Arcadia England

In her final blog for Arcadia, Emma Wonsowicz packs as much as she possibly can into her last week in London then heads briefly to Ireland and Greece before returning home to the US

Hello again, and welcome to the final blog for the Summer 2021 session! Apologies for the brief hiatus—the last few weeks of the program were so action packed that it was impossible to find time to write it all down! However, now that I’m back home in the States, I finally have the chance to reflect on the entire experience. 

To start, I will summarize the highlights since my last blog. In early July, I was fortunate enough to obtain a last-minute grounds pass for Wimbledon. I know absolutely nothing about tennis, but I had a great time soaking up the uniquely English atmosphere of the grounds, from enjoying some Pimms and strawberries and cream to constantly having to seek shelter during random bursts of rain. In other sporting news, my flatmates and I allowed ourselves to hope that we might be able to witness an England win in the Euros final....we were sorely mistaken. As we all know by now, victory was not in the cards for the Three Lions; regardless, we will never forget the thrills of crowding around Leicester Square after the semifinals or the palpable level of anticipation in the city leading up to the final match. As for the Lions, there’s always the World Cup next year!

For my last couple of weeks in England, I chose to focus on exploring parts of London I hadn’t got to yet, then revisited some old favorites. For example, I took the Victoria line all the way down to check out Brixton for the first time. Courtesy of my walking history class, I learned about the important history of this area, starting with its roots as home to London’s vast Caribbean immigrant populations. For our last walking history class, we ventured outside of London to visit Tilbury Fort in Essex—a hidden gem that I certainly never would have thought to see on my own. It was nice to become familiar with these different, admittedly less glamorous sites in addition to the posh streets of central London. Speaking of which, my flatmates Lauren, Sophie, and I treated ourselves to a very posh afternoon tea at the luxury department store Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, followed by a walk to Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.

Those who know me will not be surprised to hear that I prioritized visiting as many museums, parks, and cafes as possible during my last days in London. Thanks to my youth subcultures course, I got to check out an amazing exhibit on the history and culture behind sneakers at the Design Museum, paired with a stroll through Holland Park beforehand. The course culminated in a trip to a limited time Banksy exhibit in Covent Garden, which felt like the perfect counterculture note to end on. I used the rest of my free time to tour the Tate Modern, the Victoria & Albert, and the Sherlock Holmes museums, as well as a brief day trip to Windsor Castle. As part of our farewell, Arcadia treated us to a lovely afternoon tea at the Ham Yard Hotel in SoHo. I could not ask for a more appropriately British sendoff than tea and scones in the heart of London!

The adventure didn’t stop there, though. Luckily, parts of Europe were beginning to open up to vaccinated Americans by the time my tenure in London was concluding, so rather than return directly home, I met up with my mother in Ireland to do some more exploring. We spent most of our stay in Dublin checking out sites such as Dublin Castle, Merrion Square, Grafton Street, and St. Stephen’s Green. Additionally, we visited the seaside town of Galway and hiked the breathtaking cliffside trails of Howth. After Ireland, we traveled to my mother’s favorite spot in Europe, Greece! We spent a day in Athens to hike the Acropolis and get dinner in Plaka before taking a short flight over to the island of Santorini, where we spent the rest of our vacation watching stunning sunsets and swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Aegean Sea.

If all of this sounds unbelievably idyllic, let me assure you there were plenty of bumps along the way. Studying abroad is hands down one of the most rewarding things you can do, but it will also be one of the most exhausting and, in some regards, overwhelming. For every one of the photos you have seen of us smiling blissfully, there were missed trains, cancelled flights, lost credit cards, and even a trip to the emergency room (turns out I’m severely allergic to truffles!).

Furthermore, I want to address another aspect of study abroad that is seldom talked about: the comedown of returning home. In an earlier blog, I stated that studying abroad is “a marathon, not a sprint”. Well, I imagine how I’m feeling now must be similar to how runners feel after finally crossing that finish line. There’s a sense of relief and pride in accomplishing a long-held goal, as well as a wave of exhaustion from operating at such high energy levels, but most potently, there is a feeling of “Now what?” Although I’m thrilled to be reunited with my friends and family and am eagerly anticipating my senior year, I know that what I just experienced was a once-in-a-lifetime period of excitement and adventure, so I can’t help but grieve its conclusion. I also find myself occasionally doubting whether the past eight weeks even really happened given that they occurred in a complete vacuum from almost all the things that make up my typical daily life. If it weren’t for my souvenirs and the friends I met in the program serving as physical reminders of my travels, I could probably be convinced that it was all just a vivid dream.

Rest assured, these philosophical meanderings will evaporate as soon as I’m thrust into the busy workload of the upcoming semester, but I wanted to acknowledge their existence in case any of you reading this feel the same. I can wholeheartedly say, however, choosing to study abroad, even with the limitations of COVID, was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my blog, and I hope we all have the opportunity to safely travel again soon!

We would like to thank Emma so much for her honest, insightful and amusing posts this summer. We were so glad you were able to come to London and loved having you with us. Best of luck for the remainder of your studies!