i'm done, but here's some tips for london!So the semester has been over for sometime and I am currently waiting to hear back from the school about my grades. Speaking of grades, here's some notes on the UK grading system (for standardized business courses anyway):
What should you do in London? Well there's a wide variety of sites to see and things to do, but you could easily find that out with a simple Google search. So here's some things that aren't so touristy:
Final and general tips for a local kid on a foreign island:
Well that's all I could think of, if you have any questions about study abroad, about classes, or just in general, feel free to contact me at [email protected]! Have fun out in the UK, study hard, stay safe, and make friends. Cheers!
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Hello and goodbye EuropeSo since classes have officially ended, I've had the opportunity to go and see other things that Europe has to offer. I decided to take a trip with some of the other students from UH.
Before heading out of the country to begin traveling, I had the opportunity to see Drake at the O2 which was phenomenal albeit a little pricey. I don't think I would've ever been able to see him live back home! The itinerary for my travels outside of the UK were Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, then France. There was honestly so much to see and do in each of this countries that I couldn't fit them all in here if I tried haha! But, I'll give a highlight of each, Netherlands: Chocolate covered waffles with sweet strawberries Czech Republic: Going on a pedal boat and sightseeing Italy: Countless historic sites and sightseeing opportunities France: Shopping, or window-shopping to be more accurate I had a blast in my time abroad, and as I write this I am back in London soon to be on my way back home in Hawaii. My overall advice is to try and get around Europe if you choose to study abroad in London. Though completing my assignments weighed down my activities while traveling, I was able to both get them done and enjoy my trip. Start early and stay ahead of your assignments! Goodbye London?Whew! These past weeks were all about final assessments so there's really not much to talk about.
For my assignments I have 3 reports and 1 presentation. I finished the presentation and am left with my reports now. Two of the reports are pretty standard class-based examples and questions. However the third is more difficult being a 3rd (senior level) class. It's a marketing plan for a real company. Classes are actually over now so all I have to focus on are my reports which are due by the end of April. A lot of time to get them done! Since I haven't finished them and will be traveling from this point on, I'll be allocating time every day to get some work done. So again, if you're studying abroad, make sure to focus on your studies as well as take in the experience! P.S. We saw Drake Where did the time go?So final assessments are really taking up a majority of my time now. But hey, were here to study after all!
Can't say we did much in the past two weeks, but we went to a couple of school clubbing events to take breaks from studying. There's one on campus called the BOP on Friday which has a nice friendly vibe to it. Then there's Le Fez a small ways away from campus which is a little more club like. Both are with checking out! We also got order in food a couple times since we were too busy to cook on certain days. So there's two main apps that really work from campus for this purpose: UberEats and Deliveroo. The latter has a slightly higher delivery cost though. There's also a lot of small stores with baked goods and kebabs for a quick bite. If you choose to come here, stay on top of your finals!! trying to be local?Time is running out in Lonon! There's so much to see that I feel I simply just can't get around to. I have recently been trying to cherish the local delights like Nandos and other cheeky eats.
In the past two weeks we also got to see a live musical, Phantom of the Opera. I don't know if my hearing is just shot, but it seemed a little difficult to understand what they were saying. Still a good experience though! I also went to Brick Lane which quite literally is comprised of brick buildings. They have a really nice vintage market but the items there are on the pricier side. There's also a small cafe/restaurant called Cereal Killer where everything is just Cereal, I'd recommend it though! I'm still worried about my final assignments but I also have to make the most of London! Midterms?We finally hit the dreaded Midterm season while abroad, but the whole catch is that there really aren't any! Rather than having exams, there are formative assessments which are not graded (and as a result are not mandatory but are super helpful) but rather receive helpful feedback for the completion of summative the one time big-ol' single assignment that actually determines your entire grade.
