Eden Exchange Program: Sean's trip to the UK

Sitting next to me on the flight to London were two UK citizens returning from New York, which felt like a good omen. The mother and son offered quite a few London sight-seeing recommendations, right after they finished describing how much more they enjoyed Kentucky Fried Chicken in New York compared to London. I would be lying if I said that this didn’t make me trust their food recommendations less, but I noted them down anyway.

Arriving at the London Eden office the team gave me a helpful briefing on what they were working on at the moment and some of the areas that I would be able to help them out. I primarily assisted with site-finding activities for an emerging market using the UK mapping software. During my afternoons I also assisted in some American affairs as the team across the pond began to wake up. Must have been beginner’s luck, but one of the first sites I identified was a willing landowner.

The team had been working on similar sites for a while, and with my additional site, we had a pretty good route for visiting potential sites in southwest England. We got a good feel for the type of areas and land suitable for these sites. After three or four site visits, we called it a day and headed a few minutes outside of Wadebridge into Polzeath to catch a few waves. This was my first time surfing and I loved it. I did not expect surfing while I was in England, but now I know that there are some good waves in Cornwall.

One of the more memorable moments in the office during my two-week stay was the day of a Rishi Sunak press conference, where the PM detailed why and how the government would begin to reduce some of the net zero carbon goals set forth before him. The office gathered around the main conference table as we all watched the press conference. As you can guess, there was not much support for the new policies in the room.

All in all, I had a wonderful time. From working and learning a new business market to happy hour pints at the Barley Mow to attending my first Premier League match at Fulham, the two weeks I spent in London I will remember for a long, long time.

Special thanks to Harry and Gio for the amazing opportunity, as well as Max for going above and beyond as my host. And of course, thanks to Tom, Jack, James, and George for top banter and for showing me around London. Nothing like sightseeing on a Lime Bike.

Cheers!