I am officially done with school here – that’s crazy to me! I feel like it was just September and everything was still so new! I’m definitely glad to have my exams over with (saying I was stressed would be a huge understatement) but it’s bittersweet because the end of finals means the end of my time here in London. I’m really glad that my family decided to fly out and spend an extra week with me here; it will be so nice to be able to blissfully enjoy London again without feeling like I need to be studying for something. Plus, most people I know are flying out tomorrow and as I had 2 finals today, I couldn’t spend my last day in London taking tests!!
While I’ve definitely been laying low because of the tests, (I had one yesterday that was 60% of my grade, one this morning that was 70% of my grade, and another this afternoon that was 50% of my grade; in addition I also had a presentation for my Health and Society class over a paper that was due the week before, and another test last Friday!! The amount of time I’ve spent in front of my computer these past 2 weeks is a little absurd….) I’ve also gotten to do some really fun things… let’s call them study breaks 
Christmas in London is really the most wonderful time of the year; the top photo is from Carnaby Street, which is pretty close to Oxford Street but has lots of local boutiques and fun unique stores. And this picture directly above is the famous Oxford Street all lit up at Christmas time. Somehow I always end up here and I’m not sure why because it’s nowhere near where I live… guess it’s the shopaholic in me Also, check out those crowds. It’s actually insane during this time of year (well it’s busy all year round but especially now) and for as much as I seem to find my way here, I typically try to avoid it at nighttime for this very reason!
Also, check out those crowds. It’s actually insane during this time of year (well it’s busy all year round but especially now) and for as much as I seem to find my way here, I typically try to avoid it at nighttime for this very reason!
Some late night cravings (oops) meant checking out a famous local chain here in London called the Breakfast Club, famous for serving breakfast all day! It’s super popular; there’s always a line out the door in the morning because they don’t take reservations, but late at night we walked right in Also nothing beats a good English breakfast (even though this isn’t super traditional… Still GOOD)
Also nothing beats a good English breakfast (even though this isn’t super traditional… Still GOOD)
Welcome to Maughn Library. This is the main King’s College Library, but it’s about a mile away from me and doesn’t have any science related books housed in it (those would be at the library on Guy’s Campus closest to me) so I rarely go here. In fact these pictures represent the second time that I had ever been here which is honestly such a shame because it’s so beautiful inside! And there is a veryyy strict silence policy that the students kind of enforce among one another; you get some dirty looks if you sneeze! This is where I cranked out my 2500 word paper for my Health and Society class (literally, I told myself I wouldn’t leave until it was done and I didn’t move for like 5 hours. But it was a good paper!!! And since I know you’re all wondering what it was about my topic was centered on ways that doctors can increase health literacy through arts based approaches. It was a really exciting topic especially with my strong arts and humanities background!)
my topic was centered on ways that doctors can increase health literacy through arts based approaches. It was a really exciting topic especially with my strong arts and humanities background!)
In our Health and Society class, it is tradition that you go to Borough Market for lunch because of the timing of our sessions. We have a morning session that goes until 12:30 and then an afternoon session that starts at 2, which leaves a nice chunk of time to walk 5 minutes down the road to the BEST food market in all of London! I kid not! I actually have not been partaking in this tradition a lot because that is kind of an expensive tradition but as we were nearing the end of our time together and I realized I’ve been living so close to this amazing market without really trying a bunch of the food there, I decided I would head over last Wednesday! This beautiful creation is Duck Salad; there is a stall in the market that makes duck confit and you can either have it on top of a salad, in a wrap, or in a sandwich. It tastes kind of similar to pulled pork, kind of. But it was amazing.
