My Neighborhood: South Kensington

South Kensington, London

South Kensington, my neck of the woods for the next few months, is known to be one of the poshest neighborhoods in all of England. And I must say, at first I did feel rather "out of place" living in this area. When does a naive college student ever feel "at home" amongst diplomats and businessmen? Regardless, I absolutely adore the neighborhood. When I'm not passing by immaculate and grand row-homes or foreign embassies, I'm walking around prim private schools for uniform-clad children. Every afternoon there are always young students skipping down the Mercedes-gilded streets.

And to top it all off, some of the most beautiful and world-renowned museums in London are just a couple of blocks away. I'm very much so a museum geek, so I can totally imagine myself spending a quiet day at one of the museums, just enriching my mind while simultaneously taking a breather (which I think I will need quite often here).

Greetings from Londontown!

I honestly don't know where to start. I have been in London for almost a week and reality hasn't kicked in yet. I pass by foreign embassies and gorgeous, column-clad homes (which probably house diplomats and wealthy businessman) in South Kensington every day, and it really hasn't fazed me. And I'll certainly have to get used to all this, since I will be a London resident until December. Scary!

Although I have traveled outside of the country before, I don't think studying in London will be anything like those summer trips to France. Not only am I living here for the next few months, but I am thrown into a whirlpool with people I don't even know. And for a shy little bug like me...this is the most frightening part. I seldom get homesick (except for my dog), but I'm hardly a social butterfly. The whole experience is intimidating and I'm hoping I find the strength in me to continue on. I am thrilled to be in such a beautiful city and I hope that this will be one of the greatest experiences in my life.

I've been meaning to start blogging about my experiences last week, but everything has been thrown at me in hyper-speed that I couldn't keep up. I'm hoping that I can frequently update this blog with my experiences, from my day-to-day happenings to my own reflections on English culture. And from the looks of it, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Until the next post!