Also, I got to do this.

I had the greatest time living in London, and it’s hard to describe the feeling I had each and everyday. I can’t recommend studying abroad enough. But here’s the thing about going abroad: eventually, you come back.

Coming back is a very strange experience. All of a sudden, I’m back with my friend who remained on campus, and everything is as it was. Was London just a very detailed dream? It feels like an experience from someone else’s life. But I don’t want it to feel like that! I want it back!

But I can’t get it back. I know that even if I were to return to London at this very moment, it would be completely different. Because it wasn’t about London at all. Everything that made the semester incredible was about the people I was with. We discovered the best bars, museums, stores and neighborhoods together. We had potluck dinners together and spent spring break in Italy. We celebrated birthdays and developed a love for clubbing. Spending 4 months in London with my friends was an amazing experience, and I wish I could do it again and again. I’m just not sure how to go about moving us all to London…work visas, anyone?

I’m less than a month into the London Internship Program and I’m halfway done with my first two classes. That is one interesting thing about BU classes in London: they each meet only nine times. However, each of these meetings lasts four hours.

I know some people who have classes that are filled with field trips, meaning that they do not spend four hours trapped in a classroom. I am not so lucky. I have two classes in this first part of the semester, and they both stay in the classroom everyday. It can be a struggle.

The two classes fall into two categories: “Core” and “Elective A”. The Core class is predetermined by what track you are on for the program. If, like me, you are on the politics track, you take British Political Institutions. Elective A is exactly what it sounds like; it is a course that you choose regardless of your internship track. I selected to take Contemporary Issues in British Welfare, which is a class that deals with a lot of social issues, and has a large focus on the National Health Service. My classes are very informative, but very long. I feel very lucky that they have breaks and that BU provides free coffee and tea downstairs in the lounge. Also, having Fridays off is wonderful and allows for a decent amount of travel throughout Europe and the UK. The workload for these classes feels less than a normal class back on the Charles River campus, and because of the compact nature of the program, they each only have two main assignments (besides the required reading): a 2,500 word paper and the final exam.

After we finish this phase of the program we’ll have our break and then begin phase 2 or the internship phase. Students on the London Internship Program will start work at wherever they’ve been placed four days a week and then take “Elective B” either on Monday or Friday depending on their schedule. Again, each of these classes is four hours. I’ll be sure to update you on phase 2 of the program once I’ve experienced it.

The academic facilities at BU London are very different from Boston as well. Everything you need is located with the academic building at 43 Harrington Gardens. In Harrington you will find classrooms, the Student Affairs Office, a lounge with free coffee and tea, the mailroom and the library (complete with no print quota). It makes the academic life very convenient here in London: everything is right where you need it.

So there you go, a basic overview of academic life in the BU London Internship Program. So far, I don’t mind suffering through the four-hour classes too much, and once I put in my four hours for the day I’m free to experience London. It’ll be interesting to see what I think once my schedule changes to 9 to 5. I’ll let you know!

Walking down the streets of South Kensington, the voices that rise above all the others are Americans. In a restaurant, the sound of the silverware hitting the plates is louder than the voices of the Londoners. On the underground? Forget about it. Riders on the tube are silent. Everyone sits and reads the newspaper, no one talks to each other at all.

Volume is clearly what makes me stick out as an American here in London. Making an effort to whisper as I walk and talk with friends or not be loud on the underground is a challenge. I want to shout: “Hi! I’m here! I’m in London! Tell me about England!” the excitement is making it difficult to reign it in, but I’m sure I’ll get there. I’ll definitely have to bring my iPod on the tube from now on.

So why are Americans so loud? I’ve heard several theories over the last few days, including that we have to shout because our country is so large. I choose to believe that it has nothing to do with our country’s size, nor does it indicate that we’re obnoxious, as some of the English seem to think, but that we are enthusiastic. We have what one of our professors describes as “American Positivity” and we like to express it. We’re excited and loud and there is nothing wrong with that. So keep being loud, America, and let’s help England turn the volume up because I’m going to need some help if I’m going to hear what they’re saying.

More photos to come as the year progresses.

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It’s taken me a long time to realize this, but part of the college experience is adapting to the ever changing groups of people that wander in and out of your life. It may be scary, but as people go away, it gives you the opportunity to become closer to those who are still here. You may develop unexpected friendships. I have also realized that study abroad isn’t this thing that takes away the people I love and replaces them with more mature replicas of themselves; the people who go abroad can come back just as wonderful as they were when they left. They just have more stories to share.

The reason this used to bug me is because of the super close knit group of friends I have at home. In high school we were all stuck in this tiny building with the same 100 kids for four years. We were able to keep each other sane and be there for each other. Nothing ever changed and no one ever went anywhere. I guess college doesn’t work that way. And neither does the real world. People are going to move away, reunite, leave again, and sometimes disappear forever. You can never know how long you have with someone. It’s important that you spend time with the people you love while they live just down Comm Ave.

As this semester comes to a close, I have friends who are graduating and moving to that scary place known as the real world. I haven’t spent as much time with them as I would have liked and that still makes me sad. But even once those people are gone, I’ve learned that life brings you back together in the strangest of ways. And even though some friends are leaving, many others are returning from study abroad. Next semester I will be hearing adventures from all over the world. While I will miss those who are leaving, I’m excited for next semester. I’ve learned that no amount of time or distance can break apart good friends.

My friend Anne is one of those people who has been everywhere. She was born in England, lived in California for a while, moved to Singapore, studied abroad in Madrid, should I keep going?

