An excerpttaken from my journal, written in the park!
Cat and I got spumoni today. There’s a temptation to just say that and leave it there, but I think this is a novel tale worth writing down.
There was much debate in my heart today about the choice to go to Windsor with a group of friends today. When I had almost made up my mind not to go, I asked Cat what her plans were. She mentioned a park a good ways away and I asked to join, eager to have something to do that would distract from my fomo. Of course, I’m always read to embark on an adventure orchestrated by Cat. We went to war with the dryers of the laundry room, then made our way out. The adventure went something like this.
We first made our way to Joe and the Juice, in search of immunity-boosting smoothies. I got a “Stress Down” and she a “Joe’s green mile.” Juices in hand, we took the Picadilly line and each read our own books until we got off at Arsenal. We walked up the windiest tunnel, then made our way through the most charming neighborhood to get to Finks.
It was so quiet.
You never realize how loud South Ken is until you’re in a town where most everybody bikes. It was one of those days where all the people you see are beautiful. We ordered two sandwiches: a courgette on focaccia, and a ceaser chicken bacon on sourdough, splitting half each, eating on glass plates outside in the sun on mismatched chairs.
Then the spumoni.
We cheered when we found the sandwiches in the icebox, chatted with the baristas, and ate them under the awning and on the way to Clissold park. At the park we saw fallow deer, budgies in cages, a child’s birthday party, and a bench dedicated to “Jennie Buckman/ as a parting glass for Nana Jen / fun, unfiltered, captivating, and kind.” People here roll their pants up to capris to let their shins soak the sun, wear red eye glasses, and let their dogs roam without leashes.
I didn’t see Windsor castle today, but I saw a jack russell round the corner and pause for his girl to catch up, panting in the sun and waiting for her. I won’t see Italy or Spain on this trip, but those ventures will come another time. Places like this will never be so accessible. I can’t see every corner of the UK, taste every ice cream in Europe, but today I had spumoni.
The storytelling element of this entry is a bit different from my others, but it’s directly what I wrote on that day in my journal, sitting with Cat on a bench.
Many, MANY hours in the park, and some of the most stunning architecture I’ve ever seen…
For the entire first week living in Samford’s Daniel House in South Kensington, every moment not spent taking notes during one of our orientation sessions was spent out exploring the new place I found myself in. For the past few days, I would say there have been two types of adventures: the organized groups trips, and spontaneous solos.
As I said, many hours in parks….(from left to right) Marlo, Ellie, and Cat on a walk with me, standing before a great tree we dubbed ‘Clive’
The organized group trips were built into our orientation schedule and jam-packed with information. Walking to each location was one of the best ways to find someone new to talk to, getting to know the other girls in the house as we strolled through parks or waited for the next train at the tube station. Tom took us on a walking tour our first day, blowing my mind with how close so many of my bucket list locations were. We only walked around three miles, and still managed to see Kensington Gardens, the V+A, Kensington Palace, the Natural History Museum, and more than a few red telephone booths. The next day, our group was introduced to dart-throwing at Flight Club, where my competitive side was revealed (but not my hidden dart throwing skills).
My first (and only) bullseye!!
The next day, Tom did his very best to teach us how to play cricket in the park. For about fifteen minutes, we shouted questions like “does bowling mean the same thing as pitching in baseball?” and “how many strikes till you’re out?” until we had no choice but to jump right in and try to learn on the fly. We lost count of the score and spent most of our time chasing the ball bouncing on the drought-scorched grass. Eventually we got to a point where we didn’t have to shout a question every time we were up to bat and some of us even managed to hit a few balls (myself included, though I was struck out instantly because Tom decided to step in out of the blue and catch my ball).
Stella capturing a few pictures while Tom bowls to Margaret
The largest “organized group trip” was to the House of Parliament. Despite my best research of London and the surrounding cities, I still have a poor map inside my head of where every huge landmark is, so I was completely taken by surprise when I walked out of the tube station to instantly be greeted with Big Ben towering over the sidewalk I stood on. We went on an immense tour of the House of Parliament, starting off in Westminster Hall (built in 1099), going through the various rooms steeped in rich history, political drama, and various forms of visual art. After the tour, we sat in on a service of Evensong at Westminster Abbey, one of the top events on my bucket list.