After we had finished up at Borough Market, our class’s afternoon session was taking us to the Old Operating Theater and Herb Garret; aka an operating room for surgeries. It’s also the oldest operating theater in Europe It was really interesting to learn how surgery used to take place; think about having to have an amputation but there’s no anesthesia. And surgeons have no idea about germ theory so while the operation will probably be successful (albeit painful) you will probably die within a week due to an infection that you’ve contracted from the surgical tools… which weren’t sterilized, had wooden handles, and were kept in velvet boxes. Perfect environment for bacteria growth! It was also really interesting to learn about the history of the hospital; this used to be a part of St. Thomas’s Hospital which I think is the biggest (but definitely the nicest according to a med student) hospital in London. It’s actually located close to Westminster Bridge now, but it used to be right across from Guy’s Campus. The hospitals during the 18th and 19th centuries were mainly serving the poor since the rich could afford to pay doctors to come to their homes. And since South London during these times used to be one of the worst places to live between the overcrowding, sanitation issues, and pollution, they saw a lot of people. They actually told us that amputations were only performed if the person was already in greater pain that what the amputation would feel like (remember no anesthesia yet) which is crazy to imagine with all of our modern tools and techniques. While we’ve definitely progressed scientifically in terms of these tools and ideas about infection and disease, many of the shapes of tools and methods that were used remains the same, and as our guide pointed out, since the dawn of medicine only 1 disease has actually been completely eradicated (smallpox) so it is important to put ourselves in a place where we could learn from some of the old ways of medicine, as the new ones aren’t technically that much more advanced.
It was really interesting to learn how surgery used to take place; think about having to have an amputation but there’s no anesthesia. And surgeons have no idea about germ theory so while the operation will probably be successful (albeit painful) you will probably die within a week due to an infection that you’ve contracted from the surgical tools… which weren’t sterilized, had wooden handles, and were kept in velvet boxes. Perfect environment for bacteria growth! It was also really interesting to learn about the history of the hospital; this used to be a part of St. Thomas’s Hospital which I think is the biggest (but definitely the nicest according to a med student) hospital in London. It’s actually located close to Westminster Bridge now, but it used to be right across from Guy’s Campus. The hospitals during the 18th and 19th centuries were mainly serving the poor since the rich could afford to pay doctors to come to their homes. And since South London during these times used to be one of the worst places to live between the overcrowding, sanitation issues, and pollution, they saw a lot of people. They actually told us that amputations were only performed if the person was already in greater pain that what the amputation would feel like (remember no anesthesia yet) which is crazy to imagine with all of our modern tools and techniques. While we’ve definitely progressed scientifically in terms of these tools and ideas about infection and disease, many of the shapes of tools and methods that were used remains the same, and as our guide pointed out, since the dawn of medicine only 1 disease has actually been completely eradicated (smallpox) so it is important to put ourselves in a place where we could learn from some of the old ways of medicine, as the new ones aren’t technically that much more advanced.
Another fancy and very British department store that I can afford nothing in, but is still fun to look around in!!
This was a big day!! Last Thursday (the 7th) I had tickets to go to the British Library’s exhibition of Harry Potter: A History of Magic. It was extremely well done; it took you through different rooms that were themed after a certain subject at Hogwarts (Potions, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, etc.) and had different old manuscripts (we’re talking like 1400s) detailing different aspects of these. So in the Potions section, there were old books discussing how people used to make potions and what they were for. In the Astrology room, there were different ancient constellation maps… there was even a giant scroll that detailed how to make the Philosopher’s Stone. It was a great opportunity for the British Library to show off some of their collection, but by doing it in the context of Harry Potter it made it super relateable. While we often think of Harry Potter as fictional, it was interesting to look through all these old books about witches and reading tea leaves and making tonics that people actually used to subscribe to a long time ago. Far and away the best part about the exhibition though, was the JK Rowling stuff. I say “stuff” as in her personal sketches of what she thought characters looked like, drawings of the Hogwarts grounds, annotated pages from the books while she was still writing them, and even pages that didn’t make it into the book and often had different plot lines. Just when you thought that there was no more Harry Potter left to read… there was. She put so much thought into these books and it is incredible how detailed they are and how they all fit together (she actually spent 7 years doing research and planning out the books before she started writing the first one!) I’m definitely glad I was able to catch this!
Yes.
Hamilton.
This quite possibly rivaled Cursed Child for best night of my life.
Back story: Remember how I said that I thought I wasn’t going to get to see Cursed Child while I was here? Well multiply that by 10 and that’s how little I though I was going to get to see Hamilton. All the tickets literally sold out the day that they went on sale in January, and I just figured since it was only showing for the last 2 weeks that I was in London there would be no way that I could snag a ticket, much less a ticket that wouldn’t break the bank.
