Adventures in International Education

This is the London of my dreams: Double-decker buses, iconic phone booths, the Underground, McVitie’s digestive biscuits. London feels so different and serves as a good adjustment between where I’ve been and home (I’m seriously tempted to stay longer).

As usual the stress of traveling impacted my arrival, what with heavy bags, a heat wave, and crowds at the train station. I checked into the YHA London St. Pancras (a hostel), got settled Thursday night, spent Friday morning getting organized, then left for breakfast and the British Museum. The crowds and the exhibits amazed and delighted me. Overhearing languages from all over the world in an environment of historical appreciation made me part of the flow of humanity. It was a wonderful experience.

I began my tour with the Enlightenment exhibit, a review of the accomplishments of British scientists and writers. Old tomes lined the walls with fossilized artifacts in cases and stone carvings from around the world. The room stretched into infinity, covering as it did centuries of British literary and philosophical development. I could have spent days at the British Museum, but satisfied myself with four hours before looking for lunch, walking through the University of London, and seeing an exhibit on protest writing.

On Saturday, I got up early, put on my waterproof jacket, and braved a London downpour. Before the day ended, I had visited Westminster Abbey, toured Parliament Square, seen the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (which was mostly obscured by the crowds), gotten to the Victoria and Albert Museum, seen Shakespeare’s First Folio at the British Library, and watched Henry V at the Globe Theatre.

London is all I could have imagined, and more. So much to do but so little time.

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