Tips

This is a short essay I wrote and entered to be published in the next Kingston Summer school Newsletter based on some of the things I've learned here so far.

Hot Tips for Future Summer School Students

Before I start rattling off tips for your future stay at Kingston University, let me tell you this: I have never traveled to Europe before this experience, and although I knew things were going to be completely different, I don’t think I really could even comprehend how different they were going to be. I wish I could have read something giving me good, specific tips before I left. First thing’s first—don’t be alarmed when you open your mouth to speak and people look at you like you have just belched Budweiser in their faces.
In London it’s not such a big deal to be un-British, but in the small town of Surbiton, where there aren’t many Americans, they will know you are a student. But don’t be taken aback by this feeling of being outsider, it will pass and you should embrace it. Maybe these tips will help.
• Be nice to everyone, and try to take public transportation (bus, train, tube) as much as possible to get really, thoroughly used to it.
• Study the tube maps! I can’t stress that enough. They are easy, and you will learn them if you just look over them once a day. Knowing which line goes where really helps you to blend in with the swarming crowds—you don’t want to be left behind staring at a tube map in the station, especially if you venture into London alone.
• Do what you want to do. Go to the main tourist attractions at least once, but if you can help it, try not to go places where you have no desire to be. This is your time; you’ll want to take as much time doing the things you want as possible. You will enjoy the day much more than going to a random museum and spending ten pounds. Do things that inspire you.
• Don’t let yourself be affected by jetlag. You can help this. Set your phones, clocks and computer’s times to London time as soon as you get there, and follow that. Try not to think about “what time it is at home” because you will just be haunted by images of you sleeping comfortably in your bed at home, which will induce homesickness.
• Get plenty of rest. With summer school, the classes take you on trips at least once a week per class, so that is at least two all day trips per week, most of the time more. Even the weekends are filled up with side trips.
• If you want to go to the pubs, that’s a great idea—but do not stay out into all hours of the night. In London, the trains and tubes stop running at a quarter to midnight, so that is good enough initiative to start “pubbing” early, and get back on the train by before midnight. It might sound lame, but when you’ve had your fun and are back in bed at a reasonable hour, you will be thanking me in the morning.
• Weather is extremely unpredictable. Extremely. You will need these three things at all times when you are in London in the summer: an umbrella, a sweater/light jacket, and sunglasses. I kid you not, these three extremes can and WILL happen when you are out for a day. Even if the sky looks like a Sandals Resort commercial, rain is coming. And you WILL get soaked.
• This might sound unimportant, but bring a change purse, or at least a wallet with a compartment for coins; there are eight types here. This is extremely difficult to deal with when there is nowhere to put them. Fishing for coins, paired with your American accent is a recipe for feeling severely out casted.