Monica M Corney

Clare (Monica) Corney 2/15/2018 My Adventures on the London Tube This January, I flew across the pond for my first time out of the country to live in London for three weeks in a study abroad program for British Fantasy Writing. I had always wanted to visit England and I was not disappointed. I was warned about the so called “culture shock” and “homesickness” but I did not suffer from any of those. The three weeks I spent there made me feel happy. Whole even. There were moments where my anxiety acted up and made me worried about getting lost but in the end it all worked out. My room was changed the second day because I had found the one and only other anime and video game nerd such as myself in the entire group so I thought my entire trip would be perfect! We lived in the dorms which were two trains away from our campus of Richmond University. I had always been bad at reading maps and relied on GPS or Google Maps in order to find my way. Since my parents could not afford the International plan for our cell phone service I had to rely on Wi-Fi wherever I went in London. My roommate had gone to London before, so she knew how to get around the Tube no problem. I followed her around everywhere for the first two weeks before I finally figured out how to use it in the third week. It was just in time too. She was a nice girl and all, but her homesickness, literal sickness, and late-night talks with her fiancé was beginning to get to me. I wanted to travel. Look around and explore London but being tethered to her was holding me back. I was afraid to take the Underground anywhere but I also had issues keeping up with the papers I needed to write because of the lack of light from her wanting to sleep all day. Since we were part of the British Fantasy Writing Course, part of the class gave us the opportunity to go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Of all days to call out sick, this was the day she was sick. I was determined to go. I took a deep breath on that foggy morning and dressed with my Slytherin scarf wrapped around my neck. I knew my way to the school well, so I took the same tube connections and met up with the woman who was taking us there. She took us to the station to Euston and then another to a little outside the zones that our Oister cards allowed for with tickets to help with the cost. She also gave us money for the shuttle. I had initially planned to try and stay with the group but since I didn’t exactly get a long very well with them or “mesh” with them, I ended up losing track of them quickly. Not to mention that they were fast walkers. With my asthma I could not walk too quickly or I would have to stop. Besides, I enjoyed taking my time walking around the place. I took everything in and had so many feelings that I had while the series was going on. My first stop when I was there was to the shop. I spend the most money of my entire trip there. I bought a robe, Sirius Black’s wand, a marauder’s map, plushies of a Hungarian Horntail and a Phoenix. I had delicious butterbeer and took so many pictures. After I was finished the tour on my own I had a slight panic attack when I lost my Oister Card and ticket to get home. When I went to the lost and found, thankfully someone had handed it in relieving my stress. On the bus back to the station I got talking to a very friendly Italian woman. I had slightly lost my American accent since the second day of the trip and she thought that I was a local which made me feel happy. Even when my accent slightly went American at times. When I got to Victoria Station is when things started to get tricky. Of course, the first time I take an entire Tube ride by myself was during the Rush hour period, which takes about three to four hours over there. I finally realized that if I found the directions that had the lines going up or down it was easier to tell which train I needed to get on. It finally clicked! The “fun” part of this adventure was that there was a huge line that was almost standing still. Some trains were delayed and the fact I was still wearing my robe just made things a bit difficult. The robe fit fine but was a bit long. Despite my tired hands from carrying bags and my robe, I finally made it to my destination and practically passed out when I got back to the dorm. The fact that I took the London Underground on my own for the first time truly made me feel happy and accomplished. The skill I had obtained worked out in perfect timing because when it came time for the Final exam, my roommate was sick so I had to go on my own again. I went on my own, confidently, and (hopefully) passed the test. For my final free day, I decided to go to the British Museum. That is one of the places I had always wanted to go to because I enjoy looking at ancient history and they had a great collection. I looked up my way there on Google and wrote it down to make sure I knew my way there. I got there just fine, but I got out of the place in a different spot so it was difficult to get back to where I was. I stopped in a café to use the wifi to find the closest station and after finding it which trains to take. I wrote down which ways to go and decided on my last day I would go to a pub. I had always hated American beer and wanted to see if English was any different. It was. The taste of it was amazing, especially because I had the sweet kind called “Honey Dew Organic Ale.” I took the train home confidently and now when I visit again I will know exactly how to get around.