I arrived in London on the morning of September 4th, completely exhausted, frightened, nervous, and excited. The comfort of Carlisle, and the United States as a whole, was gone. It was 28 Dickinson students, who I had virtually never spoken with, and myself getting ready to spend the next fifteen days in London. I am not on outgoing person when you first meet me, thus, I was keenly aware that my silence when everyone else was talking came off as socially awkward. I, however, broke out of this mold within the next two days with a little help from one Brooke Serra. If you are one who does not handle new situations well, such as meeting new people in a different country, then study abroad is meant for you. It helped me break out of my shell, and gave me the confidence that I needed to go out and meet new people the second that I got to University of East Anglia (UEA).

London did not disappoint. Aside from seeing all of the tourist attractions, The Tower of Elizabeth (which houses Big Ben the bell), Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, we explored the lesser-known parts, such as Regents Canal, which runs through Camden, and Little Venice. Camden is riddled with tattoo parlors, coffee shops, and an outdoor malls with delicious (and cheap) food from all over the globe. Of course you can’t go to London without seeing the museums. From the British Museum, home to the Rosetta stone, and the Parthenon (among other stolen goods), to the British Library that has Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Magna Carta, and original handwritten lyrics by the Beatles. The city has an unfathomable amount of history.

Obviously I could write an entire piece about the history of London, and all the amazing spots that you have to visit, but that’s why they write history books and travel guides. The thing that makes this city, and any other city for that matter, are the people and the local favorites – whether it be a clothing store, restaurant, or pub (boy do they love their pubs).

The first close interaction I had with a local occurred at The Proms in the Park, which is an outdoor music festival. The performers this year were the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, an Australian drag queen, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the cast of Let it Be. No, the Pipers are not a cover band for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but they are a band that has bagpipers and they do perform cover songs of other famous bands, so they were amazing! However, they are not the focal point of this story, the cast of Let it Be is. They are basically a Beatles cover band, and England EVERYONE loves the Beatles, especially the inebriated woman next to me. Therefore when they began to perform “Hey Jude” she promptly grabbed me as soon has the band started to belt out Na, Na, Na, Na. She flung her arm around my shoulder, told me to put my arm around James George, and demanded that he in turn put his arm around a nice elderly couple. When he refused she grabbed his arm and did it for him. Then, we made eye contact, and she made sure that I screamed out the Na, as loud as I could every time. Within seconds this row of about 7 people joined by arms were swaying and screaming as the Beatles (or the closest thing to the Beatles that I will ever see) performed live.

This trip scared me more than anything. I’d love to be able to tell any shy person that all you have to do is speak, which is true, but I am aware how hard that is to accomplish. All I can say is that after a couple of days you will break out of your shell, you will change, and you will quickly feel at home because everyone is scared; some people just hide it better.