Made In Chelsea

I decided from the moment I arrived in London that I wanted to completely immerse myself in the city and all that it had to offer. So, what better way to immerse yourself in a culture than to catch up on its reality TV?? I was recently introduced to London's reality TV show Made in Chelsea and have become somewhat obsessed (or extremely obsessed...). The reality show follows a group of rich, beautiful, twenty-something individuals who live in London's most glamourous borough, Chelsea. I don't know exactly what it is about the show, but I literally cannot stop watching. The fashion, the accents, the completely made up drama...all taking place where I live. Following the lives of the rich and famous isn't a new concept for me, but there's something about the rich and famous in London that just draws you in. With that being said, I've made it my new mission to seek out these characters from the show and hang out with them. I'm definitely delusional. These people only attend the fanciest of night clubs, they shop on Oxford Street daily, they play polo, they travel to a different beach in Europe on their private planes every other weekend.... so needless to say, the places I could run into them are limited. Until then, I'm following these fake London celebrities like it's my job. I've found myself walking around London pretending like I'm some rich heiress strutting around in heels with my miniature dog and designer bag (I can barely walk in heels and have no dog or designer bag here). We went to Harrod's, London's famous high end shopping mall, the other day and I actually started picking up shoes in Jimmy Choo to look at the prices... Yes, I've gone a bit crazy, but these people are just too cool. I'm beginning to understand that I cannot live the life of a reality TV star on an abroad student's budget, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up hope on finding Spencer Matthews and Hugo Taylor (or their real British guy equivalent) while I'm here.
With the Made in Chelsea mind set still fresh in my mind, I set off for my first trip of my semester on Thursday, a weekend in Paris. Sounds pretty glamorous right? I thought so too, until we arrived at our hostel, smack in the middle of Paris's Red Light District. Lesson learned: you get what you pay for. Aside from our sketchy location in the city, I had the most incredible weekend. I spent most of my time walking around the city with my cousin Casey and friend Mia, two of my best friends from high school, reveling in the Paris experience. Mia is studying in Paris this semester and Casey is in Rome and this was our first time seeing each other while abroad. I stood in front of the beautifully lit up Eiffel Tower with two of my best friends on Thursday night and have never felt so lucky. The rest of our time in Paris was spent wandering around, taking pictures at every single monument, traveling to the palace of Versailles, and consuming a disgusting amount of crepes. I had such an amazing weekend and am so happy I could experience Paris with best friends. So, while I sit here back in London, watching yet another episode of Made in Chelsea, I am confident that even though I'm not a member of the Chelsea elite, my life is pretty awesome.

Bridget

The London Bubble (Or Lack Thereof)

With so many amazing aspects of London, it's so difficult to put my finger on my favorite thing about this city; however, if I had to choose right now, it would be how incredibly diverse London and my experience has been so far. I've lived in a bubble my entire life, whether it be the Orchard Park bubble, the Buffalo bubble, or the Villanova bubble, I was always living in some sort of bubble. I am so grateful that I chose to pop my bubble and get out of my comfort zone by studying abroad. Being able to experience diversity wasn't something that I considered much before leaving the country, but now that I am experiencing it, I am so thankful. I am currently living in a dorm full of both British and international students. While I was excited to hear American accents down the hall on day 1, I now find myself increasingly excited when I get to talk to German students, French students, Australian students...all living in my little dorm.

A girl came up to me after class the other day because she noticed that I was an American student. She is originally from Iran, but has studied in Africa, Spain, and now London (all in just 18 years of life). She was so interested in how I felt as an American student abroad, what it was like to be educated in America, why I chose to come to London... I felt like I really didn't have much to say, talking to a girl who has literally seen it all. A quick conversation with this girl between classes made me even more aware of this opportunity I have to learn so much about students, just like me, from all over the world. Studying at a major university right in the center of London means that I sit in a room of 50 students every day who have backgrounds strikingly different from my own. Before this seemingly insignificant experience, I would have never thought to just walk up to people, ask them where they are from, ask them questions about their life in their home country... but now I find myself meeting someone new everyday from a country that I really didn't know much about. I can now put faces to cities and countries that, before this trip, were just places on a map. 

Being abroad makes you feel like you can't take even an hour of your time for granted. Even as I sit in my room while I write this post, I am thinking about what else I could be doing, what else I could be experiencing outside this building. I'll be leaving for my first weekend trip on Thursday, a weekend in Paris (doesn't get much better does it?), the first of many trips during my stay here in London. I am so incredibly lucky that I get to experience the world around me like this, by literally going out and seeing the world. 

And with that being said, it's time to leave my room and go experience some more!

Bridget