Dec 18, 20235 min read

London Term 1 recap

Hiii guys!!

It's been ages, I've been meaning to write for a while, but got caught up in exam season.

Life in London has been really lovely!! I am doing really well here :)

I'm gonna try to just do a chronological list of the things that have happened, but we will see if it pans out ok.

I got here with my mom on September 20th! Classes were to start on September 25th, exactly a month after I got my acceptance
I moved into a shitty student accommodation flat at the end of September. I was not very happy the whole place smelled like cigarettes and gross.
- They were supposed to be renovating the downstairs place for me to move into, which was hopeful though.
I'm living in the south Tottenham/seven sisters area, which is north London. At first, I was like mmm I don't love it here but it's grown on me.
- I'm just next to the Victoria line which gets me down to central London so fast it's great.
My mom stayed for the first weekend to help me do all the basic stuff like getting supplies, etc. It was nice but we were sharing my tiny room and she was sleeping on the floor so that wasn't fantastic. Also, my room supplies didn't get there when they were supposed to so it was a bit of a mess.
But, my first week in London was pretty chaotic and exhausting. I wasn't liking it too much
Eventually though, I made my first friend!! Emma!
- Emma is my flatmate, she's doing her second year of undergrad at UCL in psychology. She's queer and nerdy and the mom friend too so we get along really well.
I was on the dating apps when I first got here because you know me, I love to do my Tinder Tourism (TM).
- started talking to this South African guy who seemed nice
I made some initial friends at orientation, but they're all physics degrees so I haven't really seen them since.
My friend Amelia from Spain has also moved here which is nice to get to spend time with her and Louis
I started going to some of the running society runs which were really nice. It's nice to go run with a group in the city otherwise it can be a bit scary
I did a few fresher's event things, which are like the welcome week or zero week
Emma and I went out to a glow-themed 'rave' which was fun but it was all 18-year-olds
- one of the girls in the queue out front asked me how old I was and when I said 23 she went "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry" and that was actually insane
  - was completely not sarcastic too, so genuine
- NO ONE was dressed in glow attire it was crazy. Like the youth today have no idea how to do a theme I was so disappointed.
- Emma and I got fun facepaint and glow sticks at the thing
- Twas a silly night
My classes started the week after the 25th, thankfully. I had a week to settle in and get used to London, and go through orientation with my degree, etc.
I took three classes, which is half of my workload. On top of classes, I started work on a dissertation project, which is due at the end of the summer.
- classes: Foundations of Astrobiology, Origins of Life and Exobiology, and Astronomical Spectroscopy
- Project: spectroscopy of the NO+ ion
  - probably doesn't mean much to you all but it's exciting for me!
I made friends with Isa, Riley and Josh, three people from Birkbeck, which is another University of London school right next to UCL.
- They're getting Master's in Astrobiology and mine is in Planetary Science, so we're all part of the Planetary Science Group which is shared between Birkbeck and UCL.
- We're in 2/3 of the same classes so I get to see them a lot
- Isa is Spanish and from Sevilla, so I get to chat about Spain with her which is nice
I really like my classes and the research I'm doing, but I have one not-so-hot professor. He's been rubbing me the wrong way lately. More of an egoist than a teacher, you know?
I also started playing frisbee in my second or third week, when they opened up to new players.
- started playing indoor frisbee, which is so different and kind of crazy
- lots of upside-down throws
It turns out the guy that seemed pretty nice from Tinder was a bit of a homophobe when I met him in person. Only mildly ignorantly so, but still, not gonna work well for me...
- luckily, some other guy had asked me out in the interim, and after my first date with him I was like "mm he might be a dick but let's see how it goes"
- spoiler: this guy was Jake, my wonderful, not-a-dick-at-all, now boyfriend and we have had a perfect christmassy weekend together. I am writing from his bed right now hehe :)
I played more and more frisbee as the term continued and have made some great friends on my team. I am one of the only white girls on the team which is funny. Everyone has been really kind and I just had trials to try to join on the A team tourneys nationals for indoors in February. I should hear sometime over break or at the start of next term, we shall see.
- but, I have played a few tournies in the meantime which has been really fun.
- our outdoor pitch is soooo muddy it's actually crazy. I'll throw in some photos of the mud at this hat tournament it was crazy
Weather has generally been okay!! sometimes rainy, and the sun sets so early at like 4 pm so it gets a bit depressing. but I kind of like the cold, this is my first real winter in like five years
- I bought a really cute hat and mittens so I feel very colourful and cozy
I've gotten to meet Jake's friends who are lovely and kind to me as well and we had a big Christmas roast yesterday which was fun
For Halloween Emma and I went to a gay club and I was a sexy slug and she was a lady
I have been wandering around north London generally and it's so nice here. I really love it and am hoping to stay another year and maybe move like 15 minutes South
- North London favorites include:
  - Abney Park Cemetary
    - nice woodsy kinda spooky
  - stoke newington church street
  - Clissold park
    - really big goats!
  - London fields
  - The Hawley Arms
    - kinda punk pub Jake used to work at
  - Walthamstow
    - went for a walk through the wetlands with Emma, which was beautiful
    - The town is cute too
  - Hampstead Heath
- essentially, the best parts of London are the parks and the pubs
vegan restaurants & food have been great here too
I started working at Tottenham Hotspur stadium as a steward which is hilarious
- I am the person with the bright green jacket taking tickets and searching you when you enter the stadium
- luckily I am working the premium section so I don't get accosted too badly by football fans
I got sick sooo much
- I got strep, a cold, strep again, and covid so basically I was ill for five weeks mid-term
- classic moving to a new country
- luckily I have been pretty healthy since COVID
- keep getting injured as well. my foot got a nice bruise going this week.
I dyed my hair pink!
I hate biking.
I've stolen my neighbour's cat by feeding him every day and now Alex sleeps over I love him and he's the best cat
- most of my photos are of Alex I had to trim them to get it
Jake bought me a ticket to see Chappel Roan for my Xmas present and omg she was amazing I had so much fun
- very gay
- yes
I finished my exams and coursework on the 15th and now have just been taking some time to relax and do christmas things before I go back to Bethesda for the holidays :)