Tea Time

Day 10; 15/01/2019

Finally, back in London where I started my journey ten days earlier, it was time to reflect on what I had learned and seen.  Collecting my luggage that I had left at the Syracuse London campus, I head to my flat.  London wasn’t dirty, not close to New York City, but not nearly a city like Stockholm.  At first, it wasn’t as apparent as it is now as I finish the last post of my blog almost three weeks after the seminar landed.  I was in awe in every airport, in every bathroom, and restaurant.  The technology within flushing a toilet and drying your hands which was so simple and yet sustainable hadn’t yet made it back to the United States.  Even portion sizes were nearly half the size, yet surprisingly filling without nearly as much food waste.  My first week in London, we weren’t told how to dispose of our recyclables.  I was aware of every disposable water bottle that a classmate brought to class.  I was more aware in general, of ways to be more sustainable and of things that weren’t.  Like in Scandinavia, London has a bag tax, but it isn’t always applied.  Yet in America, only certain towns have such a tax.  When talking with other classmates from the seminar, we realized that we were going through a form of withdrawal.  We had spent every waking second together for ten days and had formed a bond which you can only do when traveling the world together.  We talked about missing having a designated plan, missed the food, and missed the convenience.  We also missed the places we had seen and missed learning something each day that broadened our view of the world.  Such a short trip made our study abroad experience that much more special and meaningful than those who had just shown up the day we returned to London.  It was a whirlwind experience which allowed us to say we have been to these places that people only dream of, but it also in a way made us better people and better students.  So here is to all the tea I will be drinking while dreaming of Flåm.