Bloomsbury24's blog

Coming to study abroad in London was kind of like being a freshman all over again. I knew only one other person coming, I was totally unfamiliar with my surroundings, and I was nervous. But, everything was amazingly easy here. Meeting people, finding my way around, and adapting to the culture were fun instead of arduous. I love this city, and it was incredible just to be able to spend a long span of time here. It’s really sad thinking, this is my last Sunday here, this is my last Monday here… Because I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back. It’s weird to think you may never come back to somewhere you spent so much time in.
 
Just getting to know the city was probably the most rewarding part of my study abroad experience. London has so much to offer in terms of theater, music, pubs, clubs, markets, parks, and shopping. I’ve also made friends here that I’m sure I will still hang out with in New York. I think I’m going to miss this smaller community, where everyone lives if not a floor away, then a five-minute walk away. I’m not sure I really faced any problems here. I mean our room is small and for a couple of weeks we couldn’t use the laundry room, but overall, I’ve had a great experience.
 
I think when I go back to New York, I’m going to try and take advantage of all it has to offer more. My freshman year there I think I was so busy just adjusting to the city that I didn’t really explore all the great things it has going on. I’m excited to get to know it like I got to know London. Of course, having things open past 11 p.m. will also be nice.
 
I think I’m going to remember going to the Thames Festival, which I highly recommend to everyone, taking walks along the Thames, spending time with friends at pubs, and fall break the most. But, I’d like to remember just how it felt being here. London has a very particular atmosphere, one that I love, and I hope that I’m able to remember that.
 
This course really helped me not only keep track of everything I was doing, but also reflect on it a little bit. I’m glad I did it, and I’m sure I’ll be glad I have these posts to look back on. 

(photo by me)

If I could spend the rest of my four years of college in London, I would. It’s amazing! I’m not even sure where to begin. Mostly, I’d say that if you come here, don’t waste your time comparing it to New York. It’s not New York. I know people who spent the whole time so concerned with what it was missing that they didn’t see what it had.
 
One of the best choices I made was signing up for two classes that had theater trips. Methods and Practice: Reporting the Arts is a great class that combines improving your writing skills with seeing some amazing shows. It has a knowledgeable professor and speakers who are really in the business (including Jonathan Groff for you Gleeks!) Modern Drama and Performance was the other class I had where we got to go to the theater every week.  It’s really easy and you get to see shows, win win. If you can get Thursday off, it’ll be great for making weekend trips a little longer.
 
I’d pick Byron Court for a dorm. It’s a little further to campus but Guilford had a ton of problems and is a lot smaller. Unite is supposed to be like a hostel, except the single rooms. They all have very little storage space though, so pack LIGHT! Make sure you have an umbrella and a winter coat. Waterproof shoes are also a good idea.
 
I’d also really recommend just walking around here. It’s beautiful. The walk along the Thames River from The Eye (the giant Ferris wheel) to Tower Bridge is amazing. Speaking of The Eye, do the free events that NYU provides. They’re a great way to get to see a lot you’d have to pay for otherwise. Also, check out the pub scene, but remember, they close at 11 p.m. The Princess Louise is one of my favorites. It’s by the Holborn tube stop and has a beer on tap for only 1.99, which is about the cheapest you’ll find in London. Check out Millers (near King Cross Station) on karaoke night for a laugh. And The Rocket is a typical student bar, with nights when certain drinks are on special (on Euston). If you’re under 21, like me, mostly just enjoy that you’re able to order a drink here.
 
Minor thing: if you can get a Bank of America account that would be good because they have lots of branches in Europe where you don’t get charged to take your money out. In London it’s Barclays. 

(photo by me)

For a while, I wasn’t really looking forward to Thanksgiving here. Normally, it’s a big deal at my house, and I was sad that I wasn’t going to be home with the rest of family. But then, one of my friends from down the hall invited me to celebrate with her and her roommates. They were going to do the turkey, the pumpkin pie, really go full out. So, I got the recipe for stuffing (one of my favorite parts) from my mom. It was a bit of a struggle getting the ingredients I needed, but I scraped them together in the end.
 
