#nyuldn

One of my favorite parts about the NYUL experience has actually been the volunteering aspect. Every monday afternoon, I would spend 2 hours at Christ Church Primary School in Lambeth at a nursery class. I would usually be assigned to help with the art table, sometimes the literacy table. I love interacting with small children and watching how lively and curious they are, so it was a great experience. It is also always interesting to be in a British classroom (especially as I love the accents). The class had such energetic children that I loved getting to know and working with them. One of my favorite memories is when they were learning songs and dances for their Christmas play. 

Last weekend, I signed-up for the day trip to bike ride in Brockenhurst. I was quite nervous as even though they have the expression, "you can't forget how to ride a bike," for a reason, I thought I would be the one exception to it. I had tested myself on a Barclays bike a few weeks beforehand but was still nervous. Turned out I worried for nothing because I had a fantastic time. It was a nice change of scenery as well.

Getting out of the city, even just for a little bit was a nice change I didn't realize I needed. There's nothing quite like the feeling of zooming past expansive green landscapes, with its rolling hills, grassy paths, and lush looming trees, as the wind rushes towards your face. I had also not anticipated the hills but they were a good challenge, definitely worked the muscles! It got tricky when we had to stop for a second and start peddling again, as we were on a hill though (I had to walk it). I also got the hang of shifting gears and was quite proud of myself as I hadn't ridden a bike where shifting gears was necessary since middle school. Throughout the trip, apparently there had been a giant pig that was spotted a few times that I had somehow managed to miss?

All in all, that bike trip was a refreshing break from school life as I had been dying with all the schoolwork I had. (2 essays + a novel). That weekend all I did was babysit or work on essays, so the bike trip was much needed (though I did jog to my favorite spot-- Primrose Hill-- on friday).

But even though a city can leave you longing nature and open space, London is actually abundant with huge beautiful parks. If you look at a map of London, you can see it's dotted with so much green and blue for the parks and lakes. I visited Hampstead Heath over this semester as well, and it was so beautiful, serene and peaceful. I just wished it hadn't gotten dark/cold so early because I could have just sat in one of those open fields at the heath for hours. Also when I was walking back to the high street from the heath, I passed by a circus (Zippos Circus?) and I thought I was hallucinating because I don't think I've seen a real circus in my entire life. 

Today nyuinlondon took a bunch of students to the England vs Montenegro match at Wembley, and it was by far one of the best experiences I've had this semester. I don't keep up with sports, but being at a football match filled with so much excitement and energy was electrifying. The whole match all I wanted to do was cheer for England, and I don't remember the last time I had felt so spirited. The one thing is, I was sad I missed Rooney score the first goal as I was stupidly late coming back from halftime. Towards the end of the match, from behind me I overhead two boys from NYU talking, and one said to the other, "Alright we won this one" and it was such a great moment because he used the term "we" even though he isn't English. The match was definitely worth the one hour wait to get onto the tube afterwards. I was also impressed by how beautiful Wembley Stadium was. Hopefully, this won't be my last football game, and it was definitely an amazing first.