- The City Somehow becomes even more gorgeous at twilight.
I apologize for sounding a bit frazzled in this post, but that is due to the fact that I am currently in London, England! Also it’s because WordPress just deleted a very large post I was about to publish. There have been many things happening all at once, but I will try to just stick to a few highlights. Here we go!
- Everything looks like it’s out of a fairy story…
Highlight 1: The Campus
This place is so gorgeous! I know that seems to be a given, seeing as it’s London, but it’s even more lovely in person. I’m currently residing at King’s College Hampstead, which is just a bus and a tube ride away from The City of London. For those of you who didn’t know (like me), London is a large area encompassing a lot more space than The City of London. The City of London includes Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, The London Eye, The Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, ect. King’s College itself is only about ten buildings at most, all of which lie along Kidderpore road. The weather has been wonderful with only a few large outbreaks of rain while we’ve been outdoors. This has been heaven-sent after seeing the devastation in the mid-west from forest fires this year. The Oregonians on this trip have been laughing to ourselves about bringing the weather with us from home and I can’t tell if the rest of the group is more excited at the prospect of cool, wet weather or they’re afraid they haven’t brought the proper clothes.
Highlight 2: The City of London
Even though I’ve already been here almost a week, I’m still in a state of shock. The main things I’ve learned so far (that have stuck in my mind) are the schedule of the classes, how to navigate the tube well enough not to end up on the complete opposite side of town, and how to open the doors around campus. The public transportation is fantastic here, but it’s mostly a matter of others waiting for me. In London, it is impossible to navigate in a large group, or even a small group sometimes, without getting in someone’s way. I swear I’ve stood in front of someone that was in a dire need to get somewhere at least once a day. Every time I feel so bad, but everyone else seems to think nothing of it. I suppose that’s part of the culture shock of entering such a large city after getting used to a small college town where I smile at everyone I pass on the street. However, other than that, London is spectacular. I’ve cried out of pure emotion on many occasions. The first time was when we drove over Abbey Road, and the second was when I was in the Serpentine Gallery looking at a piece with John Lennon’s footprints on it. Both times the reason for my tears was that I realized once again what an important and amazing place I’m in. This happened again when we had lunch at Speedy’s cafe, the place where much of Sherlock is filmed. England holds so much intrigue for me and I think that I definitely made the right choice to come here.
So far I’ve also done 6 of the things on my list of “Things I must try or do while abroad”
Find out what a Jammy Dodger is
– They are small cookies with jam in the center. They are mediocre for my taste.
Drink real English tea at tea time
– I had a tea at a cafe down the street. It was milk tea with sugar, the favorite of Queen Elizabeth II.
Ride a double-decker
– I have ridden a double-decker almost every day since we’ve been here. “Double-deckers are cool! It’s a bus… with a ladder!” (Well, stairs)
Search for the Doctor
– I have searched the town up and down for five days looking for Doctor Who things (as well as the man himself), but to no avail. There is a surprisingly small amount of fandom merchandise (unless you count the gift shop of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, but that’s to be expected). However, I do have a crack in my wall that looks exactly like the one in the show! I’m hoping that if I ask Santa to send me a police man, Matt Smith will arrive outside my door.
Don’t Blink
– Not only have I been keeping an eye out for Weeping Angels, but I also kept telling myself as the plane was first landing in London that I couldn’t risk blinking and missing my first glimpse of London. Coincidentally, that was very difficult and resulted seeing stars for a while due to the bright white clouds that were covering any view of England.
Ride on the Underground
– Riding on the Tube is very hard to avoid if you want to get anywhere in London. It’s basically like the Max line we have at home only easier and more crowded.
Highlight 3: Cultural Differences
You may think of this as a lowlight, but I consider cultural differences future funny stories. “This one time in London…” So, I’ve noticed many small things in England that are different than America, but there are some major ones as well.
One is the tourist traps. We were having a wonderful time on the South Bank in the festival and waiting for the Eye when this random guy dressed as a gorilla comes up to us and pretends to choke one of us (as a joke), and tells us to take pictures. He goes up to about three of us and we take pictures, thinking it’s kind of funny… until he tried to feel one of the girls up. We refused to take pictures of that. Then he comes for me. I blocked him, but he hugged me anyway. Then, when he finished, he asks for money! I told him repeatedly that I only have a visa (which was a complete lie). Little tip for tourists in London; be wary as this happens a lot. However, that was, thankfully, the only truly unpleasant one so far.
