Photo Courtesy of Catja Christensen ’23
Major(s), and pathways: English and Dance double major; Media, Rhetoric, and Communication Pathway
What program are you enrolled in? King’s College London
What made you choose this program? KCL is known for its English Literature Department, which is one of the oldest and largest in the UK. They offered classes that were so specific and fascinating. I am interested in studying postcolonial and multicultural literature, and I thought, where better to talk about imperialism and colonialism than in England?
How have you adjusted to life in England? This is my first time ever traveling abroad, and flying over alone during Covid was a bit nerve-wracking. Nonetheless, after getting over jetlag and motion sickness relatively quickly, I am absolutely loving it here. I truly wasn’t expecting to love it so much! I have it easier because it is an English-speaking country, but since many people speak different languages here, I’ve been inspired to pick up French again to not be that monolingual American. The Tube and public transportation is wonderful, and I spent my first two weeks before classes started traveling all around central London with my new international friends. This is also my first time living in such a big city. I am from the DC area, but London is just on another level in every way. There is always something to do or somewhere to go, and we made a massive KCL study abroad group chat where anyone can write where and when they’re going somewhere, and people will tag along. It’s been a great way to make friends and be a tourist between classes.
Were there any clichés that were proven true or false? People do actually drink a ton of tea here. And I love it. The Twinings Flagship store which, at 300 years old, is the oldest in London, is on Strand Campus, so I have stocked up on quite a bit of tea. It’s also funny how no one really knows which way to look for cars since they drive on the other side of the road. Some sidewalks have “Look Right” or “Look Both Ways” painted by the curb, but my friends and I all usually look really quickly in every direction then sprint across, hoping for the best. It also hasn’t rained nearly as much as I expected. Rain storms usually come in short bursts, so I’ve learned the hard way to always keep an umbrella on me, but we rarely have days of constant rain. Knock on wood.
What is your housing situation? What is that like? I live in the Waterloo area of central London in a flat with six other Americans (complete coincidence —- other flats are much more mixed in nationality). My room is like a standard dorm room, but a big plus is having a little wetroom-bathroom in my room! No more going down the hallway to take a shower. I also don’t have a meal plan here, so my flatmates and I share the communal kitchen in our flat. It’s been nice getting to cook, and I even made soup for everyone when we all got hit with a bad case of Fresher’s Flu (a bad, lingering cold — we all tested negative for Covid multiple times). The downside is we had to buy so many kitchen items, like pots, pans, knives, utensils, spatulas, plates, glasses, etc, not to mention bathroom and other household essentials, so my wallet was really hurting in the first few weeks. My apartment building is the least expensive and most basic of all of King’s accommodations, but you honestly can’t beat the location. We are a 20 minute walk from Strand and Guy’s campuses (2 out of 4 King’s campuses), and Waterloo Station is just across the street, so we have easy access to all of London. My absolute favorite part of my room is that I get a view of the Shard, an iconic skyscraper, from my window, and waking up to see it every day is just surreal.
What is a typical day like? My typical day is very different from Conn. My classes are all on Strand Campus, which is a general area of the city that includes buildings spread out from each other. At Conn, nothing is more than a 10 minute walk away, but here, my closest class is 15-20 minutes away. Luckily, I don’t have to rely on public transportation, so I save money and don’t worry about delays, but it was a bit of a challenge at first to figure out how to find all of the buildings and navigate the maze of rooms inside. Google Maps has been a lifesaver.
I have four pre-recorded or online lectures and four in-person seminars each week, each an hour long. It is weird having so little synchronous class time, but it is amazing to be in a classroom again. My seminars range from being at 9am to being at 5pm, so my days feel weirdly spaced out. I’ve tried studying at the castle-like Maughan Library and at some cafés nearby, but my favorite study space is the rooftop terrace and café casually located at the top of Bush House academic building, which was formerly the BBC headquarters for over 70 years. I usually meet some friends to study and chat during the weirdly long blocks of time in my day, but other times, we go on little adventures in Covent Garden or explore a new part of the city.
How has the pandemic affected your program? Did it affect your choices when applying? The pandemic made everything so uncertain for the entire application process beginning in January. I kept telling my friends that I would only believe I was really studying abroad when I stepped off the plane at Heathrow. Shirley Parson, Director of Study Away, was so patient with me as I panicked with every new Travel Advisory or Covid-19 regulation. It was tough balancing news from the US vs the UK, as things changed so quickly this summer. Shirley did warn us before applying that countries in the Southern Hemisphere likely weren’t going to open up, especially countries like New Zealand who were known for their intense lockdowns, so I focused on European programs. Once I learned about King’s, I didn’t even make a backup plan because it was already so complicated navigating those shifting regulations, and I loved the program. Luckily, since I got vaccinated in May, I didn’t have to quarantine on arrival, and Covid tests were readily available in the US and UK, although they were pricey. In the four weeks I’ve been living here though, it has been the most ‘normal’ life has felt since 2019. We still wear masks indoors for the most part, and King’s provides free Covid tests so we can be tested twice a week, so we have been fortunate to really get to live and go out on the town often. The KCL Student Union also hosts events at the on-campus bar nearly every night, where we can relax, have some fun, and dance the night away to the questionable DJ music. I’ve discovered open mic jazz nights are top tier; they are like a mix between a mosh pit and a karaoke night, and it’s exhilarating and hilarious. It’s been liberating, even though Covid-19 is always still on the back of our minds, to get to really live again in such an amazing city.
Are you involved in anything outside of just classes? I decided this semester to not focus on strict extracurriculars for the first time in my life. I am very active in the Dance Department and Dance Club at Conn and am always that person who is in rehearsal at all hours of the day, but I decided that I would just take classes in London so I would get to explore as much as possible. That being said, I joined the Dance Society at King’s and get to take ballet, salsa, and jazz classes every week which is wonderful! It’s such a positive, exciting environment to be in, and they are great study breaks. I decided not to audition for their competition team so that my free time during the week could be spent traveling. Since Dance is my other major at Conn that is not available at King’s, it has been fun supplementing my dance education with these classes, and I hope to take classes at other renowned dance studios in the city now that most are fully reopened again.
What advice would you give to people preparing to go away? Definitely do as much research as you can ahead of time, especially about practical life logistics. In the weeks before I flew here, I would go on Google Maps every day and map out the area my apartment is in, where the nearest grocery stores were, how much the Underground or buses cost, where the post offices were, where to get Covid tests, and how far the campuses are. When I arrived in London at 7am, existing off of 20 minutes of sleep and a lot of caffeine and adrenaline, I knew exactly how to take the Tube from Heathrow to Waterloo, and I recognized all of the landmarks and streets from Google Street View. The area already had a visual sense of familiarity to me, and it made settling into life here much less daunting. I got a bit obsessive about the research as a way to cope with travel anxiety, but it undeniably made the whole adjustment period go a lot smoother.
What do you think you would have liked to know that you know now? Studying away has genuinely been the best decision of my life. Every day feels like a dream here, and every day is a new adventure. I learn so much not only in the classroom but also from living life more independently than ever. I also wish I knew that I would settle in easily. Settling in is unpredictable, and so many things could have made this program more difficult to adjust to, but I was so anxious and scared of how I would adjust that I didn’t trust myself. So I guess I wish I trusted myself more from the beginning. I’ve realized that I am more capable and confident in myself than I thought.
Also, I talk more about my time in London so far in Episode 2 of The Traveling Camel podcast, so if people want to hear me blab on about how much I love it here so far and other things I’ve learned, definitely check it out.