So, part one of Thanksgiving begins: me trying to cook. If you know me, you know this is probably not a good idea. But, the recipe seemed fairly simple, and I was already imagining the praise I’d be getting for my amazing stuffing. Things went badly pretty quickly. I soon had a bowl full of oatmeal-like mush. My friend quickly recommended adding more breadcrumbs and baking it. After that, it actually did look like stuffing. To my surprise, it turned out okay.
 
Setting up my friend’s room was a bit of a task, since there were supposed to be eight to ten people dining, and she had one four-person table. So we ended up dragging my table down the hall along with three chairs, two plates, two spoons, and a cutting board. They pulled a full-size turkey out of the oven. It was golden brown, and looked delicious. I have no idea how they did it (and on their first try too). It was perfect. Besides that, there was a huge amount of food with all the Thanksgiving favorites, including some I’d never had before. There was turkey, stuffing (2 kinds), sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, sweet potato salad, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie for dessert. And at that big table (well technically two small tables) with all those great people who’d worked so hard to put together this meal, it did feel like Thanksgiving. It was a different type than I’d ever experienced, but it was still Thanksgiving.
 
It was disheartening at first to see that the British didn’t really care about the holiday. Many asked if we gave presents, assuming it was just another commercial scheme. But, in the end, I think my dinner was the perfect example of what Thanksgiving is, just friends getting together over a lot of food to be with each other.  

(photo by me)

De Bottom suggests that receptivity is one of the keys to traveling successfully. On our fall break, I got to learn first hand that not only receptivity, but also a positive and tolerant attitude (especially when traveling with a group) can significantly improve your traveling. My friends and I had to wake up every morning around 5 a.m. in order to catch our next flight to our next destination. We all knew that this was going to be hard, but we also knew that this trip was going to be one we would want to remember. So, everyone made a conscience effort to keep spirits high and up beat. This atmosphere, along with being open to new surroundings, made the trip really enjoyable. I think in Athens and Dublin especially, we really took time to admire the little things, as De Bottom would suggest you do. Since Athens was closed for voting day the day we were there, we spent the day taking in the Greek culture. Dublin doesn’t have a lot of tourist attractions, so we once again spent our time there really getting to know what Irish life was like.
 
I find myself still doing this in England. I love just staring at the architecture here. It’s so grand and old, in a way that few things are in America. It tells a story, looking at the buildings. Occasionally, I’ll find myself just going through the routine of walking to class or eating lunch, and I’ll stop and try to notice things around me. If I walk on a different side of the street than usual, I’m shocked by the things I never noticed before. I love finding new places to explore here, and it feels like there are enough of them to last a lifetime. I’m really going to miss walking these streets, and I will probably try to bring some of my receptivity to New York. But, I already know that a lot of what you get when you really stop to look around on your walk to class in New York isn’t great. New York assaults your senses in a way that I’ve never experienced before. The smells, the people, the noise… it doesn’t feel like you’re even able to notice anything because you’re so over stimulated. I’m going to miss the calm here. The way you can walk to a park in 5 minutes from almost anywhere in this city. It’s strange that I feel so comfortable here, but yet, I don’t think I’ll ever really get used to how beautiful it is. 

(photo by me)

Andy is a bartender at one of my favorite pubs. So, perhaps he’d be called a pubtender, but probably not. I guess I knew that there must be British bartenders, but for some reason, I think I pictured all British people carrying around copies of Shakespeare’s complete works and smoking pipes. Andy, however, is just a normal person. Weirdly, this was kind of shocking when I met him. This is not meant as an insult at all because I get along with Andy really well, but he would probably be called not ambitious in the U.S. I don’t really think this is a bad thing. I think the U.S. stresses kids out too much quite frankly. And I kind of expected it to be the same here. I expected that everyone went to Oxford or Cambridge and then went on to be important something or others. Maybe I got this impression from watch Bridget Jones’ Diary too many times. Again, not really logical, which was why meeting Andy was refreshing. Andy bartends and then travels and then bartends more to get money to travel. I completely respect this way of life. In fact, I’m jealous. I wish I could do that. It would be amazing. But, it’s not a lifestyle of anyone I know in the U.S., so it was even more surprising to find in a country that I, for some reason, saw as so strict. So, in his lifestyle, he’s different than what I originally expected of a British person.
 
