England: Liana Lima (A Home Away from Home in London)

A Home Away from Home in London

The walking culture and reliance on public transportation are major new experiences for me and have become a part of my everyday life in London. Back at home, I never used public transport since I had a car. While my city has some public buses, we don’t have a train system and it does not measure up to the scale of public transport in London. Something that was crazy to me was that the tube (the train system) is the majority of people’s main vehicle of transport regardless if they have access to a car. One thing I love about the tube is that it’s a space for everyone and I feel like it opens people up to all different sorts of people with different lives and purposes. When I’m not observing I tend to read or listen to music, I keep all my “on the go” items in the same bag so I always have what I need on all my journeys. Making sure I have these things together and keeping everything on me rather than in my car has been a new experience but it’s made me more organized.

Since public transport obviously can’t take you exactly where you need to go, I’ve gotten used to walking A LOT more than I did back home. It’s usually a 10-20 minute walk in total to get where you need to go before and after getting off the tube so with multiple journeys a day my steps rack up quite quickly. Sometimes when I’ve had a long day it can be a little rough, but overall I really enjoy it. It’s nice to always be able to unintentionally get a little exercise even when I don’t make it to the gym. In London, you even walk to simple places like the grocery store and gym that I would never walk to in America.

The things that I’ll miss most about London are the parks and museums. I’ve been lucky enough to live in a place where my favorite park (Kensington Gardens) and favorite museum (The V&A) are both within walking distance. London in general has an amazing array of parks and is dedicated to green spaces, so I’ve made it a goal to get to as many as I can. My recent favorite has been St. James’s Park, which is right near the palace. I often go after class and grab a meal deal from Waitrose and just sit and read by the river. I’ll miss Kensington Gardens most since it’s been a place I’ve gone since my first day here. I’ll miss sitting in front of the Albert Memorial which is probably my favorite thing in all of London. While I love all the museums in London the V&A will be the one I miss most. Every time I need a good place to get out of the house, study, or find artistic inspiration, the V&A is the place to be. I’ve been here for months and feel like I still haven’t seen all of it!

Liana Lima

Major: Psychology or Communications

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin