About "Cheers, y'all!"

About 'Cheers, y'all!'...
This blog will be a compilation of stories, adventures,dreams, and sometimes even fairy tales of my life whilst living in South Kensington, London. I promise to be honest, comical, and sometimes emotional. I want others to know all about my experiences but more than anything, I want future me to never forget the life changing experience which will be my year in London. 

London 2010: Round One!

About the Southerner...
Well hey there y'all! I'm Lisa. I'm a ripe twenty two years old recently graduated from college and ready to take on the world...and by world, I mean London. I'm living here in South Kensington studying for a Masters in Art History. I'm thrilled to be back in the city for a whole year; my last trip was a semester-long internship program. To me, London feels like a home and a mystery at the same time. I know my favorite sections of South Ken, Camden, and the markets but I am in awe at the vastness of the city and its many possibilities. My year in London is going to challenge and inspire me in ways which I cannot even predict and I look forward to sharing my adventures, trials, and tribulations with whoever would like to read them.

Why 'Cheers, yall'...
Growing up part of a small southern family in small southern town and attending a small southern university, I am quite eager to erase the word 'small' from my vocabulary! However, 'southern' is a part of me that will never fade. In the great words of an even greater country boy, "I'm American by birth but Southern by the Grace of God." The South is a place of warmth (but really, the humidity is brutal), kindness, manners (the style you read about in Gone with the Wind), beauty (ever seen fall leaves on the Parkway or a Charleston spring?), history (some good and some not-so-good), and community.

My first 'taste' of Shakespeare at The Globe

If I love the South so much, why leave? After living a semester in London, I returned fully knowing that I was slowly becoming my 'best self' when I was in London. I was fending for myself, pushing the limits of my comfort zone, and coming into my own at the same time. The big city gave me power of expression, diversity, and freedom to see the possibilities of the person I could become. As I slowly grow into this person (who knows who she is?), I take my southern roots and build on the strong foundation that is already set out for me.


I feel that "Cheers, y'all" perfectly embodies the experience that I am having now, a Southerner in a city where being 'from the south' means I'm from somewhere near Brighton on the coast. I identify with a phrase that doesn't even exist in this country and I will surely cringe when the Brits call me a 'yankee' (the word for an American). However, I believe I will find balance and security in identifying with both the American South and the British/London cultures, hopefully representing the best of both worlds.


London is a unique and thriving place with endless opportunities and adventures to be had. I am blessed to be able to live and learn in such a magical place and I truly hope it brings me everything I'm looking for...
                            Y'all come back now, ya hear? Cheers, Lisa