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I cannot believe I only have 2/3 more days of London! The time here has really flown by. Even crazier is that it’s less than a month until I begin law school. AHHHH but I’m not going to get ahead of myself (sorry for the tangent- I’d just received an email from Tulane Law). These last couple of days have been crazy which is why the end has been a little less post heavy than at the beginning. I’ve visited Greenwhich (lots of fish and navy stuff), the Olympic stadium (not done yet but cool), Cambden Town (loveee loveee the shopping there so punk- though I don’t really know punk but it seems punk), finally got on the London Eye, visited the Supreme Court and wore a lawyer’s wig (unfortunately no pictures of that moment were taken because it’s forbidden to take pictures inside the court), and contemplated staying in London and tried to figure out how mad my parents would be if I didn’t come back… just kidding… sort of.
I’m actually sitting here right now in the previously described as magnificent King’s library in the room where Dumbledore’s office is filmed in the Harry Potter movie- which by the way I have seen the Harry Potter twice and it’s AMAZINGGGG- working on my presentation for class tomorrow on recidivism and why ex-convicts end back up in prison. I really could on for pages and pages talking about substance abuse, mental problems, racial discrimination, housing, etc that all factor into recidivism but I’ll spare you.
Instead I’ll leave you with some lovely tidbits from my counterpart in class- a Russian student who I’ll be careful because as I’ve heard before, if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all, has very different views from me. He believes that 1) the reason for jail should be retribution/punishment 2) we should, and I quote, “use the death penalty freely to keep peace in the country” including for robberies 3) that prisoners don’t deserve human rights. Wow whoops- just reread. Even though I wasn’t supposed to say anything mean that came off sounding pretty passive aggressive. I actually think he’s an interesting and nice person and he definitely shows me a different perspective but because I tend to be very biased in terms of convicts because I worked in a non-profit to help them get back on their feet, I get very (read VERY VERY) frustrated. I have to keep remembering though that he’s a very wealthy Russian who has grown up with a specific world view.
Anyway I’m getting ready to visit my favorite haunts in London one last time. I will miss this city so so so much. But I’m excited for the flight back. Though I had to sleep on the flight in to fight the jet lag, I have planned my 8 hours to be watching 4 movies. SOOOO EXCITEEED. Maybe my next blog should be movies. Orrr books. Just read the Hunger Games BEST BOOK EVER. Anyway I’m also excited to come home because I miss everyone! I got to skype with the lovely Enstin and the lovely Melissa the other day and gave them all the gossip or “goss” as my sorority friends would say about London.
Ciao
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Look at me updating twice in three days! I had a little time since I set aside some time to work on my essay for class, it’s the halfway point, and I wanted to add a little bit of class. Class here is actually quite grueling. I wasn’t really expecting that. As I said before I’m studying English law which I’ve always been interested in but since it doesn’t count for anything for course credit I wasn’t expecting an intensive program. I like it though. I’ve always been an academic (read nerd).
I figured I’d write a little about what I’ve been learning in class that I find fascinating since it’s such a big part of what I’m doing abroad. I think I mentioned this before but I have a really cool and laid back (sort of) Irish teacher who says “see you in the mornin’ ” in an Irish accent which I just love. But anywho. He is quite knowledgeable on UK Law and we have some really intense students (there are actually a few practicing lawyers from Italy, Denmark, and Brazil in my class… a bit intimidating to be honest) so the discussion is always interesting. Last class we read an article that mentioned that all judges in the British Supreme Court are from Oxford or Cambridge and from fee-paying high schools. A discussion the rest of the afternoon ensued arguing the pros and cons of this statistic. Later a friend of mine from Australia made a really interesting comment when he said that “it’s crazy that this is what we discuss when there is such horrible poverty around the world and this is the worst in the UK.” Although I’d found the conversation in class fascinating this phrase made me really think.
I sometimes find myself inwardly rolling my eyes in some political discussions at Rice that I feel are ignorant to the rest of the world, and I had been expecting people in Europe to be cultured so that I wouldn’t do the inward eye rolling. (no offense to any Americans, especially since I’m like that too, but without generalizing I must admit that overall people from other countries- even third world countries like Colombia- know more about the world than many Americans). Not only did I not do the eye-rolling, this comment from my friend completely surpassed my expectations. It impressed me. I LOVE that people think globally and that leads to come to these kind of conclusions. Sure, it’s important to make sure that there is diversity in the Supreme Court, but it IS crazy that our world has such inequality that this is the worst that happens in England while other countries have millions of displaced farmers.
Besides this discussion we’ve been learning the nuances of the British constitution and case law (interesting fact that perhaps many of those reading this blog might already know- the Brits don’t actually have a written constitution… they rule based on a couple of acts and precedents brought about a court’s decision in cases. They also rule on tradition. For example, there’s no law that says that elections are held every 4 years but held they are). We’ve toured the British courts even sitting in on a case in “Old Bailey” (the British criminal court). The judges and lawyers in England (or barristers as they’re called here) actually wear wigs! and robes. Check it out:
And today we went to the British library (second biggest in the world and contains every single book published in UK).