However, he definitely has got the British way of drinking down. This guy is a pro. He also happens to be an expert bartender because of this. I went into the bar one day when I was sick, and he made up a great concoction with hot water, lemon, honey, and of course a little whiskey. In terms of having a typical British personality, I think he’s got some of the elements. He has that very odd, kind of dry, and full of puns sense of humor. He doesn’t really smile when he cracks a joke, and tends to be very sarcastic. He also has a very young sense of humor as well though, so they kind of mix to become only partly British. His friendliness might also be considered not typically British, as many people find the Brits more reserved in general. But, as I don’t really believe this, I think he’s more typically British in being social. 

Preparing for this trip was kind of a nightmare. We booked our plane tickets about two months ahead of time so that they were really cheap on EasyJet and Ryan Air. But, then began all the other planning you never think of. We needed transportation to and from the airports, maps of the cities, directions to our hostels, sightseeing options, and a million other little things before we could leave. I was traveling with four other people, so finding times when we could all sit down and talk about this stuff was practically impossible. But, it was totally worth it. Having all of that stuff figured out before hand made traveling easy and enjoyable.
 
Venice was our first stop, and it was everything I hoped it would be. The day we went it was a little foggy, dark and very eerie, which was cool. It really made me think of the movie Casanova and how everything must have looked then. I loved the Italian architecture and all the bright lights at night. The gondola ride we went on was amazing and really beautiful. I’d love to go back during Carnival.
 
Our next stop was Rome. I’d been there before, but I was excited to revisit some of the places I’d loved so much the first time. We went to the Coliseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. It was hectic, but using a sightseeing bus was really helpful in getting us from place to place and giving us some information. We also had some really good Italian food.
 
Athens was next. We unfortunately ended up being there on voting day, so everything was closed. But, we did get to see stuff from a distance and had a nice day relaxing. We went to the big markets, got coffee, and wandered around the Plaka. I loved the Plaka area, which is where our hostel was. The 2 Euro Gyros were amazing!
 
From there we went to Mykonos (an island in Greece). The weather was really nice, and compared to our other city stops, it was really relaxed. We went to the beach, explored the island, and ate by the water.
 
Our last stop was Dublin. Although Dublin’s not a great sightseeing town, I liked its atmosphere the best. The people are really friendly and the food is great. The nightlife in the Temple Bar area is also really fun. Oh, and we met Alan Rickman AKA Snape from the Harry Potter movies.
 
All and all very busy, but definitely worth it. I wish I could have a week like this every semester. 

(picture by me)

For my second book for this class I’m reading Notes from a Small Island written by Bill Bryson. So far, it seems to focus on Bryson’s reminiscences, recent and further in his past, of his experiences in Britain. He lived here for many years and not only describes his first nights in England, but also his most recent journey throughout the country to take a final look before he moves back to America.
           
Especially in the section about his arrival here, I can relate to pretty much everything he says. From his initial shock at the hours people keep here (no one’s out past 11 on a week night) to confronting his assumptions about the people of England. In one particular passage when he’s remembering his first night in Dover and his attempts to find a hotel he says that he, “imagined a cheery conversation that concluded with the proprietress (played by Margaret Rutherford) bustling me to the kitchen table against my feeble hollow protests about inconveniencing her – ‘Now not another word. You just sit yourself down, young man. Why, you must be positively ravenous after that long trip, you poor thing.’” This is perhaps the most common, although very naïve, idea that many Americans have of British people. I can't deny that I might have had a similar picture in my mind. Of course, he instead ended up sleeping practically outside. Now, just because not every British person is a perky innkeeper, doesn’t mean that they’re not generally nice. He describes later, when talking about the many reasons he loves London, that it has “more courteous inhabitants than any other large city in the world.” I’ve found this to be entirely true, and I can actually count the number of times I’ve seen someone lose their temper here, two. It’s so noticeable because it’s such a rarity. I have the same high opinion of London as him, and I think he sums some of my feelings up nicely when he says, “It has more history, finer parks, a livelier and more varied press, better theaters, more numerous orchestras and museums, leafier squares, [and] safer streets.”
 
