As I stepped off the plane into a completely foreign airport, I couldn’t help but look around at all the signs that said “Welcome to London!” It seemed as if I had just stepped into a dream. It seemed like just moments ago I had stepped onto a plane in Atlanta, eaten dinner, and fallen asleep. Yet, somehow, I was now over 4,000 miles away from home and ready to start an adventure.

It didn’t take long to quickly learn things were going to be far different than I had imagined. Before starting this trip, I imagined that traveling to the United Kingdom could not be that different. After all, they speak English and are pretty commonly compared to America. But man was I wrong! Stepping into London was like waking up when you didn’t mean to fall asleep. It was amazing to see just how many differences there were between the two countries.

After stepping off the plane, our group started touring the city right away, which quickly led me to discover several things.

  1. English in the United Kingdom is not the same as American English.
  2. EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT. Food labels are different. Drinks are different. Names are different. Literally anything you can imagine is different.
  3. Americans are insanely loud. It was crazy how loud our group was compared to other people in the city, on trains, and in hotels. You could DEFINITELY tell we were Americans.
  4. London is BEAUTIFUL! I could have never imagined the absolute beauty that came with visiting London. The city, country-side, and everything in-between are absolutely breath-taking.
  5. Harry Potter actually portrays London pretty well!

There are so many things I learned so quickly on just our first day on the trip, that I could continue to list them for forever, but overall I would sum my first day abroad up in one phrase- eye-opening.

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