I saw:
- the original manuscript for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the first fully written King James Bible, the original Magna Carta
- Jane Austen’s glasses and desk as well as many of her rough drafts
- Also rough drafts from Dickens, Oscar Wilde (Picture of Dorian Gray St. Agnes girls =D), Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters and more
- Mozarts and Beethoven’s rough drafts or their compositions
- The Beatles original lyrics that they hand wrote (the words to the song Michelle were written on the back of an envelope)
I know I was like whoa.
Now that I’ve bored you enough Imma go finish that essay. I’ll try to post pictures soonish.
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The London nightlife is quite fun. I just got back from a nightclub here in London where they played 80s music and my friends and I ran into a bachelor party. We had lots of fun with said bachelor party and I had a busy night including but not limited to drawing hearts on the groom’s chest and being dipped about 50 times throughout the night by his Scottish friend. It was extremely fun but I’m definitely not used to going out to clubs every night (I know I know such a shocker for the party animal that I am… HA). The other fun time worth mentioning is when we went with people from my class on a party boat throughout the river Thames. There’s many great pictures of that night.
Things I’ve noticed about the differences in nightlife here in London and the States
- no grinding here in London… there’s actual dancing! :)
- so much techno. sooooo much techno. badummm badummm badummm
- it’s always pubs then club
- it’s crazy hard to get around and then impossible to get a cab
- bouncers are crazy strict— you really cannot look drunk at all (you guys know how much of a problem that is for me…)
Besides partying all day errday I’ve visited Dover, Brighton, and Canterbury as well as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (we stayed like an hour trying to stalk prince Harry and Kate), Soho (including Chinatown where I took many a picture for my Asians), something Point which is where all the Indian food is but I forget the street name, Picadilly Circus, and last and most important I went to the Harry Potter premiere…. sooo fun but I didn’t see any starts :( boooo. I didn’t camp out the night before because of classes so I didn’t get to see anyone but I’m pretending I saw Emma Watson and if anyone asks she looked beautiful… shhhh don’t tell.
I cannot believe that the time is passing so fast yet I cannot believe I’ve only been here a week. London feels very familiar now and I’m getting much better at navigating the tube… I never thought I’d ever be able to do that. But there’s so much left! The actual movie Harry Potter is coming out (HA I see it 5 hours before the US just rubbing it in =D), Tower of London, a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre, a play at Lancester’s Square, and more.
Ok I’m really exhausted but I’ll try to post again sooner and I’ll try to put a couple of pictures.
Oh yeah and class is going well too! I think I already talked about how elegant and imposing the library is but I don’t know if I told the story of being lost when I was working on my paper (the library is about a 30 minute walk away), in the rain, without an umbrella, and without money. I was freaking out (I really don’t handle stress well) but I’m learning! =D
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I just read my last blog and man was I jetlagged… I sound like a crazy woman. Or maybe I just wrote how I talk. Anywho I’m not any less tired now because I’ve been running around but I’m trying to keep up with the blogging so here goes nothing.
Yesterday was our big orientation for ISA (International Studies Abroad) and it was more interesting than I expected. It inspired the title for this blog. We had this big powerpoint about what to expect in British culture. Now, I’m a huge nerd so I’d already read all the packets ISA had sent me, and I’ve been to London/Europe before so I had a small idea of what differences to expect. I wasn’t really surprised by anything. However, some of the people in my program were from what they told me. especially about the stereotypes about Americans other people hold. It made me realize that the reason I’m not surprised is because I’m Colombian and I actually hold some of those stereotypes myself which isn’t really fair at all because I’m more American (well, North American) than anything and because most of my US friends defy those stereotypes.
I’m not 100% sure where I’m going with this but I guess I just wanted to show what I got out of that orientation. For my American friends who haven’t really gone abroad, the stereotypes aren’t pretty. Some of them are quite funny (like apparently American girls smile a lot… which shows promiscuity) and some of them are interesting, good, and in my opinion mostly correct (Americans aren’t class conscious and they’re friendly and some outgoing- ok that one not as typical). Any stereotype though is, though necessary because it’s how we organize massive amounts of information, I think is bad when we use it poorly to bring people down.
The other stuff in the orientation were small differences that Americans might get annoyed at, but again London in that way is similar to Colombia so I’m used to it.
However, here are some things I tend to forget and love about the US.
