Submitted by Erin Boland on the 2016 winter session program in London, England sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice…
Well, after my third week here I’m confident about getting around London. The Tube station is so easy to get around. I’m absolutely terrible with directions, and I actually find the transportation system so easy (which says something). We had four days off this week so everyone decided to travel. My Mom came to visit me so I showed her around London for two days. I showed her most of the sites we’ve seen – Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. We really tried to take advantage of her time and do as much as possible. We went to a bunch of different shops and bought souvenirs for my family and we also went to the top of the Shard – the tallest skyscraper in London. The view was incredible; you were able to see the entire city. We even went to see a musical while she was here, so we definitely kept busy! I was able to use the Tube no problem. Usually I just follow the people in my group, so it was nice being the leader and feeling confident about where I was going. For the next two days, we traveled to Ireland and saw my family there, which was so nice. It was great just spending time with my cousins and Mom.
I traveled back to London on my own, which was exciting. I’ve never traveled completely by myself. But it was a lot easier than I thought and it was really nice coming back to my group. We all swapped stories and realized how much we missed each other after only four days apart. It’s crazy how close we’ve become over these first three weeks, and I honestly can’t believe that in just one week, we’ll be leaving this incredible city and going back to the United States.
