This is the first article in the series, “Tea with Mielke,” written by CUW student Hannah Mielke. The series chronicles Mielke’s study abroad adventures in England.
Flying to Cambridge was such a breeze! I hopped on a fight in Indianapolis, caught a layover in JFK where we then hopped on a five and a half hour flight to London! On the flight, I was served dinner which was chicken and rice with lots of little sides to go with it. After dinner was over, they dimmed the lights in the cabin allowing people the chance to sleep if they wanted. Or if you wanted to stay awake, they had movies and tv shows you could watch on the screen in front of you. After a couple of hours they came by again with refreshments and breakfast which consisted of yogurt, a granola bar, and a muffin. All around, the meals were very satisfying!
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Once I landed in London, I went through customs which went smoothly, no problems at all! I walked over to get my luggage and it was there waiting for me! To finish my trip up to Cambridge, a driver drove me and a couple of friends up to Westfield House and we got to see the English countryside along the way!
Something that I realized very quickly is that jet lag is very real. I arrived at Westfield House around 12:00 p.m. but forced myself to stay awake all day to try and adjust to the new time zone. Let me just say, it was way harder than I thought it was going to be but it was absolutely worth staying up to make the adjustment easier.
Once I got there, I unpacked most of my things and then walked around Cambridge, grabbed food, and went to the grocery store to grab the essentials. I spent the rest of the night getting to know some of the people who are also staying here!
The next day we took a self-guided tour into downtown Cambridge, about a 10-15 minute walk, and got to see so many awesome things! There was market in the middle of the city where they sell everything you could think of. There’s a mall right in the area consisting of a lot of stores that we have in America. Yet, they also have restaurants and shops with the most interesting names like the Giggling Squid. We ended the day at pub where we saw a dog behind the counter of the bar, acting like he owned the place! It was definitely something we would never see in America. It was such a fun day of exploring the area and seeing what my new home is like! The exciting thing is that there always things to do in the area which means these next four months will be full of new adventures!
Where to?
CUW students, you have dozens of study abroad opportunities at your fingertips. Where will you go?
—This article is written by Hannah Mielke who is in her senior year as a Director of Church Ministries major at Concordia University Wisconsin. She’s currently on a 16-week study abroad experience to England. “Tea with Mielke” chronicles her adventure and shares some of the life lessons she’s learning along the way.