Arrival in London :)

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Melena Appling

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Melena Appling

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Hello! <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> University of North Georgia <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2024 <i>Destination city & country:</i> London, England & Rome, Italy <i>Program provider:</i> CIEE Open Campus <i>Major/minor:</i> AA Communications transitioning into BA Communications with concentration in Public Relations <i>Demographics:</i> Asian/Asian American <i>Future career aspirations:</i> First, I will graduate college obtaining a AA in Communication along with a BA in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. In the next 5 years, I plan to be a brand manager who is running social media management accounts (social media marketer) for local businesses. I hope that this will pave the way for me to run my own public relations department for a large corporate business in the future. I look forward to working with people and helping them resolve their problems. I enjoy speaking and communicating with others, and I am quite excited for my future! <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1Study more about the place that I am studying abroad. Learn about myself and find comfort in independence. I hope to take awesome courses, and learn from a new university!

Hi guys! Welcome to my FEA Blog Post. I am Melena Appling, and I am studying abroad in the United Kingdom in London for 6 weeks. My first week here has been hugely insightful as I have never been alone this far from home. That along with taking my first solo international flight, which in itself was an experience, has revealed to me the complexities of independence. It was so cool to see all the world from thousands of miles in the air. I learned how to travel solo with loads of baggage for 3 months and rely on myself a lot. This week I have also learned to share space with a roommate. I am an only child back at home, so this has been an adjustment. I am managing to share a small accommodation and learning to become an adult. We have been cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. I have enjoyed every second of this since I want to live away from home in the future.

Additionally, I’ve done as much sightseeing as humanly possible alongside my workload. I have visited Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Oxford Street, and several other interesting landmarks. Not to mention all of the cute little shops and venues. It is dreamlike to finally see this city in person and not through social media or merely the scenes of a movie. I am so beyond grateful for this experience which is the opportunity of a lifetime. I plan to see and do EVERYTHING that I can for the short time I am here in London. I want to be able to see all the things I’ve seen in pictures and share them all with you on my FEA blog posts in the future. Seeing London in real life is surreal because there are so many different people and places to see. I love experiencing the melting pot that is the different ethnicities and cultures of the United Kingdom.

I learned how to navigate the tube and other public transportation in the city. I find it so neat that people mostly walk everywhere in the city. I enjoyed seeing the London city skyline from Tower Bridge and Big Ben in person. Oxford Street had so many beautiful luxury stores and shopping places. I saw famous art galleries at The National Gallery including pieces by Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gough, and Monet. I participated in a guided tour of the West Minster Abbey which showed some history of the Queen’s coronation and the resting places of many important figures of our history like Shakespeare and many of the Royals. I liked walking the main streets and eating great food in Central London. This week has been an 11/10 experience. I would 100% recommend London as a destination for college students looking to study abroad.