MY FIRST TIME SEEING BIG BEN!!!! (taken seconds after one of the most dramatic gasps I think I’ve ever gasped in my life when I first caught sight of it)
Apart from the planned group excursions, some of the best moments I’ve found on this trip have been on the random “spontaneous solos” I’ve taken. Sometimes, I find the energy for more extravagant adventures, but often, the only excitement I need can be found in a cappuccino from Blank Street before getting on the tube. A notable escapade took place last Thursday, when I ventured out with my dear friend Cat to visit The Space, a small local theatre where she is interning at this semester. We went to see a show, Eigengrau, put on by a small traveling theatre company, venturing out almost an hour away and treating ourselves to some fantastic burgers afterwards.
We slayed giants (aka stupid gps directions) to find these burgers.Worth it.
Another time, I visited the famous Borough market with a group of girls, where I purchased the most fabulous loaf of rosemary bread I’ve ever seen (it was gone in two days). I’ve enjoyed the morning runs I’ve taken in Kensington gardens, late night Gelato quests, and all the hundreds of conversations I’ve overheard on the tube. With the long weekend we got from Monday’s bank holiday, I had plenty of time to embark on all sorts of extravagant sight-seeing mini-trips, but I also found the time to enjoy an evening in, playing “Just Dance” with the girls in the house. The most important thing I learned this week was to treasure the small moments. Not just the big weekend getaways, but the little bits as well, like the drizzle of London rain on the walk back from the Italian gardens, or a late-night conversation with Gabbie and Ruthie in the kitchen; the moments when I can pause and remember where I am, and how lucky I am to be here.
From late night packing to early morning drives…all the way to London!
This has always been the plan. There was a point in my life where I wasn’t sure that I would go to college at all, but that changed when I discovered Samford. Finding my home at Samford transformed me, leading me out of my comfort zone, challenging me to grow, and inspiring me to chase dreams that were (for the first time) achievable. The first thing I knew I wanted was to study abroad. Specifically, I wanted to live in the Daniel House for Fall 2026, something I made clear to my advisor the first time I was ever in her office. We built my four year schedule around this planned semester before I even had any certainty that I would make it into the program. Going to London has always been the plan, but now it’s a reality…and it still doesn’t feel real.
Packing my suitcase was an adventure all by itself. After just managing to cram all that I needed into a suitcase I had bought weeks before, my parents and I discovered that the size of my planned “checked bag” was seven inches over the requirements for the company I was flying with, leading us on a last minute adventure to Marshalls in order to get the right sized suitcase. Once home, the pile of disposable non-essentials grew until finally everything I needed was smashed into two suitcases and a backpack, all busting at the seams.
Getting rid of all my US dollars for Euros!
Reflecting on the start of this adventure, I’m wondering if the normalcy of the events has contributed to how I feel about this semester not feeling real. Leaving my house was not emotional, the drive to Atlanta was traffic-free, and I managed not to cry when I hugged my parents goodbye before entering the airport. In all my wildest dreams about leaving for London, the departure was some sort of grand event, but even the stress of TSA did nothing to phase me. The flight over was the best of my life, but I kept waiting for the moment to “hit me” where I would realize what I was doing. I waited and waited…. …and nothing happened. No magical aha! stomach-dropping realization, no tears. I was almost afraid something was wrong. This was what I had been waiting for for years, where were all the life-altering emotions?
After arriving at the Daniel House, I figured out what my problem was. I saw pictures of former students lining the stairwell, and spotted a few friends I had been in contact with over the summer for advice. That’s when I realized…this whole time preparing for London, I had been planning someone else’s trip. I was so caught up in stories of friends and plans captured from Pinterest boards that I forgot how different my own experiences were going to be. The “normalcy” that I had been confused by was just my life being my life. Being in a different time zone did very little to change me as soon as I landed on UK soil. What does have the power to change me are my own experiences.My conversations with the locals, my internship, my weekend getaways, etc. It’s up to me to make this trip my own, craft stories to share with those back at home one day.
When I started writing this entry, I had only just landed, and was barely able to keep my eyes open. Now that I’ve gotten a full thirteen hours of sleep and had a full day of sightseeing, orientation talks, and dart throwing, I can say…it still feels like I’m dreaming. Culture shock is sure to come, along with homesickness and stressful tasks, but for now, I’m just excited to see how London will become a place where I belong, even if just for a short while. Hopefully this blog will do a little to capture what this semester is like for me, documenting all the highs and lows sure to come.
As Dr. Howard said to me today, walking home from Buckingham Palace: “it’s that moment when you start saying things like ‘I’m heading home now’ and realize you mean the Daniel House…that’s when you’ll know you’ve made it.“
