Rediscovering London after 10 years!

By Nyla Robotham, Fall 2024 ICLC Student, October 9, 2024
Nyla's impressions of London after a 10 year hiatus since her last visit!
Nyla

What’s good Elsie

My name is Nyla Robotham, I use She/Her pronouns, and I am a Junior pursuing a double major in Acting and Marketing! I am an NYC native (QUEENS REPRESENT!) who happens also to be a first-generation American. My entire family hails from the island of Jamaica and I am the first one of the entire generation to be born in the States. I’m an only child whose best friend is her mom and I adore my fur baby, Lilly (She’s a mini-poodle who just turned two years old at the time of this post!).

Being that I am already from a metropolitan city with a major emphasis on public transportation, the transition to London wasn’t too difficult. Navigating the tube and the bus system was second nature since I’ve done that on my own for years in my own stomping grounds. However, the train culture is different

  • The stations are EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN IN COMPARISON to my New York subway.
  • The respectful culture inside the tube cars; when I’m traveling on a line that isn’t immediately in a tourist area, the patrons are silent. I’ve only heard conversation from us foreigners.

Nyla at Concert

Another fun thing about my return to London is that I get to develop proper relationships with my family over here! Remember how I mentioned that we’re all from Jamaica? Well, when some of us left the island, half ended up here in the UK. Studying here has given me the golden ticket to connect with all these people that I never got to develop relationships with because of the 106.5 million km² ocean between us. I’ve barely been here a week and they have already made an itinerary of things for me to do with them.

Some “shocks” I have had living here have mainly been around needing to MANUALLY switch on my appliances. One of my first nights here, I was fiddling with the stove for an hour before I gave up and just waited for my roommate to come home, only to find out that I just didn’t turn it on! I haven’t had an issue with finding snacks or sauces that I would feast on back in America, but they do taste slightly different. For example, Tabasco doesn’t taste as vinegary as it does in the States, which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion!

Lastly, living in an actual apartment after being in a dorm for the past two years is such a unique feeling. I’ve already had to trek my groceries back on the tube (NOT FOR THE WEAK!) and prep my own meals. I’m glad that I spent the entire summer preparing my lunches and dinners because I would be absolutely stranded now otherwise. It makes my first two years of college feel as if they were just an extension of High School and I am finally now stepping into adulthood. Coupling that with being in a new city on another continent, there’s honestly nothing more exciting!

I’m so eager to find out what this semester holds for me and the journeys I will be able to share when I return. Who knows… maybe I’ll come back after graduation!