To help you complete these formative assessments (you will likely have one per class), you are given a week long break called reading week. During reading week there are no classes so many people actually choose to spend their time going away for a short vacation. The group of students from UH decided to go to Barcelona together. It was a really nice place to visit though in retrospect I do not think you need a whole week to take it all in. My advice though is to ensure that you bring your trusty laptop with you so you can actually get those formative assessments done in your downtime. If you decide to go an explore Europe as we did, be sure to plan ahead! Plane tickets are going to be pretty expensive close to the date of the flight so prices tend to be lower when you get them in advance. In terms of accommodation, you have two budget options. If there's enough people, an AirBnB will be comfortable, affordable, and generally more secure. However if you can't find an AirBnB, then youth hostels may be your best bet. You'll share a room with strangers but there, but they'll all be around your age, and you'll likely also get a locker to keep your belongings safe. Well that's all I have to say for now, Cheers! Finding stuff to doIn these past two weeks I have gotten a lot more adjusted to the culture and weather out here in London. With that, it was time to explore the area and find more stuff to do. There's honestly a bit too much to mention, but I'll go through some highlights!
We went to Westminster Abbey for a class field trip with our Resident Director and Professor Dave. Its a religious place that holds many ceremonies throughout. You can't really take pictures there unfortunately but its really neat to check out the older styles of architecture as well as the graves of many significant scientific, literary, and royal figures throughout history. A few days later we went back to Westminster, but to the parliament building and had some high tea. We also went to Hampton Court Palace, which had some neat recreations of old time activities such as eating quarters. There were also many murals and portraits that depict scenes in history or even royal figures themselves. Outside the many buildings were beautiful and elaborate gardens that you'd just have to check out for yourself (they're like Alice in Wonderland level gardens). The highlight for me however, was seeing some geese. I guess the final thing I'll mention is that the Hawai'i students ventured off on our own to Brick Lane Market where we found some graffiti and had a look at the various shops all around, it was like a swap meet except larger and more expensive. The food was good though! Surviving the coldSo we made it through our first couple of weeks of actual classes.
Some key takeaways from these two weeks have been the weather and the coursework. So, the weather has been consistently cold. As I've only ever lived in Hawai'i up till this point, this has been a very new experience. At first it wasn't too bad, but after experiencing even lower temperatures, windy days, and even rainy days, it has been rough. My advice is to layer on your clothing (scarves work wonders) and bring an umbrella. As for classes, everything has been much different. Each class only occupies one day throughout a week, but this is broken down between a 1 hour lecture and a 2 hour seminar (interactive portion). The assignments are sparse and there aren't any exams like at home. Your entire grade typically depends on one or two assignments due at the end of the semester. It is a strange concept, but not the worst thing to experience. Let's get into the non-curricular portion now. There's a lot to cover, so I'll just list some places and things that I found to be the highlights of my experience. We went on a boat tour on the river Thames, passing under some beautiful bridges with plenty of opportunity for pictures. We've visited various museums and historic sights including the British Museum and Westminster Abbey. We've tried various kinds of foods including fish n' chips and Nando's. I'd highly recommend checking out all of things if you ever get a chance to! Landed in london!It has been a long, long flight, but I have made it to London!
We were collected from the airport by a small Roehampton squad and took a tour bus to the campus. By the time we got there it was already night and boy was it cold. We were showed to our dorms and pretty much left alone. Things that were a let down were the heater and the wifi. We thought the heater was broken, but depending on where you are stationed, the heaters will work difficult. If you're lucky, you'll get one that stays on. The wifi is also ethernet only, so you must get a router quickly! There's a store called Curry's that has a simple one for pretty cheap! On Thursday there was a long orientation about school, safety, and life in general while in London. Worth paying attention to if you're not too dead from the flight! On Friday we got to register for our classes officially. In the Roehampton application, they ask for your module (course) choices and a little later they'll show you a tentative schedule. You'll probably stick with your tentative schedule, but this is the day you can change it if you need to! Add/drop is available for the first 2 weeks, but it's not an incredibly common thing to do in the UK. You'll also get a ID that works as a room key! No offense UH, but the system here is super efficient. (My course schedule can be found below.) For our first weekend, the UH student group went to Westfield Mall and into central London. There's a lot to see so we didn't go too deep into any one thing, but I'm sure we will in the future! |
About mE
I am currently a Junior in Management Information Systems, and am planning to double major with Marketing. NAVIGATE
May 2019
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