David Arias Hernandez
IFSA-Butler, University College London
London, England
Fall 2017

The First Month

It’s only been a month since I arrived to London, but long enough to do lots of things.
Regarding my housing, I feel very satisfied. I moved to Goldsmid House, which is a UCL residence fairly close to Buckingham Palace and the Big Ben. I was quite lucky to be placed at this residence, as apart from the amazing location, my room counts with a private bathroom and a semi-double bed, as opposed to many other UCL facilities that only count with single beds. However, in terms of transportation, I wasn’t as lucky as others who live a walk-distance from campus. Daily, I commute by tube to campus, and I take the bus to go back to my house. It’s important to highlight that although commuting by bus takes much longer than taking the tube, I enjoy it more, as the route back from campus passes by Trafalgar Square, the House of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.
In terms of academics, I can’t complain much. Although I’m taking very demanding courses, I was able to enroll in some of the courses I was more interested in. I’m taking four intermediate courses: two of Economics, one of Political Science, and one of Business. Probably the most challenging one of the four is Political Science, as it focuses on Central Eastern Europe, a region I’m not familiar with, and approaches the subject from a completely political and historical perspective. Nevertheless, all of these courses are really interesting and the module I enjoy the most is Emerging Market Economies, which is about the transition of countries in Central Eastern Europe from centrally planned economies during communism to market economies after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-91.

In terms of entertainment, I’ve also been very satisfied. Apart from enrolling in my classes at UCL, I was also able to join the UCL Football Club. I will play Wednesdays and Saturdays on a league in which other schools in London, like King’s College, London School of Economics, Imperial College, and others participate. This club is the biggest one at UCL, and apart from focusing on the athletics, it also carries several social events during the term which I will happily be part of, like the Christmas Party.

Apart from getting involved in many activities at UCL, I was also able to travel to some places this month. On my first trip I took a bus to Liverpool. It was a very short trip, as I only stayed one night, but long enough to visit, Anfield Liverpool’s FC historic stadium, and the Cavern Bar, which was the bar where the Beatles were discovered. As Liverpool isn’t a big city, one day is more than enough to tour the important places of the city.
On my second trip, I went to Venice, Italy. I stayed two nights and was able to visit iconic places like Plaza San Marco, El Gran Canal, and Santa Maria della Salute. Venice was great, and probably one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been; however, I’m a bit disappointed as I wasn’t able to ride on a Gondola, Venice’s most famous mode of transportation.

In the coming weeks, I hope I can travel more, meet more people, and learn more, but so far the future seems bright, as Halloween approaches and my classes are getting more interesting.