His confusion over English terminology is also something I can relate to. Although, he mentions too many examples to quote, basically the idea is that British English is not the same as American English. There are so many ways one can get lost in a conversation here. And another oddity that I’ve found and that Bryson comments on brilliantly is that, “I remain impressed by the ability of Britons of all ages and social backgrounds to get genuinely excited by the prospect of a hot beverage.” I like tea, don’t get me wrong. But, it’s like a great present here. Everyone adores it. 

I’ve been told it’s one of the best pubs in England, but to me, it’s just one I stumbled upon one night with a couple of friends. We were actually looking for a pub where people were watching the football game, hoping to see some real English pride and enthusiasm. But, when we saw how packed the Princess Louise was we had to go in. At first we were completely confused. We went through the first door, only to discover a passageway that led not to the bar, but to more doors. This passageway wraps all the way around the bar and each door takes you to a separate compartment. You can take up a whole compartment with just your friends, or you can go to a larger one to meet new people. It’s pretty ornately decorated, but still feels casual and homey in many ways.
 
I have to admit that our initial positive reaction to the place was probably because of the attractive and actually Australian bartender. The bartenders at The Princess Louise have been a huge part of our experience there. After a couple visits and meeting most of the bartenders, one of friends began seeing one of them. This lead to hanging out outside the bar as well, and I’ve now becomes friends with most of them. This also meant that we always got the best service. So, when others asked where we should go out at night, I always suggested The Princess Louise. Not only because of the great service I was now getting, but because they have a wide selection of very original beers. They don’t serve many of the common beers like Becks or Carling; they have a more traditional selection. The first night we were there the bartender bragged to us that they had the cheapest beer in London (1.90 pounds per pint). Determined to save money, I ordered it, but he told me it was an acquired taste. It is. But, surprisingly, I’ve acquired it.
 
The Princess Louise has been a huge part of feeling not like a tourist, but a Londoner. I know people there and I’m known. It’s like my favorite bagel shop in New York. It’s fun to have somewhere you feel totally at ease, and it happens to only be a 15 minute walk away or right off of the Holborn Tube stop (in case your ever in the London area.)
 
(Picture by me. There’s also another picture of it in a different post of mine.)

Even though we’re only half way through the semester, I’m already worrying that I’m not going to get to do everything I want to do while I’m here. I guess if I was logical this thought would have occurred to me sooner, but it didn’t. It’s actually stressing me out thinking of not only all the places in Europe I won’t get to see while I’m here, but all the places in London. On top of this, I have to be thinking about going back to New York. I have to be figuring out my classes, an internship, and housing. I keep having this terrifying thought that being here will be the best time of my life, and I’m wasting it, or at least, it’s going by much too quickly. Sorry for the downer guys.
 
Speaking of things going by too quickly… I spent a very speedy three days in four cities in Belgium last weekend, and it was amazing! Sadly, I haven’t seen In Bruges, but Bruges itself was incredible. It has this perfect little town feel, but it’s not a small enough town that you get bored. I went on a beautiful boat ride on a canal and got some great pictures. Next we (me and the people I was traveling with) hit Antwerp, where it was unfortunately very rainy, but still nice. All the architecture in Belgium has a very unique and very odd style to it that makes it great to spend time just walking around and looking at. We spent the night in Leuven because it had a nicer hostel than Antwerp, but the town actually turned out to be pretty cool as well. It’s a very student-based town, so there were lots of cute restaurants. And, there was “the longest bar in Europe,” which basically was a square with a ton of bars next to each other. It was fun to go into a bunch of them and see how they had all developed their own personality. On the final day we were in Brussels. It was the biggest city we visited, and felt extremely touristy. There were definite areas that were for tourists and areas that weren’t. The prices on things like Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolates were also way higher there. It was beautiful and had some great historical landmarks, but I think it was my least favorite. All and all, I was entirely exhausted by the time we came home. But, being that busy in one weekend made me think, why am I not spending every weekend traveling and doing this much?
 
