Raman Mama – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

By Raman Mama

Looking back at the first week in your host country, what has happened, what are some of the challenges you faced have you overcome them, if so how? What things you are looking most forward to when you return to GW?

Looking back at my first week in London, it’s insane to believe that I’ve been here for two months. I think that I’ve grown a lot and seen a lot in the time that I have been here as a result of the challenges I’ve faced.

One of the immediate problems I faced was that my dorm was way too far outside of the city. I lived in a location called Stratford One, which was one the edge of central London, at the very last stop on the Jubilee line. I called the university and they were very gracious in allowing me to move to a dorm by the London Bridge, which made my time so far much better. Being so far would have had massive financial as well as social costs for me. Transportation would have been a huge burden, and it would have been much harder to see my friends.

One of the biggest challenges I faced immediately when I got here was making sure I had a daily / weekly routine. I wanted to establish one of these early on so that I didn’t feel like I was living in the city listlessly, and I wanted to feel like I was actually achieving things. This involved finding friends to hang out with, a place where I could grocery shop, and a gym. In the beginning, I was anxious that I hadn’t found these things within the first couple of days. However, within two weeks, all of them had fallen into place. I was concerned originally that it would be hard for me to make friends to hang out with and be social with, but the people on my floor have been extremely welcoming. One lesson that I learned from this is that getting into a routine and getting comfortable in a new place is extremely difficult.

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By Raman Mama

Over my time in London, one of the things I’ve enjoyed doing the most is walking around the city and exploring new cultural nooks, to understand what ideas people value, and why. So far, the richest parts of the city in my opinion have been SOHO and Brixton. In these parts of the city, Londoners passion for culture and the ideas it promotes is on great display.

In these parts of the city, it becomes apparent how much British people value unique ideas and the stories behind works of art. In my first week walking around the city, I found several extremely interesting stores. There’s a store where each and every guitar is crafted by hand in Memphis to the specifications of the storeowner, then shipped over for sale. There’s a store that sells vintage records from the 70’s and 80’. There’s even a store where the owner hand curates each and every article of vintage clothing to be sold to her customers.

I find that in London, unique experiences related to stores and shopping are valued more so than chain stores. In major cities such as DC and Washington, this is still the case, and it’s sometimes hard to find truly unique brands and labels. Here, that is not the case.

Additionally, the music scene in London is vibrant. Intimate shows with bands are quite common, and good music travels around the underground quite quickly. The benefit to be had in this is that people connect extremely well off of ideas. There is always some fashion event, art show, and music room to go to, allowing for many opportunities to get to know the people, ideas and cultures that surround you.

Tag: Raman Mama

Looking back at the first week.

CULTURAL CRANNIES OF THE CITY