Student Bloggers

In the land of “God Save the Queen”, it just rains, rains, and rains. Buckets of rain are being chucked down from the sky. When there is grey skies and cold weather, you bundle up, but then you get the joy of sweating through all your layers once you get into a tube station. During rush hour you get the joy of being a sardine in a small metal container with strangers. Constantly pressed up against someone that will not talk to you is such a fun experience. We have been here for almost two months and I have adapted to the Londoners way; like saying sorry. It is never apologizing for an action that I have done, but simply a nicer way to say “get out of my way”.

We all have a lucky number, mine is 14 and 2014 has proven to be my favorite year so far. On October 14, 2014 I witnessed my favorite ginger, Mr. Ed Sheeran, perform in the iconic venue The O2. Suruchi and I purchased our floor tickets for the show two days before. I was going berserk in my room, so bad that I actually had to calm myself down to go to sleep, which ended up being hours later. Once we arrived The O2 was not like any other arena I have ever been to. On the inside there were restaurants, a bowling alley, and a movie theater. There was also a smaller concert venue in the building. As we passed it to get to our seats I noticed a certain country music bands’ logo on a window, Lady Antebellum had a show the same night for a country-to-country event. It was nice to see a little bit of Nashville. Finally we got into the standing pit for the show. As the arena was filling up I made a little circle and realized that I could see over everyone’s head, there was a few guys’ heads that I awkwardly made eye contact with, but I was the tallest girl in the standing section. The opener was Saint Raymond and his indie rock made the entire stadium dance. Then it happened, Ed Sheeran came onto the stage and for the next hour and a half we danced, screamed, and did the “gangsta bounce.” Half way through the show Ed brought out a special guest, Nathan from Snow Patrol. They sang possibly one of my favorite songs, and yes Suruchi and I died a little. After the show I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. I still look through my photos and can’t believe that I was standing in a sea of Londoners listening to a British artist.

Over the last four days my friends and I have suffered from a nasty cold. There is a local pharmacy called Boots that has the ability to prescribe you medicine by just walking up to their counter. The stuffed up nose, blocked ears, and disgusting cough was something that I was not looking forward to. Now on the upside of the cold I am ready to get back out and explore the city that I have been calling home and take some trips to: Greece, Germany, France and Ireland.