First day in London

Hello everyone! I am Cory and I will be writing here about my semester studying at the University of Westminster in London. First thing: I need to explain the title of the blog. I don't always put titles on my writing, but for this purpose, the title is a.) necessary to get the blog going, and b.) a pretty good one I think. I hate being asked about my favorite books because I can never choose - it feels a bit unfair - but one that has had a great effect on me is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Here's the quote, in which Pip, our narrator, asks the reader to make a consideration:

Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.

I am not exactly sure how to contextualize this in my own life, but I think it offers an insight about transformation and causality. To me, change never seems entirely within my own control and I often wonder about that first link that sets many other things into motion. Though I find it difficult to locate that first link in my own long chain of iron or gold, I am here to write about the formation of many other links.

So I am in London. I arrived on the morning of January 3rd. Immigration went smoothly. The officer who gave me my visa was actually very nice and wanted to know more about my semester than the surface details-a completely unexpected moment that put me at ease. What followed might seem a bit harrowing: I discovered my luggage had been loaded onto the wrong plane! I panicked for a few seconds then hopped in the lost luggage line. Nothing more I could do but wait and hope (to borrow the simple, wise words of the Count of Monte Cristo).

From there I did what I could to orient myself-converted what US dollars I had to pounds, met some people in my program, had a snack, hydrated, etc. Here's something to remember if you're a student going abroad soon: everyone is in a similar position, everyone wants to meet new people, everyone is at least a bit scared. I was worried about making friends, moving to a new place, and finding my luggage. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the last of these concerns continued to haunt my every waking thought for the next six days. I never forgot for one moment that everything I packed could be permanently lost.

Here's a detail I neglected to mention: I have been to London before, recently. I was on a study trip through my home college to study stage adaptations of Shakespeare, and we visited London to see two performances. (My Blogger profile picture was taken at the Globe last summer, actually.) In that time, I maybe walked around one-one billionth of London; with my friend Sean at my side, we walked around Oxford Street, then made our way to the river, and later the West End. This was good knowledge to have in advance, but I have learned so much from studying maps. It's a huge city, so having some sense of where major streets are and how they connect is critical. I have learned the most from getting lost this past week.

And it happened quite a bit. It happened my first night! I went to Sainsbury's (chain grocery store) on (what I didn't then know was) Tottenham Court Road. After I made my purchase - a "festive sausage and cranberry roll" (yes, bizarre name; yes, delicious), which I grabbed in a frantic need to eat something simple and cheap - I realized I had no idea where I was. So I crossed the street, because I definitely had to do that to get to the store. Then I just picked a street and followed it for a while. This can be a really fun activity with friends in broad daylight; however, in a dark and unfamiliar city, it's not my first choice of leisure activity. It's the exact opposite of leisure-it felt like voluntary stress. So I asked a policeman by the British Museum for assistance. He said something like, "Yeah, your street's somewhere in this area, just poke around the neighborhood, see what you find, you'll get there." WHAT?! I thought, that's the worst advice you could give to a new city-dweller! But it was actually really helpful to hear from a figure of authority: things are going to work out, and if you approach a challenge as a possible discovery (a chain of iron or gold?) you might have fun finding your way. Maybe he was really saying that; maybe he was really sick and tired of helping Americans figure out simple directions; maybe he was just tired and ready to finish his shift. Anyway. Rather than worry more, I did just what he advised (in part, because it dawned on me that my festive sausage and cranberry roll might be getting cold, so I quickened my pace). And I found my flat! It was two turns down major roads from the grocery, and just two minutes' walk from the incident with the policeman.

Bloomsbury is a beautiful neighborhood with many parks and rows of stately houses, but it can be a bit confusing to navigate. None of the roads are on a grid here, so it's really important to figure out local landmarks. (I'm lucky-the British Museum is up there with Big Ben, St. Paul's, and the Shard as one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.)

You might understand by now that there's a significant gap in time I'm trying to negotiate. I probably should have started writing this earlier, but I'll do my best to catch you up on my first week in London! Things to anticipate:

Will my luggage be returned?
Will I make it to the supermarket without getting lost?
What will I see and do with a full week ahead of me in a great and enormous city?

More to come!