By Maeva Ricardo

New impression of London.

It’s not really original but I have to write about this first week.

Where to start….There is so much to say!

Let’s start in order.

On Monday I discovered Inseec school, and all the other students who came from France (what a relief for me). Even the teachers who spoke English, had a french accent. I had no difficulty understanding. I also had the opportunity to meet Camilia, Luce, David, Bastien and Pierre — other French students who would be starting SCA with me the next day. They’re really nice people who reassured me about the coming week.

The next day arrived. I had a belly ball. Everyone was talking as if they already knew each other. So different from France. Then we met Marc, a teacher with a lot of personality who says he hates traditional teaching methods. What a nice surprise. My anxiety began to fade.

I did have trouble understanding, but it didn’t matter, I was hanging on. I had a great feeling about the place — the people were so nice. I remember Leanne made an effort to talk with me. Chris shared is worries about the course with me, it allowed us to exchange a bit. We also met another French student, Oliver, who helped us to understand the interview process for the school. I was happy with my first day but I was going to do better the next.

It was my aim to speak more on Wednesday. I met Jay, who I had a good chat with about what we had done previously. Our conversation was cut short because ‘Town Hall’ started. It was a special day because we did three group workshops.

In the morning we did improvisation. I discovered a bit more about Katie who’s confident when she expresses herself. Without the language barrier I could have participated much more.

In the afternoon we met Ben who has a clear vision of the world around him — it was really interesting to discuss with him.

At the poetry workshop I had the opportunity to meet Isabelle who seems to be a reserved person but really very nice.

On Thursday, with my group (Eva, Oliver, DJ and Carly) we went to the National Portrait Gallery and to the Ragged School Museum. It was not my favourite museum but it was cool to have a project outside of the school!

The best part of my day was the evening when we all joined at Boxpark for a drink and then went to Mother. I met Gemina, an ex SCA student from sup de Pub. She gave me her number so we could arrange to meet for a drink and talk about SCA. Such a nice person.

Friday arrived very quickly. It was a creative day. We each had to decorate a mug so that it represented us as a brand. I used my logo and a sentence that said “the first time is a mistake, the others are obstination.” This is because if I were a brand I would be a simple brand that experiments with how things are. You can think that it is a bad thing to be obstinate but it depends how you look at it!

I had the opportunity to meet Aaron because I had to design a t-shirt that represented him! I had a great conversation with him, he’s a really interesting person who is interested in a lot of things. I drew a head open so you could see the brain and I wrote “keep it open.”

My first week was really interesting, full of good vibes, full of conversation, and full of apprehension, but I needn’t have worried. I can’t wait for next week.