Until the website changed its “no availability” to “limited availability” for December a week before this. I was so surprised when I not only found tickets, but there were for 32.50 each! That is a steal when you compare that to Hamilton tickets in the US which are actually hundreds of dollars!! I really could not be more excited and to make a great day even better, I got to go the night of the 7th, which was the day I had also gone to the Harry Potter exhibition. PLUS it was the 2nd day of performing the show in London ever, so the energy was INSANE. It lived up to all my expectations and surpassed them, and me and my friend Anissa were just giddy the entire time, lip singing the words, practically yelling after every song during the applause (but so was everyone else) and just generally enjoying perhaps one of the best musicals of all time. To top it off, the creator of the show, Lin Manuel Miranda, was backstage the entire time and it was just really cool to think about being in the same room as him. The room where it happens. 
Post Hamilton, we met up with some other friends and went to a late night jazz club. I think that this is my night out aesthetic. It was super intimate and laid back, and I really enjoyed just sitting and listening to the music. So yeah, Harry Potter, Hamilton, jazz club; it literally was one of the best days I’ve had here. And was also a really nice break from studying!! 
One of my good friends over here just had a birthday so of course we had to go out and celebrate. We went to this Indian restaurant called Tayabb’s and while it was crazy crowded, (we had a reservation and still waited 30 minutes probably) the food was really good. The top picture is lamb chops (the place is known for lamb) and the bottom is a beautiful garlic naan with “dry meat” (another lamb, it wasn’t dry at all like the name implies and was perfectly seasoned) and chicken tikka masala.
It snowed in London!! It’s actually snowed in London about 3 times now since I’ve been here but this past Sunday was the first time that it really stuck, and there were big puffy flakes drifting all around!
This was my delicious meal at “The Crusting Pipe” pub (the pub names here are crazy) in Covent Garden (top picture shows what it looks like on the inside!!) We intially went for Sunday Roast, but they informed us that they had run out (it really is hard to snag a Sunday roast here in London, it’s insanely popular!) but I split this steak with my friend Megan. That was a good piece of steak. 
Monday morning, I woke up to a really nasty day. It was just above freezing, but there was pretty heavy rain, which made it even colder. My neighbor Megan and I were planning to study for our immunology final, but we wanted to start out the day on a high note and so we woke up really early and took the tube over to Notting Hill to try this cafe called Farm Girl that we had both really been wanting to try. Never again will I travel across London by tube at 8 in the morning. I feel like I cannot accurately describe how tightly packed I was into the tube; people are pushing from all sides trying to make the train because rush hour, and I literally felt like I was being squished. Actually because I was. My face was pressed into someone else’s backpack for about 3 stops. And then if you’re close to the door you have to get off to let other people off even if you’re not getting off at that stop because there is absolutely no room to move, and then you have to try and push your way back onto the tube before everyone else runs you over. It sounds bad because it was bad hahaha. This is why I like the bus better!!!!!
Anywayyyy we made it successfully in one piece and actually had a really nice breakfast! Megan got the acai bowl and I had avocado toast. Yes those are pomegranate seeds on it, and yes you should definitely try them on your avocado toast the next time you have it! I also got a chai latte to go (I was mocked because it’s called “take away” here and only uncultured Americans say they want something “to go” ;)) which was also really nice. Not to mention the cute little origami!!
When we finished breakfast we still weren’t quite ready to greet the hours upon hours of Lymphocyte activation memorizing that we had to do, so we popped over to this cute little cookie shop called Biscuiteers. A longggg time ago when I visited Notting Hill I popped into this shop which is just off of Portobello Road. The cookies are so exquisitely made and are iced in amazing detail. They’re also amazingly expensive. We’re talking 5-10 pounds for 1-2 cookies depending on the size. But as this is a much nicer area of London, and the shop has kind of made a name for itself people are willing to pay it and get all sorts of cute little themed boxes for anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, you name it. I think I had forgotten just how expensive it was because I was really wanted to just get a cute little Christmas themed cookie. But not for that much.
