London’s Calling.. and We Answered!

Hello everyone! Checking in for the first time from across the pond as we have all made it safe and sound to London. Students and staff flew from all over the United States to England and we have hit the ground running! 

We had a warm welcome from London based CIEE staff at the airport who collected us after baggage claim and we hopped on a bus and traveled to the heart of London where we will be staying for the next three weeks. Despite some sleepy eyes, energy was high as we got checked into our hotel, met our roomies, and got acquainted with the rest of our peers in the Theatre Arts program and even the students in the Creative Writing program! 

After hotel check-in we were off to the CIEE London headquarters for lunch and our first Orientation session of the program. They gave us helpful information about London and what we can expect from this coming week. Then, we headed to dinner and took the scenic route! We got a brief tour of the area outside the CIEE headquarters and made our way towards a delicious Mediterranean/Turkish restaurant where we served all sorts of scrumptious tapas! Tired from our long travel days, we retired to our beds to get some rest before our first full day in London. 

Our first full day in London started out with breakfast just downstairs from our room in the hotel. We had both hot and cold options from a continental breakfast and a traditional English breakfast– baked beans with your eggs anyone? Whether or not that is your cup of tea, there were options for everyone. After that we headed towards CIEE headquarters to start our first full day in London! It was an orientation heavy day where we discussed what exactly this program will entail for them as students abroad. 

We ended the day like typical London tourists on a bright red double decker bus touring the city and checking out some of the hot spots. We got to see the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the London Eye and more, all in a couple of hours! The rain even held off for us so we got to enjoy the roofless top floor and get better views of the stunning architecture. Afterwards we had a CIEE pizza party with just a couple hours left to spare for the day where students got free time in the area! 

Our second full day in the city started at the British Museum which is filled with ancient artifacts from all over the world. We learned about the rich history from various cultures while participating in a fun scavenger hunt around the museum! After that we had some free time in the area and headed to CIEE for a pasta bar lunch. Then, we had our first set of classes, learning a lot about British functional language. We got out of classes and ended the day with our friends around the city for free time! 

Us program leaders are loving getting to know all the students through ice breakers, name games, and all our excursions together. Seeing their excitement and passion for Theatre is inspiring and we can’t wait to reflect back on these first initial days to see how they’ve grown as individuals.