Submitted by Arielle Linn on the 2014 winter session study abroad program in London, England sponsored by the Department of English and the Department of Theatre…
I have officially completed my first week in London and I am having an amazing time. After the first day of class, me and a few friends took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked around Covent Garden, which is a HUGE outdoor market with a bunch of jewelry, cutlery, fabrics,etc. On Tuesday, our entire program took a tour of the National Theatre where we got to see the “behind the scenes” action going on. We were shown props, how they are made, and even saw them being made. We also were told the history of the theaters inside the theatre. After the tour, we saw the play The Light Princess. It was a fairytale musical and was spectacular! The next day, we took a tour of the Wallace Collection, which is a famous collection inside of an art gallery and walked on Oxford street, a premier fashion shopping center. That night, we saw a comedy, 39 Steps and I got to sit in the second row! On Thursday, we toured the Guardian offices which is London’s version of the NY Times. It was so interesting to hear about all the time and effort that is put into making a newspaper. This weekend, me and a few friends took the Big Bus tour, which took us all around London. I got to see the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Harrods, and so much more. It was definitely a must in order to orient myself to the city. I am having lots of fun and am excited for this upcoming week!