(As seen in the gallery: (1) A friend, Annastasia, and I trying fish and chips for the first time, (2) a comparative photo, because the size of a small coffee continues to blow my mind, (3) a copy of a painting of The Church at Auvers by Van Gogh, as well as THE church itself, (4) details of the front of Notre Dame, (5) another photo of Notre Dame because, why not?)

I can’t believe I have already been in London for two weeks—what is even more astounding is that I only have two weeks left before returning back home! When I first arrived at school, I worried that I had made a mistake in going somewhere so far away from home, but I’ve grown so accustomed to this place, I don’t think I’ll be ready to leave!

When talking to my friends and family, I am usually approached with the same two questions: 1. How is the food? 2. Have you had fish and chips yet? Kingston University was nice enough to supply the students with lunch for the first couple days as we were arriving and during orientation. Though there are not a grand amount of culinary differences between London and the U.S., I have noticed a couple of things: ice is rarely served in drinks and “iced” drinks (coffee, tea) are served chilled only sans ice, coffee is offered in two sizes—regular (which is the size of a children’s cup equivalent in America) and large (which would equate to a medium sized cup of coffee). Most sandwiches are served with either corn or jalapenos on it and each restaurant I have gone to offers a fish and chips special. (Which was served with coleslaw and peas when I ordered it, though I made a mistake of ordering “mashed peas” that actually looked like I had been served baby food. I’m unsure if this is a normality.)

My dorm is pretty centrally located and I have only a ten-minute walk to a couple streets that are filled with restaurants as well as a grocery store when I want to eat in. My flat has five rooms (four occupied and a guest bedroom), each of which has their own bathroom. Each flat shares a communal full-kitchen area.

This past weekend I abandoned the dorms and Kingston-area I had grown accustomed to and headed off to Paris, France for a weekend! It truly was a testament to how used to London I had gotten, as the language barrier had me wishing to be back at my home away from home. Paris housed some of the most beautiful sights, architecture, and foliage I had ever seen. All of the food was amazing—fresh meat, delicious bread, and sweet macaroons. I’m thankful for all the walking tours I was a part of, or else you would have really been able to tell I had a least a croissant a day!

While in Paris, I was able to see sights I had only ever heard about and thought of as staples in some great beyond: Notre Dame cathedral was breathtaking, as was the view of the city from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower (the top was closed due to congestion reasons.) Like London, Paris is full of literary and artistic history, and I had the chance to see the homes of Monet and Van Gogh, which is as inspiring as they were humbling.  The Louvre was as amazing as it was large in size–what a great thing it was to be able to see Mona Lisa in person!! The Palace of Versailles was worth every minute of the hour and half wait–even if I had seen those golden gates and nothing else!

Though there was an obvious language barrier (surprisingly, my seven years of Spanish helped a little, but with context clues only), the majority of people I had come in contact with were willing to help me out with both directions and ordering food. (The grandest testament to this would be the woman who worked in a deli I stopped at that was kind enough to translate her entire menu for my friends and me.)

I’m thankful for all the photos I’ve been taking throughout this journey, though I don’t think I would forget any part of this had I not!