It is still really fun to look around the store though because everything is so well done. And then, I noticed a sign that informed me that I could decorate my own gingerbread men!!! How Christmas-y and fun is that! And it actually didn’t end up being that expensive at all! So for the next hour and a half, Megan and I each decorated 4 cookies in a show of truly world class procrastination. It was actually really fun and they gave us a bunch of different icings with really small tips to create all the detail that they do. Because it was such nasty day out (it was sleeting at this point) the store wasn’t busy at all and we really had it all to ourselves which made it even more fun! They told us they actually really need people to work in their kitchens and decorate cookies and that most people learn the skills on the job. Man, if I wasn’t leaving London in a week… I could do this for the rest of my life!!! Also both of us were serious perfectionists and so we went a little overboard… anything to put off immunology 
Nothing interesting happened again until Tuesday night. Because I was drowning in Biochemistry and a Health and Society presentation. Which definitely called for some good ol Italian food. And lucky me, I live a 10 minute walk away from a really nice Italian market called Mercado Metropolitano. It has a really nice Italian foods store with all different kinds of sauces and homemade pastas (Y U M!) and then this area, which has lots of Italian food stalls, but also other types of food as well. Megan and I got some really yummy pizza for a really good price, and I had some really good white wine to go along with it. Overall, really good! The stall Fromage in the center, was a wine and cheese board stall, so you could literally build your own little appetizer board and enjoy a drink with it. Now everyone knows that I am not a cheese gal, but the idea is still really fun! This also is only like half of the stalls, it goes on for a while behind me too!
The stall Fromage in the center, was a wine and cheese board stall, so you could literally build your own little appetizer board and enjoy a drink with it. Now everyone knows that I am not a cheese gal, but the idea is still really fun! This also is only like half of the stalls, it goes on for a while behind me too!
Fast forward to Wednesday. My last Health and Society class ever 
Our class has really become a close little family; we’re all crazy premeds, but we also were selected for this class because we recognize that being a doctor is more than just scientific medicine, and have really bonded through that. In honor of our last day, a class trip to Borough Market was a must, and these Scotch Eggs (classic British food) really hit the spot. After class, our professor took us out for “leaving drinks” (he paid the tab – woot woot!!) and we all reminisced on the semester that went by way too quick. We also did superlatives for each other, I got most likely to break an awkward silence – guess they caught on that I’m a bit of a talker
Our class has really become a close little family; we’re all crazy premeds, but we also were selected for this class because we recognize that being a doctor is more than just scientific medicine, and have really bonded through that. In honor of our last day, a class trip to Borough Market was a must, and these Scotch Eggs (classic British food) really hit the spot. After class, our professor took us out for “leaving drinks” (he paid the tab – woot woot!!) and we all reminisced on the semester that went by way too quick. We also did superlatives for each other, I got most likely to break an awkward silence – guess they caught on that I’m a bit of a talker 
Also I just have to say that our professor, Dr. Easton is actually incredible. He used to have his own show on BBC Radio!! He’s interviewed so many important people over the last few decades and covered so many groundbreaking scientific things (for example, he interviewed the people that cloned Dolly the sheep!) and while he’s a mainly a GP now, he also still works for BBC part time. In addition to working within the medical school and teaching other junior doctors and GPs. And being the author of a book. Literally incredible, and just a taste of all the amazing people that we had exposure to this semester!
And finally. We’ve made it to post-exam time. I joined some of my friends from Arcadia for a last supper at our pub across the street earlier tonight. They’re all flying home tomorrow and it’s so weird to think that our time is coming to an end, and before too long, I’ll be back in the swing of things possibly forgetting my amazing time in London. There is just no way for me to articulate how much I’ve enjoyed this semester. As cliche as it sounds, I think I’ve really become more confident in myself and really learned a lot about who I want to be as a doctor and as a person. There are so many opportunities available to me here in London, and so many different places to explore that I know it’s going to be really hard to say goodbye, especially when I don’t know when I’ll come back again. It’s also weird to say goodbye to all the friends that I’ve become so close with that literally live on opposite sides of the country, but that just gives me an excuse now to visit places like Chicago and Boston and NYC! There are few things in this world that beat travel and adventure.
But never fear, Katie in the UK is not done yet! I’ve still got a week left and this time Team Gerth is gonna be with me so you can bet we’re gonna do some really great stuff!
Until then,
-Katie 
Katie, a senior Biology major, is spending the Fall 2017 semester studying Health & Society at King's College in London through Arcadia University.
Read more from Katie at https://katientheuk.wordpress.com/
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