This past week was our orientation week for classes because things run very different here than they do in the US. In the UK, students only apply to 4 colleges based on their major. Once they are accepted to either a university, they choose a university and major right away. In America, we do a year of general education courses, where here, they just get right into their degree of study. So when we met some British students, their first question is always “What are you studying?” A UK student would typically answer “Business”, “Nursing”, or “Teaching”, whereas an American student would typically answer “I’m Majoring in Business Administration with a minor in public speech”.

I am taking four courses here, and each course has a lecture and a seminar component.  The school that I am taking classes through, London Metropolitan University, has two campuses, one in Northern London, and the other in Central London. My classes are all in Central London.  I have to take the tube or bus to get to class but no worries because the public transportation here is excellent. Regardless of school starting, there is always something fun happening in London! A bunch of friends and I went shopping around some of London’s malls.  We found amazing and cheap (regular priced items for us Americans) clothes and food. The pound makes everything so expensive! We signed up for a Nike Training course in Regents Park, one of London’s biggest and most beautiful parks with lots of flowers, trees, and football (soccer) fields. My roommate and I went to a real English Football game! It was totally different than our American football, but a great experience to go watch a live game. They take football very seriously here.  There is no talking during the game becuase everyone is focused on what’s going on! This past weekend the NFL came to the UK, meaning 6 American football teams played three games here, to give the opportunity for people in the UK to experience an American football game. They had a huge tailgating session and closed down one of London’s busiest roads to accommodate all of the people who came!

It felt just like home. ☺ Loving it so far!