A Wayfarer in the Land: London Meets a Shorewoman

By Ashley Carol-Fingerhut
Foreign Correspondent

I am writing you from London where I am spending the first of my two semesters studying abroad. I am participating in the Hansard Society Programme with 18 other undergraduate students and 10 graduate students.
One day a week, I am taking two classes at the London School of Economics, and three days a week, I am interning with Parliament. I have been here for the past two weeks doing the typical touristy things. I spent the first week exploring the pubs finding the best place for fish and chips, seeing the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace (during the changing of the guards, they actually played Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” which was the only part that received a huge applause from the crowd. If you are understandably sceptical, look it up online, there is a youtube video.), taking a tour of Parliament, walking around Hyde park, visiting Windsor Castle, finding the kosher restaurants, learning the transportation system, and waking up every morning and walking outside my flat to discover that this is actually real life and I’m studying abroad in London.

It is the strangest and most exciting feeling, which anyone who has had the pleasure of studying abroad will understand. After getting slightly acquainted with my new city, we all went to Edinburg, Scotland to see their Parliament and learn about devolution. Scotland is currently trying to become independent from the United Kingdom, which is understandably quite a big deal, to say the least.

When we visited their Parliament, we were able to sit in on the minister’s questions. This is when Leader of the Scottish National party, Alex Salmon, takes question from ministers, especially those of the opposition parties. It gets a bit heated, to say the least.

While we were not listening to lectures on devolution, we were able to explore the area. It is quite a college town, and also for you Harry Potter fans, the birthplace of the books. We saw the Elephant House, which is a quaint little café where J.K. Rowling wrote the books, while looking out on Edinburgh Castle, the castle that inspired Hogwarts. It was not my favorite castle that I have seen so far, but it did allow for the most beautiful view of the city. Anyway, I should probably head out back into the city and keep trying to re-enact Mary Kate and Ashley’s “Winning London”. I hope that, in one way or another my adventures will inspire you to study abroad so you can write your own story and have experiences that you have never dreamed possible.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *