDecember 1, 2017December 14, 2018

I finally traveled last weekend and went to Paris. For eight hours. Before my friend and I planned the trip, I didn't know how I felt about taking a less than one day trip, but it was probably the best decision we could have made. We tried planning our trip around this Huffington Post article, but it left a lot to be desired in terms of specific details and there were just some things we didn't have time for. So here's an incredibly detailed itinerary if you're planning on doing this kind of thing in Paris.

1. Take the first morning train out of your home city and arrive at Gare Du Nord at around 9:45. Immediately head to the metro and buy a single day metro ticket, which will cost you around 10 euros. You can go with the single day pass that covers Zones 1-3.

2. Take the 4 train towards Mairie de Montrouge for 3 stops to Strasbourg-Saint Denis, then switch to the 8 train towards Balard 9 stops to Ecole Militaire.

3. Get off at Ecole Militaire and, once you get out of the stop, head straight towards one of the many cafes that line the nearby streets to get some coffee and croissants.

4. Once you get your breakfast, walk towards the Eiffel Tower (you'll basically see it right after you get off the train). Hang out around there for a bit and leave at about 11:30. If you want, you can try to get in line to go up the Eiffel, but the line is long and you'll get a great view of Paris later on.

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5 Fun Things to do in London When You’re on a Budget

AdminOctober 26, 2017December 14, 2018

By austineliasdejesus

When I got here, everyone--from other students to advisors to professors--told me that London is an expensive city. Turns out, they're absolutely right. So far I've lived in D.C. and New York City, and London is by far the most expensive place I've lived. But London does have some great hidden gems, though, you just have to look a little bit harder and be more willing to accept the fact that we're all still college kids, and it's probably not yet our time to go around spending money like we're 30-somethings.

1. 5£ Groundlings tickets at The Globe

We've all heard about Shakespeare's Globe, so I'm not going to explain it any further. But it is worth mentioning that Globe tickets are actually pretty cheap if you're willing to stand the entire time. These are called groundlings tickets and they're definitely worth it for their cheap price. Yes, you'll be standing for the entire show which is actually pretty long. And, yes, you run the risk of getting rained on and you're not allowed to open your umbrella. But it is still a once in a lifetime experience, and, speaking from experience, you actually feel like you've really experienced the Globe after your feet and back are sore because you've stood in place for 3 hours and you're kind of cold because the heavens opened up and you got rained on for about 20 minutes. That just made this sound very unappealing, but I mean it. Get the groundlings tickets.

2. Go to your school's hangouts

I can't speak for other unis, but UCL has their own pubs and coffee shops. A lot of these are lively and full of other students almost every day and night. Also, beverages tend to be a lot cheaper here, and a lot of them host student performers who are actually pretty good. If you and your friends are looking for a place to go on a Wednesday or Thursday night, try going to one of these places. Also, who knows, you might even make a new friend or two by hanging around.

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Britishness, Americanness, Questions…ness

AdminOctober 9, 2017December 14, 2018

By austineliasdejesus

This week marked UCL's first week of classes, and I learned two things:

I'd sooner attempt to swallow a minivan than draw attention to myself/be a disturbance to a group of people.
I've never questioned why a world map looks the way it does.

In regards to Lesson #1: I've always hated bothering people, even if only for a second. That's been a theme throughout my life. But I've never known just how much I hated bothering people until this week. I had to go to my Art History class on Wednesday, and I got terribly lost trying to find the lecture room because a construction site obscured the normal entrance to the building. By the time I found the building that housed my destination, I was seven minutes late for class. Once I got inside, I still couldn't find the correct room. The room I was supposed to be in was 104, but the only room I could find was 104. I thought I would take a gamble and see if 103 was some weird room connected to the inside of room 104, because that's the kind of thing that I tell myself is logical when I'm desperate and sweaty and fed up with being lost. I went into 104 to find a class was in session.

The professor whose class I'd disturbed kindly told me to take a seat, which I did. It took me about three minutes to realize that I wasn't, in fact, in the room for 19th and 20th Century Art and Architecture in London. I was in some class about Modern Art. And, obviously, there was no "connecting room" inside this room. So I was just in the completely wrong room. The way I saw it, I had two options: 1.) I could face my fears and just get up, disturb this lecture for the second time, and look for the correct room and, in turn, disturb that lecture, too; or 2.) I could just sit in on this lecture, suffer in silence, and not disturb anyone.

