This is the bi-weekly diary following the journey of a Northeastern student studying abroad in London.

I should have brought the peanut butter.

I should have brought a lot of things, but as I said, there just wasn’t room. We were told there would be culture shock when we arrived in our new countries. I figured the kids going to Spain, Italy, Ghana or China would have to deal with it, but not me. I am living in London, the most cosmopolitan city in the world, where they speak English and run on democracy. I didn’t see it coming, but come it did.

A week after arrival I am almost fully situated. Now that I look around, I realize it isn’t drastically different, but it’s the small things that sometimes make all the difference. Having no Internet or cell phone is unheard of for the average American. Here, Internet is a novelty and “mobile phones” are very expensive.

After five frustrating days of trying to find Internet access I finally succeeded in getting America Online dial-up. I haven’t had dial-up in six years. My flatmates find the lack of connection annoying, yet they haven’t made the efforts to acquire any, which tells me they clearly aren’t as obsessed as me and my fellow Americans.

The first few days here were difficult, and the smallest things seemed so strange and foreign to me. I saw pounds instead of dollars, wondered which brands of cereal and toothpaste to buy, and feared that I would get run over by a car because I looked left instead of right.

A tip to anyone who goes to Britain: Do not jay-walk. I know we all jet out in front of cars on Huntington Avenue, but my life flashed in front of my eyes when I tried it here. People say Boston drivers are ruthless; we have some competition over here.

These insignificant differences piled up, creating a knot in my stomach. There were times when I would have hopped on a plane back to Boston if the offer was on the table. I felt disconnected from everyone without a phone or Internet, and helpless like a child trying to learn everything for the first time.

The shock is wearing off now, and I definitely won’t come home until my time is up here. Yet there are things I miss dearly and will continue to miss throughout my stay. Northeastern is one of those things. We don’t realize it, but our school is a palace compared to others. I am told Goldsmiths has a wonderful reputation in Europe, but to judge its old facilities, you’d never know it. The school is old, and the buildings don’t compare to the brand new ones around Northeastern.

I will miss my friends, my parents, my doggies, Dunkin’ Donuts, TV, Kraft macaroni and cheese, dollar bills, smoke-free public places, Boston and of course the Red Sox. Luckily there is an American Sports Caf