- London has no water fountains anywhere
- The plumbing… oh the plumbing
- The service in restaurants and pubs (there’s no tips here so waiters don’t care about being friendly)
However, London has reminded me why I’ve never really wanted to stay in Houston though I love the people and actually probably will stay there
- much more walkable (the Brits charge 10 pounds- over $15- for cars to go into downtown)
- the food portions are much smaller, unless you get fish and chips in which case the fish is HUGE. But I remember coming from Colombia and getting full just looking at the size of the ceasar’s salad that comes out before the meal.
- the temperature!! HALLELUIAAAA I HATE the heat like hate hate HATE (ok I’m being melodramatic again) and London right now is absolutely perfect. I don’t need air conditioning/heating… and I’m comfortable! (A huge feat for someone who fiddles with her car air conditioning every 2 seconds)
I’m sure wayyy more things will go in both sections before I leave but right now I’m enjoying the positives. Yesterday I really enjoyed going to a legit pub and getting fish and chips with some of the girls in my group (I didn’t enjoy the meal quite as much but my extreme obsessiveness about trying it just cus it was popular was fulfilled) as well as a London bus tour and Thames river tour the group took.
Today I had my first class and it seems daunting- a ten page paper on English law… ahhhh. The college though, is quite impressive with stunning architecture and distinguished looking professors in suits, speaking in English accents (which some of you know how much I love that British accent). Wait now that sounds creepy. Oh well, I mean I just love British accents on anyone.
My class is cool. There’s this one kid from Denmark who coaches the Canadian Olympic jet sailing team (I know I was like what…? too) and this really flamboyant guy from Milan named Edouardo. And now I really hope he doesn’t find this blog cus I said his name but oh well. He’s very well-dressed and has mannerisms but this is pretty typical in Europe it seems like for heterosexual men.
Ok this post is super super super long but I probably won’t have time to write more for awhile so hopefully this will make up for it :)
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So I should be sleeping but then I couldn’t sleep and figued I’d start this otherwise I’d be crazy behind.
I’ve never really written a blog for other people… but some of my friends asked to hear about London so hear goes..
ahhh
Too much pressure to be entertaining.
Anywho
So yesterday/today/day before yesterday all blends in one long exhausting, crazy, but wonderful day. I flew in from Houston to London Friday night at 6 PM and arrived at London time 9:30 AM. A way too long 10-ish hour flight where I had a baby on the back of me kicking my seat… no worries, i kicked back… jk… but not really.
Anyway after the flight I met up with all the people from my program and they’re pretty awesome. We had a one-hour van ride to where I’m staying at (these nice-ish apartments) at King’s College where I’m going to study English law for the next month.
So after settling in and taking a quick shower where I made my group late for our next activity because my shower wouldn’t turn off (this time it wasn’t actually my fault… it actually didnt turn off… it wasnt like the Hanszen showers where I just freaked out) and then my toilent wouldnt flush once my shower turned off (dont ask me about British plumbery) and I didnt have time to unpack. (Sorry for the run-on but it was traumatic)
But wait packing reminds me I should rewind a bit (for some reason i said that in a British accent in my mind and it sounds cool… note to self to use it in further writing about London)… to rewind a bit (hehehe) its crazy to pack for a month with a small suitcase… i know i know my study abroad people are going to be like, “Don’t complain I had to do 4 months of packing… blah… blah..” but I’ve never done it before and it was hard. It took so much time and I didn’t have time to visit all the people I’d wanted to at Rice one last time (one of the reasons im actually writing this). So every decision of which shirt to not pack was do or die (ok so thats a bit dramatic…. just some comedic hyperbole)
Anwho after unpacking we went touring Parliament which was fun but tiring because you can’t sit down anywhere and it’s all about English history which I’d already taken a class in.. but the tour guide was nice…and I have pictures! The story of England is pretty interesting, especially the part about the monarchy, and the way the Brits govern is also quite (more British for y’all) fascinating because it’s so completely different from the way the US does it though they’re both democracies. Enough with that though.
We went out to dinner with the group to some pub/restaurant afterwards to a yummy place the group picked out where i was adventurous and had curry chicken. Apparently Indian food is very in at London right now… I liked the curry chicken but I’m not too good with spicy so we’ll see how it goes.
After dinner part of the group and I went in search of another pub/club/night thing to do. We ended up walking right into London pride which made me happy. I liked that I’ve run into the Houston and London pride parades. We didnt find any pubs, however, that we could really go into that were close to our place. I’m not sure why now as London has millions of pubs but there was always something wrong with them. Either too expensive, closed early, or the most common one, too far away, the list goes on. So we ended up just hanging out in the dorms which was really fun as well. Now, however, I’m exhausted as it’s 1:30 AM in London and I’ve been up for the past… I don’t even know but about 2 days.
Tomorrow we have orientation of my specific program and a tour of London. I might update if I have time.
Sorry for the convoluted ways of this blog post. I’m really really tired to write coherently right now so as you can tell by my content and grammar. Hopefully this gives you an idea of my first official day(s)? in London.