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Much ado about doing nothing

AdminOctober 6, 2017

This week, people at GW began to brace for mid-terms while UCL students tried to figure out how to spend this week of nothing before classes start on Monday.

I really had no idea that UCL classes didn’t begin until the first week of October when I applied to the university last spring. I’m not complaining about it. If I were doing anything close to that, I’m sure everyone back at GW would remove their world’s smallest violins from their tiny cases and play a concerto just for me. I’m grateful for the free time; it makes me feel like summer is breathing its last breath. But deciding what to do with free time is a challenge, and one that I’m sure a lot of American college students can sympathize with. Like a lot of American college students, a dogged pursuit of learning about who you are has led to me being very busy since I was probably 12 years old.

This is really the first time in my life where I don’t have some kind of club, activity, practice, class, internship or job I have to go to every day. It’s jarring to be taken out of that as abruptly as I have. While a lot of college students quickly stumble into adulthood, we build up a culture among young people where one’s busy-ness and even lack of self-care is a telltale sign that you are a Very Serious and Very Motivated young person. So to have a week in London as a study abroad student where I don’t have any responsibilities would surely make anyone in my situation feel anxious, and even a bit guilty.

So what do you do with all this free time? How do you spend it at least somewhat productively? Well, you try to learn in other ways. You learn about the people around you who are from different nations and cultures. You learn how you can form a daily routine here. You also learn how to save money because it’s finally hit that you shouldn’t be spending money like how you would if you were vacationing in London, but rather like you would when you’re actually living in London.

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On relearning in the Boston of Europe

AdminSeptember 25, 2017December 14, 2018

By austineliasdejesus

London was not designed on a grid system. It was not even built as a city based on layers of concentric circles. Rather, it’s a hodgepodge of streets and squares and alleys that somehow makes up a city that 9 million people call home. This means that, if you’re walking, unless you have a good general idea of where you’re going, you will become lost. Larger, more prominent streets veer off into slim side streets, which then veer off into even slimmer side streets, which inexplicably lead to a small park, which contains a small cafe that might have WiFi. And by the time you reach that small cafe in that small park off that slimmest of side streets, you realize that you are way off from where you thought you were, and that you are both exploring and lost in a city that you are totally unfamiliar with but will be your home for three months.

Also, you have been here for a week and have yet to buy a UK SIM card. So, whenever you leave your flat, your phone turns into an iPod, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it gives you an excuse to not be on your phone. But it also wrestles the raft that is the “Maps” app from your arms, leaving you to rely on your own sense of direction, which is poor, and then—when that strategy inevitably fails—ask help from strangers, which is just the kind of social interaction that you have spent a good amount of your life avoiding.

Every day of my first week in London, I have become lost. And, every day, I’ve had to swallow the pill dry, and ask a stranger for directions. On Wednesday I ran around Bloomsbury frantically trying to find UCL’s main quad for my enrolment appointment. It took me half an hour to finally admit defeat and ask for directions from a police officer. By the time I found the quad, I was sweaty, late for my appointment, and annoyed by the fact that I had basically been told that I’d been in panicked search of a street I’d been walking directly parallel of for half an hour.

...continue reading "On relearning in the Boston of Europe"

Wrapping into an End

AdminJune 16, 2017

Cheers from London!

Well, that is from my last week in London... it's so wild that this incredible semester is wrapping up into its final week. It seems like 5 months is almost the same as 5 minutes, as time has flown by faster than I could have ever imagined.

This semester I've had the opportunity to continue my work with LGBTQ+ students. Honestly, this is one of my most passionate involvements. As a student who identifies on the LGBTQ+ spectrum (and growing up in the south), I can personally relate to the issues and difficulties that face students like me. While many of our LGBTQ+ family members suffer from inquisitions and death threats throughout the world, one consistent trend among members of our community is that discrimination comes in many forms. It's up to us - and allies - to educate our communities about what it means to be gay, queer, trans, intersex, or however someone identifies.