One time we were talking about Madrid and I asked her what spots I absolutely have to see. To my surprise she just kind of laughed at me.

“Most people have these set ideas of what to do in a country. The way they talk it’s like you can consume the essence of a place by following some very specific formula of where to go and what to do. I guess that works for some people, but I like to go with the flow. You can never predict what will make that trip special, it’ll just happen.

“When I was in Prague with some friends, one of our goals was to meet real people from Prague, which was very hard because Prague is full of tourists. We saw all the sights and had a good time, but I didn’t get a feel for what Prague is really like.

“On the train back we made friends with this girl from Prague and she was hilarious and so much fun. If we hadn’t randomly ended up on the train with her, we wouldn’t have had a real conversation with someone from Prague. It was a small part of that trip but it still sticks out in my mind. I guess my point is you can only do so much planning for a trip because in all likelihood, your best times will be the parts of your trip that are unplanned.”

Sono a Padova — which means I’m in Padua, Italy. I think I’m somewhat shell-shocked, because of the huge shift in my day-to-day structure of life. I go from the lazy, hard-pressed-for-excitement month at home, to doing something pretty much every day, in a non-native language. My Italian improves daily, and my notebook of new vocabulary expands with each passing hour. The new life I lead here is so relaxed and slower-paced; my American style of walking quickly — and trust me, I am told I walk too slowly — surpasses the citizens here. I need to take a cue from the Italians, and slow down it all.

But I have discovered I’m a bit more homesick than I expected to be. It comes in short spurts, and I’m reminded of the huge distance between me and the people I left behind. I honestly believe that I have left behind pieces of myself, and while I’m here, I’ll be doing my best to fill those gaps with new people, new sights, new experiences. My life is a bookshelf. Some books were left behind, and some new books will have to take those places. When I return to America, I’ll have to restack the shelves to accommodate everything.

It’s amazing how we as humans can adapt so quickly to a completely foreign (in more than one sense) life.

1) George Clooney likes to steal money from slimy casino owners.

Hell, he’s good at it in the Ocean’s Eleven series.  He’s so believable as a heist mastermind that I’ll be disappointed if I don’t spot him and the gang pulling off another robbery while I’m there. I know I’m setting myself up for heartbreak. But how cool would it be to see Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and the rest of the gang walking out of Caesar’s Palace with grins on their faces?

2) Speaking of Caesar’s Palace…

My dad told me it’s a site to be seen on weekends in the fall. Apparently, there’s nothing like betting on NCAA Football and NFL games. I imagine Caesar’s Palace to be full of Roman Guards hovering over lame caricatures of 1930s bookies, complete with cigars and bowties. I think I’m setting myself up for heartbreak here, too.

3) Hookers Everywhere

Hey, I’m not saying I want anything to do with them. But, come on! It’s Vegas baby. I’d at like least to be offered a flyer from a Pimp or something. I don’t know how the process works… I just want to see it. Again, I don’t want to be serviced by their, well, services. I simply want to see the business. Not in the grossest sense… I’m just going to stop writing on this topic.

4) Really Cool Waterslides

I know you try to hide these behind the whole “gambling” thing, but you’re not fooling me. I want to ride the cool slides I’ve seen. Then, I want to relax on a lazy river somewhere. Feel free to line the river with Roman soldiers to make it feel like the Tiber.

5) Vegas Makes You Blackout

The most informative, educational material I’ve seen on Vegas is The Hangover. This film taught me that I will most likely blackout on a fun night and be left to figure out what happened to at least one of my friends—who has gone missing—the next day. Considering I’m only going with one friend, I think I’ve got something to worry about here.

6) Wayne Newton Will Be Singing Somewhere

This guy seems to pop up in all movies related to Vegas. If he’s not physically in the movie, his ominous presence is felt at some point. Let’s just say it’s not unusual.

Okay, that’s pretty much all I know about you, Vegas. I hope you find this letter to be more honest than it is ignorant. You have a lot to teach me. I look forward to getting to know you. I hope a weekend will be a sufficient amount of time for you to show me your true colors. And water slides.

Sincerely,

Billy

How have I changed you ask? I have become one of those people who complain about the weather. I know… shameful. Absolutely, positively awful. I grew up in Chicago and I should know better than to let bad weather get me down. But I’m in California now! The whole first month I was here—and this isn’t an exaggeration—it didn’t rain once. The weather was constantly above 70 degrees, sunny, and managed to give me that “things are going to turn out alright” feeling at least once a day.

However, the past three to four days have been rainy. And cold. I mean what is this, the beginning of October in Boston? I’m pretty sure I even saw a couple piles of leaves on the ground. Now I can handle the rain and cold for a little while, but leaves… really? That’s just cruel. I can complain about the rain and cold and say things like, “Oh if I wanted this kind of weather, I would have stayed in Boston!” The leaves, though, they make me actually miss fall.

Okay, I might as well come clean. I’m a fall baby—my birthday is this month. The site of leaves out here almost makes me have a breakdown. I don’t want the cold, rain, or the leaves because it reminds me of fall in Chicago and New England. California is great, but nothing beats the fall back home or my adopted home. What made it harder last weekend was my choice to go to the USC Trojans football game. The Billy-Misses-Fall Cycle came full circle when I smelled the smells of people tailgating before kickoff.

Fall just isn’t as cool—in more ways than one—out here. I miss it. I guess the trade-off is that toward the end of November and into December I won’t have to deal with snow. But, there’s a big part of me that wishes I could just have one of those fall Fridays at BU where I could walk to and from campus, play a game of football catch, and wear a hoodie out. It’s safe to say I miss fall in New England.