Finding gifts in Skidmore London’s little surprises

I spent a lot of time daydreaming during my senior year of high school. 会在哪里 我在秋天? What would my first semester of college be like? 我会改变吗?? 我会成为什么样的人?

One thing was certain: I was going abroad as part of Skidmore’s 第一年的经验 in London program (FYE London).

It’s probably no surprise that FYE London has ample potential for surprises. 但是,随着 I left the country in August, from my quiet town outside Boston, I had no 的想法 how much I’d learn from the adventures and discoveries that awaited me.

我的第一个惊喜很小.

As I settled in for my first night in my new room, I learned that I had a front row 看伦敦日落的座位. My roommate Olivia and I would race home from our classes every evening to watch the sunset together. Each time, we’d marvel over the lights that slowly flickered across the city. It was a little gift that was exceptionally 美丽的.

其他惊喜是真人大小的.

One day, while exploring markets in West London, I turned a corner and was awestruck — there on the wall was original graffiti art by Banksy. 然后，在另一天，它 再次发生. But this time it was a piece by Stik that I thought I’d only ever 在明信片上看到. 这种事一次又一次地发生.

Iconic sculptures and famous installations side by side with pop-up displays and graffiti would often surprise us, each time inspiring us to pause, remember or consider a new 的想法.

A few surprises may only happen once in a lifetime.

While exploring the streets of Vienna with a friend, we were surprised by a massive 啤酒节. Although we went without dirndl, we had a great time soaking in the culture 和节日. We made Viennese friends and tried to find a way to remember the feeling of sitting atop a Ferris wheel with a private panoramic view of Vienna. 

Some surprises were more fun in retrospect.

I felt a new sense of surprise at a Budapest train station waiting for a train to 布拉格. Watching the clock and wondering where the train was, we suddenly realized 我们走错车站了.

Thankfully, with the help of a heavy-footed cab driver, we made it with 30 seconds 剩余. Call it a surprise or just adrenaline, it was nearly impossible to fall asleep that night in our 三层火车双层床 as we zipped across Europe.

The best surprises interrupted the mundane.

By the end of our semester abroad, navigating the Tube, London’s underground system, 是第二天性和平淡吗. But we should have known better than to rest on 我们的荣誉.

One evening, as we got off at King’s Cross station, we were surprised by something new — a piano smack in the middle of the station. 这是命中注定的吗? 嗯，我的朋友 Richard likes to play piano and I like to sing, so we took it as a sign to initiate 我们自己的小型音乐会.

It wasn’t that anyone paid attention to us belting under fluorescent lights and competing with the brakes of the trains pulling into the station, it was the spontaneity of the event that cemented the surprise in memory.

And now as I sit at home, I can’t recall what we did earlier that night or what we went to do after, but the feeling of our miniconcert has stuck. 

每个惊喜都是一份礼物.

Usually, we experience surprises as presents on birthdays or holidays, wrapped in 纸上有一个蝴蝶结. Sometimes it’s not what we expected; nonetheless, the surprise 仍然是一份礼物.  

My first semester in London had surprises every day. 虽然它们没有被包裹 in paper and bows, I know now that they were gifts.