First day of official programming
March 12th, 2023
Me and Bryce slept in a bit this morning, which was refreshing and definitely needed before we start a busy week of study abroad programming. We took the tube to right near the St. Giles hotel and checked our bags with the concierge desk. Before the official programming started that evening, me and Bryce wanted to go see some more tourist type sights. We walked to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace all before lunch. All very lovely places with a rich history to learn about. We got another meal deal from Sainsbury’s for lunch and just kind of hung out before the walking tour that kicked off our study abroad program.
That evening, we went on a walking tour of the Bloomsbury area. The tour guide was delightful and so knowledgeable about the area and its history. One building we visited was Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, which is part of the NHS in England and is considered tertiary care, meaning it requires the go ahead from a general practitioner (GP), who are considered the gatekeepers of the NHS. It was an interesting experience to compare the children’s hospitals in London to the ones we have in the States, especially Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. One major physical difference is the architecture: hospitals in the United States are usually massive and so grand in design, while the ones we saw in London and on our first walking tour were a lot simpler in structure and even sometimes occupied already built buildings that were not always originally intended to be a hospital. After that first walking tour, I knew I would be learning a lot on this trip and I couldn’t wait.
Our whole group ate dinner together at a French restaurant that night. It was delicious and set the programming off to a great start.