The food has definitely the best cultural difference. I’ve yet to come across a food I didn’t like here in England. One of my frequented favorites has been baguettes and tea. Here the common tea is milk tea (usually with mounds of sugar) and I’ve come to love it in small doses. Baguettes are literally sandwiches with baguettes instead of bread. There are lots of roots in other cultures when it comes to food in London, mostly middle-eastern, French, and Italian that I’ve noticed. It’s wonderful to have so many choices just down the street from the campus! Today I had a lovely mozzarella and dried tomato baguette with a smoothie down at a place called “Brioche”. (Just a hint to those of you on this trip reading this; you really want to try their smoothies before we leave. They’re fantastic.) The snack foods here are even more diverse! My new favorite is Jaffa Cakes, which I have been inhaling at an alarming rate. I’ve also learned a bit about the differences between juice and water flavoring (squash)… the hard way.
The last and final difference is the amount of tourists. I’ve seen very few tourists in Oregon in my lifetime and most of them are in Portland. In London, one of the biggest cultural centers of the world, visitors from other countries are commonplace. Much of the time I try not to fit into that stereotypical idea of an American tourist that many Londoners seem to have. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very nice to tourists, but I’ve grown accustomed to that look of “oh, you poor thing, you don’t know what a pence looks like” or “oh, you poor dear, you’ve never rode the tube in your life, have you?” The best advice I can give on the subject? There are many things I have seen and done that seem to work.
1. Don’t try to hide your accent.
It’s not only hard to do, but sometimes it sounds like an insult. You may think you’ve got an amazing fake British accent pinned down and you’ll blend right in, but people will notice and they will give you weird looks.
2. Don’t panic
Traveling on the tube and through a crowded town can be scary! We’ve been warned time and time again about the possibility of pick-pockets and muggers and just all-around terrifying stories that make you want to lock yourself in your room. It’s true, stuff can happen, but that shouldn’t stop you from having a good time. Just make sure your belongings are always in sight, that your wallet and passport are in a secure place that is hard to hide getting to (like in a zippered pouch on the inside of a backpack), and maybe keep your hand on your tube pass as often as possible. To be in London is kind of intimidating, but you can’t let fear outweigh the fun you’re having!
3. Don’t be afraid to be a tourist sometimes
This may sound completely opposite of my previous statement, but you are a tourist and there’s no denying that. All I can say is be a tourist that re-defines the meaning of the word. Be courteous, try new things, and learn as much as you can! People expect Americans to come here, but make sure you leave them with the pleasant memory of that nice college student who was so excited about the English culture. That’s at least what I’m trying to do.
I hope that some of this comes in handy to you!
I’ve really got to rest my back now; London does a number on your muscles. I’ll see you soon! Becky
This is a wonderful post about exploration and discovery. Though I know London well, I still learned new things from you. You have a keen eye for detail and description, and your reflections and observations are exactly what I hope for from students while they are abroad. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Michele
I think the gorilla man antics may not be necessarily related to differences in cultures but rather one person or group of people who found a way to get money from tourists in big cities like London. I heard about and experienced some of these during my time in Paris before my program. One such thing that I experienced was when these groups of 20 or so people would walk up with forms completely in French, but ask you in English to give money for “deaf and blind” and ask for your signature. If people sign the form then they demand money although they had never asked before you signed. I could see frazzled tourists giving in, and it seems this gorilla might have been trying to do the same thing. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think it necessarily represents differences between cultures.
I love what you said about leaving people with a positive experience with Americans! It is also important to be adventurous and try things that may seem a little scary, it is worth it for the experience! Have you tried anything yet that was a little scary? I had never tried muscles before coming to France, but my host family made them for dinner one night and we ate them right our of the shells. Definitely a new experience for me and I might not have been so open to it back home.
Enjoy the rest of your time abroad!
Maggie
Yeah, I think the thing with the gorilla was just a culture shock for me since I’m not from an area with lots of tourists… I anticipated this happening and thankfully I was prepared, but it was still just… weird. 🙂
While I’ve been here I’ve tried escargo for the first time and I’ve navigated on my own a couple times when I’ve been lost. Those weren’t exactly scary things, but they were exciting and new! The first really scary (or at least it is to me) thing I’ll be doing this weekend; flying by myself to Dublin. (I’m meeting people there, but I’m getting there by myself) I usually hate airports, but I’ve gotten so used to public transit that I’m hoping I’ll handle it quite well.