London Spring: Some things you need to know

 Hi everyone!

It has been a minute but I wanted to come on here and share a little more about my second, and final, semester in London. Again, my name is Hope and I spent the last year studying abroad in London!

It has now been well over four months since I got back on the island and it has given me a lot of time to put together some things for you all. I would like to send a disclaimer that this is not going to be the most positive post but I hope it will help you in making your decisions!

Is Spring in London worth it?

Honestly, I would say it depends. I'm not going to lie and say that it was all terrible, because there were really good moments in my second semester, but there were other factors that made it not the most ideal situation. Also, these factors were mostly on me so if you catch these early on it would probably be better for you.

╰┈➤ There is no real "Spring" in London 

Now this might be controversial depending on where you are in the US, and maybe this is just because I grew up on island, but Spring doesn't really start until April-May (and saying April is really me being generous). Some days you would get lucky and the sun would come out for an hour or two but mostly it stayed winter weather almost my entire second semester there. Which would be good for those of that like that sort of weather but for everyone else, it is a big thing to consider when choosing what semester you would head out there.

 

On the left were most days and on the right was literally the last day of April. I kid you not when I say this was the first couple of days of Spring.

╰┈➤ It's kind of dull 

Due to the lack of holidays and celebrations during this time of year, compared to the Fall/Winter semester, London wasn't that exciting. There weren't that many events or fairs going on during the spring, like Winter Wonderland @ Hyde Park or any of the Christmas Markets. Even all of the markets were sort of empty due to the constant rainy and windy
weather so if you planned to try and do something they were limited to indoor activities. Which can be equally as fun, you just need to find your niche!

 

As you can see we did what we could but usually stuff was indoors and for a fee, and that plus transportation wasn't the most ideal.

╰┈➤  Classes 

This was my view most weekends :(

Now this is where I messed up big time. During my second semester, I took a media production class, not only that I took a photojournalism class as well. A huge part of this is because the school that I was going to messed up my schedule and I had to choose something available, which wasn't a lot. However, if you are going abroad and are there for a limited amount of time DO NOT choose a class that involves a camera. Unless that is what you're passionate about and you don't mind most of your time being consumed by editing or camerawork, you're just going to find yourself missing out on all of your time to explore!

Now, I don't mean to tell you this to push you off from studying abroad because there were so many incredible things I got to do during this semester too (which will be my next post!). However, it is important to know some of the things that I either wasn't aware of or didn't understand just how much of an impact they would have. I'm sure I would've had a more amazing time if I wasn't in certain classes and had more free time. So just take this with a grain of salt, your experience is up to you!!

Anyways, if you have anymore questions please feel free to let me know @/whenhopemeetsworld on ig would probably be best!! 

Thank youu :)) 

*ೃ༄  Hope 

Essentials for Essex

"HIYA...you alright?"

“Right, you?”

Get used to saying or hearing that over and over again. Perhaps it makes no sense but welcome to England!

From mushy peas, to Guy Fawkes, to many modes of transportation, the U.K. can be a confusing place! But this blog will tell you everything you must know to confidently navigate an exchange year at the University of Essex. 

Arriving

If you arrive at London Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, or London Luton, you will need transport that gets you to Colchester or Colchester Town Station. The best ways to do this is by train (also called tube, rail, or underground), or the national express bus. Book ahead of time and prepare yourself for any transfers that may occur. Rail strikes are common, so have a backup plan for this too.

Transportation in General

I just want to say, make friends with cars if possible. Public transportation is unreliable because there are rail strikes so often and the busses sometimes are too crowded or just don’t show! Even the taxis are easily booked up at peak times. And there are no ubers or lyfts or anything like that. I’ve been in emergency situations where I needed a ride and the only option was asking a friend. If I didn’t have that as an option there was no alternative! Make friends that drive!!

The Campus

At first sight, the University of Essex campus looks like a huge city, even from far away, but after a few days you’ll get to know the place well. If you feel lost or confused and noone is around to help, look up your destination on the FindYourWay website. Along with this, you can be using ‘city mapper’, ‘apple maps’, ‘google maps’. 

Main takeaways:

-Head to Colchester Station or Colchester Train Station via bus or train

-Take bus or Taxi from the train station to the University of Essex

-Panther Cabs number (as of ‘23) is: +44 1206 525525

-DON’T rely on Uber. THERE IS NO UBER IN RURAL ENGLAND

-Look at the campus layout with “Find my Way” 

-Apps to Download: City Mapper, Apple Maps, Google Maps, Bus, 411 Taxi, Panther Cabs, My Essex

-The town is an hour walk from the University

Housing

North Towers - up to 15 roommates good for parties, close to classes and library, shared bathrooms

South Courts - up to about 25 roommates, good kitchen, good for parties, next to gym, different bus, shared bathrooms

Copse - Nice, above mailroom, own bathroom

Quays - across the bridge, next to Dominos, Bambu, a nice kitchen space, pronounced KEYS

Meadows - This is the only community that has a locked gate, this is where I lived and I think it was AWESOME

The Houses - chill, shared bathrooms, inexpensive

Socials

England has a strong drinking culture. For this reason, the University of Essex is home to two bars and a club. The legal drinking age is 18, and drinking even earlier is normalized. This is why you’ll see open alcohol all over the campus and young people drinking on the benches and public areas. 

Its normal to drink with your boss, coworkers, and even professors. Academics and working people drink a lot, and I do my homework in a pub as I would a cafe. There are many events to attend in the day or night. 

There is always a “pres” (preez), pregaming, event before going out. This gives you time to bond with friends or teammates, but you also have to do it because alcohol is too expensive at the bar or club, but so cheap from the grocery store.