(photo by me)

I feel that I am having an authentic experience in London. I go to the same school buildings as the London students, I ride the same subway, I go to the same theaters, and I frequent the same pubs. I feel that I experience these places in the same way that all Londoners experience them. In all of these places I am usually with NYU students, but it’s rare for me not to talk to a British person. It’s true that one could theoretically only spend time with other NYU kids for the entire semester, but I don’t know why you would. I love getting to know the bartenders in a pub, so that each time you see them you can ask them about their life, and they can ask you about yours. Although technically, this is still just experiencing a “front,” I’m experiencing the same front as a British person. I don’t feel like a tourist here, even if I do get lost more than a native. I have, however, had some inauthentic or staged authenticity experiences while traveling.
 
When I went to Edinburgh, Scotland, I came back with the feeling that the entire city had been turned into a tourist destination. There was a man in a kilt, playing a bagpipe on every corner, nice to listen to, but surely not common in any place where actual Scottish people live. Also, there didn’t really seem to be anywhere for a resident of Edinburgh to live. It was all tourist locations like museums or monuments or hotels. I don’t think I even heard very many Scottish accents while I was there. The city and the architecture there are beautiful, but I felt like there was a show being put on, and that I had somehow been cheated out of a “real” experience.
 
I suppose it’s hard for me to judge though. I don’t really know what to expect when I travel places here, so saying that they’re not what I wanted seems judgmental. For example, I’m going to Belgium next weekend, and I have no idea what Belgium is supposed to be like. I was told to skip Brussels because it was just another city, like any other. So, we are seeing smaller towns like Bruges, Antwerp, and Leuven. I suppose I’m hoping for an authentic Belgian experience, but since I have no idea what Belgium is like, authentic or not, I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell if I’m having a “real” experience. I guess it’s easy to sense if everything is set up only for the tourists’ benefit, so that’s what I hope not to find too much of.
 
One way to try and achieve my idea of an authentic experience is to have a native show you around. Although, it is not entirely authentic in the way that you don’t live with them for a year and adopt their habits, it still seems better than following a guidebook. For example, I really enjoyed walking around Oxford’s campus with a student there and friend of mine. It felt like I was surrounded by tourists, but I was just seeing Oxford the way a student would, from the “back” as MacCannell would describe it. 

(photo by me, as most of them have been, I just didn't realize I was supposed to put this)

Before last week, I hadn’t really felt homesick. But, when I got hit with a really nasty cold/painful sinus thing, all I wanted was to be home. It’s that feeling that everything would be so much easier if your mom was there to take care of you. That if you were in your hometown, you would have all your favorite things around you. Now, I love it here, but I have yet to find anywhere that has mac n’ cheese, something that I thoroughly rely at home as a cure. Also, knowing that asking anyone here for help, a can of soup or a bottle of medicine, is more of a favor than asking your mom is tough. When you’re sick you want things to be easy, and away from home, they usually aren’t. I guess it’s a scary glimpse into the future, when I will have to take care of myself.
 
I may have made my illness worse by still attending all of my classes. This is partly because I’m a workaholic, and partly because I didn’t know where the clinic was, and finding it sounded like way too much effort. Oh, it was also one of our midterm weeks, so that was just an added bonus. I remember feverishly (literally as well) working on two midterm papers, just trying desperately to make sure that the words I’d written were actual sentences. I’m not sure I’m looking forward to getting those grades back.
 