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Hot off the Press: Stonewall Workplace Equality Index – 2017

AdminJune 13, 2017December 17, 2018

By erbeeler

Have there been any current international or domestic issue that have affected your volunteer work/research, has your work become more relevant or has it been Hi there - this is my penultimate blog post... which makes me realize just how fast this experience in London is passing by. While it's definitely a sad post to think about, there's also the fact that I get the opportunity to think about and reflect upon the incredible experiences that I've had and the friends I've made here so far.

Also - just an update (mostly for my parents... hah!), but I've gotten some of my first sets of grades back from papers earlier this semester. I've been getting pretty good grades so far, and my professors have been commenting that they have really enjoyed working with me and reading my papers.

As for my volunteer work... there's recently been a release of a really important milestone: the 2017 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in the UK. This recent report shows that the average UK company in the top 100 has an average 74% score, which illustrates a huge improvement in recent years. Over 439 employers and 91,248 employees across the UK participated in the survey, the largest number of submissions ever.

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Keep Stepping Forward

AdminJune 13, 2017December 14, 2018

By erbeeler

First off, an update from London: this city has been so incredible so far. I'm finally feeling completely comfortable taking the Tube (the London metro system), can navigate my way around local sites with friends, and am actually really enjoying the modules at my university.

I've continued to get involved with the LGBTQ+ community on campus and throughout the city. As we discussed in my prior blogs, students coming from diverse backgrounds in the United States are much less likely to feel welcome and comfortable in the workplace. I've learned that while the situation is not quite as bad in the UK, it still is a phenomena that affects individuals here as well.

Just recently, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) released a survey in the UK to try and evaluate the experience of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. Initiatives such as these are taking key steps to really help understand this issue here in the UK.

As for me, I've been continuing my involvement with some individuals at the King's Career Center, connected with multiple students through a flyer/outreach campaign, and am preparing for my first open-attendance meeting. I've also had the opportunity to stay involved with MyGWork (click to link to their website).

...continue reading "Keep Stepping Forward"

Diggin’ In to the Local Community

AdminApril 17, 2017December 14, 2018

By erbeeler

Hi all - update here from the beautiful city of London, England.

I've finally gotten settled in and I'm absolutely loving the city so far. Last week, I turned in my first paper for my classes here (it was a really interesting piece critiquing Aristotle's writings on the naturalness of slavery). Although it got me crammed up for a few days in the library... I've luckily still had the ability to see so much around London for the last few weeks.

On the community service side, I've had an amazing time getting involved with my local community. I've actually been in talks recently with the King's College Career Center as well as some local LGBTQ+ organizations - for example, an amazing organization called MyGWork - about assisting with local events that promote professional networking opportunities for university-aged students who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Two weeks ago, I was able to attend and make connections at an incredible networking event in downtown London. Students were in attendance from all over: Kings College, LSE, the University of London, Queen Mary, and even some taking the train all the way from Oxford/Cambridge. Moreover, senior representatives from companies like GSK, PwC, BP, Warner Bros, BNP Paribas, and many other incredible industry leaders were there to talk about their experiences being a LGBTQ+ professional in our modern workforce.

...continue reading "Diggin’ In to the Local Community"

First Flight

AdminFebruary 27, 2017December 14, 2018

By meenuamathews

TERN works towards creating social change within the wider community. Just within the last month, the organization has started a blog, contributed to Huffington Post articles, and made appearances at rallies against the immigration ban. This means that my tasks vary from day to day, which makes for an exciting volunteer experience. on some days, I’m drafting responses to media inquiries and on other days, I’m putting together the organization’s newsletter!

One of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had so far is helping at the organization’s “First Flight” bootcamp, which hosted 13 aspiring refugee entrepreneurs. At the workshop, each refugee met their mentor, outlined goals, and created timelines for the progression of his or her business. In the lead up to First Flight, I had prepared workshop materials, responded to emails, and screened applications for the participants. This event brought our work to life: the energy at the workshop was unparalleled! First Flight was a meaningful experience for me, because it empowers refugees to shape their own narrative.

As someone who is passionate about empowering women globally, it was especially exciting to speak with the female entrepreneurs. The hope and passion woven into their stories reminds me of the hope I saw in the Women’s cooperatives of Morocco, in the female-run small businesses of India, and the stories of my own relatives at home in the United States. Volunteering in London has widened my horizons, and deepened my commitment to making the future equal for all.