Greetings, all! I’m a junior double major in Theatre and Communications here at Millikin, and this semester I am studying abroad in London. I want to share what it is like to be living in London and let you in on what this beautiful city has to offer. Before arriving in the astonishing location, I had to pack up my life and endure a three hour drive from my home in Peoria to the Chicago O’Hare airport, where I then boarded an eight hour flight.

On Thursday, September 1st, I landed at Heathrow airport and stepped off the plane to begin this wonderful journey. The nineteen other Millikin students and I arrived and have only been here for a short week and it’s already proved to be quite lovely. Living in a flat (apartment) in the heart of London is a breath of fresh air compared to the city of Decatur. In our backyard is a small shed where we have our classes with our resident professor, Anne Matthews, and our London professor, Daniel Tyler. It’s quite convenient that we just have to walk out our back door to get to most of our classes. However, we do have to make about a half hour journey twice a week in order to get to our Shakespeare Studies classes that we just happen to be taking at the Globe Theatre in London, but it’s entirely worth it.

We checked into our flat on Thursday, but our classes didn’t start until Tuesday, September 6th, so many of us took this free time to explore different parts of London. Our modes of transportation mostly included walking and the tube, which is the underground train that travels all through the city. One thing to know about London is that there is hardly a shortage of things to do, whether it be going to the theatre to see a show, taking advantage of the free admission offered by several museums or even just going to a pub to get a pint of beer. On our first night, several of the other students and I went to a pub right down the street from our flat and had a few drinks to celebrate being in London.

The next day we were introduced to the world of amazing theatre in London when we went to see the award-winning play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which had to be one of the most stunning pieces of theatre I have ever seen. Everything from the staging to the lighting to the brilliant performers was perfect.

The third day in London was when things got a little interesting. Several of us decided to go to a thrift/rummage sale where everything would cost just a pound (about one American dollar) and we had to use the tube to get there. We started off by getting on the wrong train that took us in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. Fast forward two and a half hours of getting on and off the tube where we had eventually learned that the train we ideally needed to get on was closed and could not take us to our final destination. Defeated and exhausted, we got back on the tube one last time to make a thirty minute ride home. We had been given the advice to take the time to get lost in London, and boy, did we sure follow it.

By the time we got back it was nearly 2pm, and some of our other friends invited us to go to the Natural History Museum, which was just a fifteen minute walk away. The group had a nice time, but as we walked back it began to rain, drenching us by the time we got back to the flat. While some could have viewed it as a negative and overall rough day, I see it as a positive because, despite getting lost and drenched in the rain, we still got to spend a day wandering around one of the greatest cities of the world!

Our week ended up getting better, though. We saw Funny Girl and then the students got to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe Theatre. I have never been so astounded by theatre before. When we toured the Globe Theatre, most of the students were in tears from the fact that we were in such a historical theatre that we thought we would never be in. This trip has already been such an amazing experience and I can’t wait to share more of it with all of you. Ta-ta for now!