As soon as I arrived in London, I was instantly in love with the city. My first impression was how easy it was to navigate the city and how safe the streets and underground felt, even very late at night. I loved how walkable the city was and how much you could see without ever having to walk super far. I was also impressed with how helpful the English were and how active everyone was. Pretty much everywhere we went, people were running, biking, or walking their dogs no matter what time of day it was. Another initial impression was how quiet people were primarily on the trains. I felt like every time we got onto the underground, we stuck out like a sore thumb because of how noisy we were, no matter if there were only 8 of us or all 80 of us.
As for the country of England, my first impression was how green everything was and how quaint the houses and buildings were. We were able to see a little outside of the city on our bus ride to and from Oxford and our bus ride to France. I loved that things weren’t flat, something we are so used to in Texas. It was also very interesting to see just how quickly things went from rolling fields and small villages to the large city of London.
My first impression of the global business program is how diverse the companies we are visiting are and how much we are getting to learn. In London, we visited Design Bridge and Partners, Chelsea Football Club, and Lloyd’s of London. I’ve loved getting to know more in-depth about the inner workings of companies and how marketing works within them. From the program, I hope to gain a better understanding of how businesses run abroad and how people live their lives. I also hope to gain new friendships and experiences that will help prepare me for life outside of school.
As for cultural differences, I’ve noticed many differences between the culture in the US and the culture in England. For one, England seems to be very kid-friendly and accommodating. We went into one fairly nice restaurant, and there were tons of kids just sitting at dinner and enjoying themselves with the adults. While kids are welcome at restaurants in the US, the attitude towards them feels slightly different in England. Another huge difference is how active everyone is and how many people walk or take the tube instead of driving. This was a huge difference that stood out to me. I’m excited to explore more countries, learn more about the businesses there, and experience more culture!
