IES Abroad London Summer – UK Today

My most memorable experience happened the first weekend we were in London. It was the weekend of the Queen's official birthday celebration, and we went to see the parade called the Trooping of the Colour and watched several royal bands and guards march by, along with the entire royal family! It was an unreal experience. From there, IES had organized a trip to the Globe Theater to watch A Midsummer Night's Dream. We were in the standing section (we were groundlings!), and it started to pour - but that didn't dampen our excitement. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but you couldn't get more British than the Queen and Shakespeare! I will never forget that amazing day. My sister had previously studied with IES in London for a semester, and I knew their course options would transfer for credits at my university. The location, awesome reputation, courses, and trips truly sold me that there was no better program. Nido Spitalfields is a student living facility in a really convenient location, and I had an awesome view of the Gherkin and the Shard from my room. There were two grocery stores very close by, a daily market five minutes away, and plenty of restaurants and pubs around. It's also in one of the financial districts of London, so the vast majority of people in the area are locals. Once it started getting hot during the summer, it got a little unbearable in my room because there is no AC in the rooms or common rooms and the sun set facing my window, so it encouraged me to go elsewhere. This was pretty difficult when I was violently sick one day but was forced to go elsewhere because it was too hot in my room. Also, it was hard to do work in the lobby or upstairs Skyline cafe because they would blast music to keep a youth-friendly feel as well as welcome large and noisy groups of people pre-gaming to go out each night. At first I liked it, but it got frustrating since there wasn't a quiet (and cool) place to work in the STUDENT living facility and I had more classwork to do. When asked, the staff was generally rude and unaccommodating in this sense. Reception generally wasn't very helpful as well, so I would usually wait to ask IES staff if need be. Laundry was expensive and usually ineffective, as it could take multiple cycles for one load of laundry, but they offer a similarly-priced service in the lobby that returns your clothes (folded!) in 24 hours. Overall, it was a great place to live for the amount of time I was there, but I don't know if I would have liked living there for more than seven weeks.

My IES Abroad experience was a one of a kind experience. I loved every single minute of being abroad, and I learned so many valuable life lessons. I became a more confident person, and I learned the importance of travelling alone. The people who work for IES Abroad are wonderful people who helped me when I did not know what to do. They also challenged me by not solving all of my problems. I learned to successfully navigate the tube, and I quickly found my favorite London spots. The food in London was probably one of my favorite parts, because it was so diverse. I loved that there were a lot of free museums, and the parks were always enjoyable to walk around. It was also nice that there were so many places outside London that I could get to easily. I am so grateful for my study abroad experience, and it will forever have one of the biggest impacts on my life.

My study abroad experience with IES Abroad was one of the best times of my life. Having never been abroad before, I was nervous about the how I would handle being in a huge city thousands of miles from home. But after a quick orientation of Life in London (and its public transportation) given by IES staff, my silly worries were quickly but to rest. I learned so many life lessons through the UK Today program and have found a better sense of who I am as a person. Both of the classes I took met in specific locations in the city, such as the National Portrait Gallery or the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, and required lots of walking and picture taking (two things I throughly enjoy). My classes let me see London in its natural environment and gave me insight into its incredible history. In our spare time my friends and I would visit the free museums, watch the world cup games at a local pub, or have some lunch in one of the many green spaces (Kensington Gardens was a favorite!), and we quickly found our own side of London. The program also offered many opportunities to visit popular spots outside of London during the weekends including Stonehenge and Bath, though Brighton was my personal favorite. I met so many wonderful people abroad and I enjoyed getting to know the IES student assistants as well as the world-renowned Professors. I am so grateful for the experiences IES abroad has given me and I will always see London as a second home.