If you choose the University subzero club, there will be a long queue (line) that closes at midnight. You also need to get a ticket even if it’s free. So get there around 11.45. Expect to be home by 5am. To avoid a horrible hangover every morning, I tried to drink very little, not mix drinks, or just have non-alcoholic beverages.

If you’d like to try new things, there are so many societies to choose from. I joined: 

Athletics (cross country and track)

Tennis

Jewish

Choir

Debate

Psychology

Southeast Asia

Book

Feminist

Kickboxing

University of Essex is home to over 120 societies, so compared to some people I know - I didn't even have much on my plate!

Accommodation

I lived in the Meadows with two roommates from France, one from China, and another from Georgia, U.S. My CA was English and our neighbors were from Mexico, India, Africa, and different parts of Europe. So its safe to say that the University of Essex is a highly International school, with ⅓ of its students from outside of the U.K. But not too many Americans! So if that’s what you’re interested in, you’re in for an incredible cultural experience. I ALSO highly recommend the Meadows accommodation for a close knit community and beautiful residency. You get your own bathroom, room, and a large shared kitchen space for $600/month. But that's on the pricier side.

Cost of Living

The University does a lot to help with the cost of living. There are many free events for entertainment and food.

Over 12 on campus restaurants have $2 meal deals, where you can get a hearty hot meal from the menu each day. So eating out with friends it not super difficult.

Most students get all of their groceries from the nearby Tesco, which is a glorified British Walmart. Tesco is the best. They also have “meal deals”, a snack, drink, and entree for $3.50.

Make your way into as many WhatsApp group chats as you can to score free furniture and good opportunities.

 shoots!

Arriving in England

I admit, I didn’t really prep as much as I should have before booking my flight. If you dig hard enough of the University of Hertfordshire page, it will explain that there are certain days where you can get transportation to the school from Heathrow, but if I remember correctly it was only one day of the weekend before orientation. Because my flight was not on that day, I had to navigate through London to Hatfield on my own. From what I could find online, navigating through London is fairly easy because of the easy access through the tube. Unfortunately, I had my giant luggage so I didn't really want to work out international subway systems with my luggage. I was able to work out a route before my flight though, and ended up taking the Heathrow Express (which offered tickets at the airport) down to Paddington station. From Paddington station I was able to find a starbucks and order an Uber to Kings Cross which had trains directly to Hatfield. It was stressful and hectic, but overall I was able to figure it out fairly easy and not nearly as expensive as a taxi all the way to Hatfield would have been! Unfortunately, I was too stressed to take pictures of any of my first impressions, but I did catch this quick glimpse of platform 9 3/4 my first time in Kings Cross!

What To Pack

Packing was an interesting experience for me, because I wasn't sure what I really would need. I knew that it would be cold, but I didn't know if England's "spring" would be anything like the usual springs I have experienced. looking back on it there are only a few wardrobe essentials I would say you absolutely NEED:

• a reliable pair of pants (or two... or three...)
• sweaters (if you ever crave for sweater season in Hawaii, good news! England is always sweater season)
• Winter coat (my winter coat was my best friend as seen in all of my pictures)
• Sneakers (so. much. walking.)
• Some nicer, dressier clothes (there will always be a social opportunity to dress up, and you can never be too dressed up when going out)
• Slip on shoes for around the flat (dorming is all going to be communal. While you could get away with walking barefoot, it's gross enough that you shouldn't want to)
• a light jacket (even when it starts to warm up, you'll want that extra level of warmth) 

Additionally, if you don't want to buy these things you could bring room essentials like:

• sheets
• a pillow
• a blanket

Places to go within England!

One of my biggest fears with my study abroad experience was that I was going to come away from it wishing I had done more, gone more places, tried more things. Thankfully, now that I'm back I don't feel like that at all! While I didn't get to travel over to Europe during my stay, there were more than enough places within the UK that are just as exciting and beautiful to go to. If you find that you're in England with spare time and money and wanting to travel, these are a few places for day trips/long trips that you can do!

• London: This one's a given but I could go to London and find new things to do with every trip. Make sure you look up what there is around and make the most of it!
• Cambridge: seeing the different colleges is amazing and really feels like you're stepping back in time. Some of the colleges are free to get onto, some cost money so be prepared for that. Also, make sure you book one of the punting tours along the river to see the historic bridges and get historical/fun stories about each of the colleges.
• Oxford: similar to Cambridge, the colleges are so fun to look around. Also, you can see several places where Harry Potter was filmed.
• Dover: aside from being able to see the famous white cliffs, you can also visit Dover Castle which is the largest castle in England.
• Stonehenge: this one is also a given but not only is the experience breathtaking, the town you take the train into is very cute and has a lot of fun little shops to walk through.
• Edinburgh: really visiting anywhere in Scotland is amazing, but Edinburgh has so many cool attractions and picture spots, it's definitely a must! Try to visit Holyrood castle and the Elephant House cafe which is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter
• The lake district: any of the little towns will do. If you want to really experience the English countryside and small English towns with beautiful views, this is the place to go.
• Harry Potter Studio Tours: If you're a fan of the movies or the books, this is definitely worth it! it's a self guided tour, so you can take as long or short of time as needed.
• Portsmouth: this is a city I hadn't heard of before but I'm so glad I went! It used to be an old navy town, and now you can go explore old British Navy ships as well as see a once sunken ship that was one of the first naval ships in Britain.
• Brighton: worth it just for the pier and fun shops alone but also just a really cool city to explore with fun museums and historical sights.