To add to the homesickness, Saturday, when I was feeling mostly recovered, I went to visit a friend of mine who attends Oxford. I’ve known him since we were toddlers, but we haven’t spent an extended amount of time together since I was five and moved away. It was so nice talking to someone who you didn’t have to tell your life story to, but it just reminded me of being home and having things be easy. The day was still amazingly fun, because it was sort of like being home for a little bit – a very Oxfordian home. I think he was happy just to talk to an American and complain about things that are different in the UK, as most of his classmates are from England.
 
Of course, I know all these feelings will pass because just thinking about leaving here sends me into a panic. I still have so many places I want to visit in the country and in Europe, and I know it’ll never seem like enough time. So, for one week I missed home, and now I’m back to making sure I don’t waste a minute here. 

My first exposure to art in England was at The Wallace Collection. The Wallace Collection often gets overlooked next to big museums like The Tate or The Saatchi, but it’s been open since 1900 and includes many priceless pieces. Now, normally I’m of the “just look at it and decide if you like it or not” mind about art. But, the day I saw The Wallace Collection, I had a wonderful and absolutely perfectly British tour guide, and since I enjoyed his commentary so much, I thought I pass some of it along. This man was in love with this collection, as he’d experienced an epiphany at the age of twelve there and decided art was to be his life, so he knew quite a bit about it.
 
The history’s actually quite strange. The collection was started by the first four Marquesses of Hertford. The last of these Marquesses had an illegitimate son, who he never recognized while alive, but who he left his entire and extremely large collection of art to. This man was named Richard Wallace, and he also significantly expanded the collection. After he had died, his widow then left the entire collection to be displayed in Hertford House. It was to always have free admission and never to have any pieces removed at any time. And still to this day, the money they left is keeping the establishment up, ensuring that it’s free entry, and no art has been moved. It seemed very English to learn the entire history of the place where we were viewing the art and of the art itself before we actually had seen any art. Something very British of the guide to do.
 
Once inside the collection there was a wide range of objects, from watches to swords. All of these were very fun to look at, but our guide mostly focused on the art. He seemed to know about every piece in the collection: a funny story having to do with the piece, a tidbit about the artist, a reflection on the colors. He really made you look at each painting, something you may not do by yourself. There were a lot of portraits, which aren’t my favorites. There were also some interesting religious and mythological pieces, all very different, which made them enjoyable to examine. The favorite of our guide, and probably mine as well, was an intriguing portrait done by Rembrandt. Upon first glance, one might not notice anything about it. But, the more the guide spoke about it, the more you began to see the in the expression on the subject’s face. Overall, I felt it was a very through and through British art experience.

One important lifestyle change here is the drinking culture. Not only is the drinking age 18, but even the way people spend their time drinking is different. In the U.S. it is common for people under 21 to get drunk instead of just having one or two of something. Here, the different drinking setting available, a pub, is much more casual and less likely to be full of drunk people. Not that people don’t get drunk, but it’s more of an after work hang out. Pubs are social places where you can have a pint with a friend or meet new people. Bartenders are especially nice here and are always willing to make a drink selection or tell you about the local nightlife. It’s easier for students here to develop somewhat healthier drinking habits because they don’t feel the weight of a law they’re breaking. Although, this is a generalization, it feels like British kids are much better adjusted to drinking because it’s not some taboo subject here.
 
Pubs all have different décor and atmospheres. Some, like The Rocket, are similar to bars in New York – loud with tons of people, usually student age, dancing and drinking. They almost have the feeling of a club. But more common, are the classic pubs – tending to be more mellow with an older set of customers. There’s basically one of these on every street corner, and all of them have funny or noble names. One of my favorites is the Princess Louise. It has a giant bar in the middle with passageways all around leading to separate rooms. It also boasts some of the cheapest beer in London. One inconvenient thing about these traditional pubs though, is that they close at 11. There are always other places to go, but it’s rare to find somewhere as relaxed as these pubs to hang out in after hours. A lot of pubs and clubs also target students with cheap drink student nights where they’re guaranteed to get a lot of people. These nights are always really crowded, but a great place to meet people. They hold quiz nights and karaoke too. And let me tell you, British people love their karaoke. People who are usually reserved become outgoing and friendly. They love to sing American songs too. I love the easy-going going out scene here and wish New York could be more like it. I think I’m going to be really annoyed when I get back, and I can’t just go into a bar and order a pint. 

