UCLA Study Abroad | International Education Office | England

By CHELLY JIN

To be entirely truthful, I’ve already been in London for 3 weeks : busy unpacking, acclimating, making friends, learning to ride a bus here or ‘top-up’ an oyster card, testing social cues, cringing at my own American English accent. So orientation was a while ago.

But, with some time and space, I feel that I can give a pretty good retrospective on the whole experience.

AND THE EXPERIENCE WAS GREAT.

So here’s an orientation to the UCEAP Orientation at London, everything from what we did and what you can expect, and maybe some advice along the way.

GETTING TO LONDON

Getting to London seems intimidating — the student visa process or the tier 4 visa process (eek!) But the truth is, 1) it really depends on the staff who interviews you at customs, 2) having your documents is the hardest part because it makes everything else a breeze. I was lucky that the staff who reviewed me was super kind; she looked at a few papers (but mostly my King’s acceptance letter — this will be your most important document. do. not. lose. this. because if you leave the UK to travel throughout the rest of Europe, you’ll need this letter to get back in!)

DAY ONE : GETTING TO UCEAP ORIENTATION

Day one of orientation was just getting to orientation; the plane rides, the Uber rides, the settling in and getting rest for the days to come.

Luckily, before leaving to London, UCLA holds a mini-orientation in Los Angeles for KCL abroad students. So, I had met fellow students to exchange numbers and we made plans to meet at the airport upon arrival at London. We Uber-ed together from LHR (London Heathrow Airport) to LSE Bankside, the UCEAP orientation.

DAY TWO : TATE MODERN + DUCHESS THEATRE

So of course, orientation was, indeed, an orientation — consisting of various lectures on acclimating to London, the differences in academia between the US and the UK, and the US Embassy coming in to speak about what rights and services are applicable to us abroad.

TATE MODERN

But, they also scheduled guided tours for us at the Tate Modern.

DINNER

We treated ourselves with peri-peri chicken and beer from the ever-so famous Nando’s.

DUCHESS THEATRE : ‘THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG’

We also got tickets to see ‘The Play that Goes Wrong’, a theatrical comedy show about a running a murder mystery show — wonderfully hilarious, filled with nuggets of improv that I didn’t expect.

And on the night walk back to LSE Bankside, we couldn’t resist taking photos of the sunset which soon became a darkness only lit up by buildings along the Thames.

DAY THREE : LONDON EYE + WALKING TOURS

FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST @ LSE BANKSIDE

Yes, I ate this every morning for breakfast.

I walked a lot, okay.

SPEAKING OF WALKING… WALKING TOURS !

We had a lovely tour guide who gave us a walk around the Thames; showing us graffiti art, famous buildings…

Tower bridge opening up in the morning…

and leading us to lunch at Borough Market.

LONDON EYE

And our last stop of the day was the London Eye, and the tickets were provided for us.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Initially, as young adults, there’s sometimes a hesitation in submitting to some sort of schedule. But, in the midst of the craziness that is a new environment, it was nice to have someone care for us. We were introduced to a new culture in a way that helped us immerse seamlessly; to answer questions we had immediately. UCEAP provided us resources that a lot of other students didn’t get, those who studied abroad from other universities or countries. And it gave us the opportunity to meet other UCLA friends that we can continue being friends with even after we come back from London.