The past few weeks, I've had many conversations that went something like this...

"Oh Lydia, when do you move back to school?" Some family member or friend would ask me when I ran into them at the grocery store/local restaurant/church/etc.

"Wofford moves in on the 3rd, but I'm actually spending the semester abroad!" I would reply, forcing a smile and (occasionally) attempting to remember who they are.

"Well that's wonderful! Where will you be studying?" They asked next.

"I'm going to London! I leave on Labor Day!" I would reply, excited (either because I'm going abroad or because I finally remembered the name of the person I was talking to).

"Well...that should sure be fun!" Is typically their reply. Either that or, "Oh I love London so much you need to do this and this and this and this."

It's those second people that I like a lot. And most of the people I've talked to this summer have been really excited for me and positive about my upcoming study abroad experience.

Some people have been not so excited. They think that I could've chosen to go somewhere more exotic. "This is the only time in your life you'll get to travel like this!" People would say. "Why not go somewhere different?"

Okay, first of all...what makes London "not exotic"? It's a melting pot of cultures from around the world, and it is rich with history that I would never be able to surround myself with while in the United States. Due to England's extreme history of colonization, they have citizens with ancestries from countless nations across the planet. I could meet more people with different backgrounds in London than I could almost anywhere in the world.

Secondly...I didn't want to go anywhere "different." This is my study abroad experience, not anyone else's. I am a history and humanities major, so I decided that the best place for me to immerse myself in history would be London. I've never been out of the country before, and it's natural to want to stay even slightly within my comfort zone. If I were a language major, I could understand wanting to go somewhere where the native language isn't English. But I'm not a language major, and while it would've been very easy to still go to a country where I don't speak the language, I picked the program that fit me and my needs the best.

On that note, who says London is all that similar to the United States? Yes, we are both world powers and have a strong currency, but that doesn't make us the same. I'm from a small town in Northeast Georgia, while London is one of the largest cities in the world. I'm not used to walking everywhere I go, and having to navigate a bus system, let alone the Tube. It's going to be a different experience for me, and that's what matters.

Thirdly, I can travel. One thing that is so amazing about where London is located is that I can travel almost anywhere in Europe for not a high price. Since I only have classes Monday-Thursday, I can take long weekends and visit France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, and anywhere else in Europe my heart desires. Because I decided to spend four months in a central location of Europe, I am not held back by the city limits of London, England.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is why I chose London, somewhere "boring" and "uninteresting."