While my book Small Island mostly focuses on the struggles two Jamaican characters had when coming to live in England after World War II, there are still many things they describe about the country that I can relate to. Communication is one of them. There are many scenes in the book where the English people just cannot understand what these characters are saying, even though they’re speaking in English. Their accent and phrasing seem to confuse and frustrate everyone they talk to. I’ve experienced similar difficulties, although not quite to the same extent as them. It’s very common for me to have to repeat something or try pronouncing it in a different way when I talk to people here. I occasionally have to have someone with a thick English accent repeat something as well. Also, sometimes you’ll say words that are just not acceptable to the English, but are common in America. The most obvious example is soccer. If you say soccer here, you’ll not only get looks, but usually some mocking. Also, queue is much preferred over line and tube instead of subway is a good one to remember.
 
Another thing the main character in the book notices is how dreary many of the people on the street look. She observes that they all wear dark-colored, woolen coats. Now, this is certainly not a generalization I want to make, but after living in New York, it does seem like there is less color here. Just as she missed the bright, tropical colors of Jamaica, I sometimes find myself missing the diversity of clothing and styles in New York. And although many of the trends and styles are the same in America and in England, I often find myself wondering if people can see that I’m American from what I’m wearing.
 
The biggest difference between the world the book takes place in and the world I’m in now is the change from the fear of diversity to the celebration of it. In the book, the main characters are outcasts and usually discriminated against because of the color or their skin. However now, London is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and in everyday life there is no sign of racism anywhere. In fact, it is a land of immigrants. Many of the people you deal with on a day-to-day basis – the person serving you coffee, the shop clerk – are not from England. This is something we are discussing in my British Culture and Politics class, and an interesting topic to look at now or in the past. 

A few weeks ago my roommate and I decided to book our first (of hopefully many) weekend trip in Europe. We decided to start a little closer to home, and got train reservations to Edinburgh, Scotland. What we did not realize when we booked our tickets was that our train to Edinburgh involved a five hour layover from 1-6 a.m. in a middle-of-nowhere train station. So, to begin our wonderful adventure, we spent the night (not sleeping) in an unheated waiting room in Doncaster that henceforth will only be known as my personal hell. However, once we survived this, the rest of the trip was amazing.

We got to the Edinburgh train station at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning, completely exhausted, but ready to explore. We started by heading to the Edinburgh Castle, which takes up a big chunk of the skyline there. There was a lot to see, but my favorite part was the breathtaking view you got when you finished climbing to the top of this gigantic structure. You could see all the way to the ocean and all the sites in Edinburgh. Then because our energy was waning, we took a bus tour of the city, so that we could sit but also decide where to go next. The guides were funny and informative and told us all sorts of odd facts about the city. Most importantly, they told us that you could climb to the top of this large monument that we had seen, so we put that on our to-do list for the next day. We met our suitemates at The Hard Rock Café for a delicious dinner and then headed back to our hostel. I’d never stayed in a hostel before, so I was a little nervous, but we didn’t have any problems. Yes, it was inconvenient to share a bathroom and not be able to leave your stuff in a 16-person room – but it was a bed, and that’s all we needed.

The next day I did a bit of gift and cloth shopping, and then we headed to the monument, Scott’s Monument, to climb. The stairs were a bit ridiculous, with only one REALLY REALLY TINY staircase for the people going up and down.  But, there was a beautiful view at the top. We then went to the National Galleries, which had some great work by Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, El Greco, and many others. All and all it was a very successful and very tiring trip. But, much more relaxing on the way back since the train ride was a straight shot.