A Few Random Observations

Today has been designated homework day. So naturally I've decided to write another post instead. One thing I've noticed about England is they don't mess around. Now, I may have some of these facts incorrect, I've collected them throughout the semester so far, and they may not be exact.

If you vomit in public, it's a 100 pound fine. If the police find out it's from alcohol, it's more. And yet you can drink basically anywhere: on the street, on the tube, on the bus...

You have to have a license to watch tv in your home, that's how the BBC is funded.

If you have a radio in your place of business that two or more people are listening to, you have to have a license for it.

If you don't pay your car tax, it is within the government's jurisdiction to compact your car and crush it beyond recognition.

Commercials here are intense.  Describing it isn't the same is seeing it, but I'll do my best.

The public service announcement for drinking involved a bachelorette party losing a balloon, and a guy volunteering to retrieve it. He climbs up a fire escape, reaches for the balloon, and falls smack on the pavement. Then the commercial says something about "too much alcohol can make you feel invincible."

There's PSA about smoke detectors where a woman is sitting in her kitchen, and the camera pans to her left to show the rest of her house burnt and charred. She asks who will be the next caught in a fire: "Your mother? Your brother? You?"

There's a commercial where a woman is on the phone with her husband. She's at home saying something about dinner, and he's driving and talking on his cell phone. He then gets in an accident, and you see him unconscious and bleeding, while the wife is still on the phone saying "James? James? Can you hear me? James?" Disturbing.

I think it's also an automatic night in jail if you're caught on your cell phone while driving.

England doesn't mess around.

Also, the best cookies I've had are from Ben's Cookies. Amazing. The US needs to discover it.

Oh! And you know why London doesn't have any of that classic fog anymore? People died. The fog was a result of industry, and it got so bad that people were actually choking to death on the fumes. So there is now a ban on smoke producing fuel like coal in London.

"I Love Paris in the Springtime, I Love Paris in the Fall...

I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles, I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles"

J'adore Paris! Granted, I was only there for three days in the winter (it didn't drizzle), but I think I can say I would love it any other time of the year. I had an amazing weekend. It went by so fast, I almost can't believe it really happened. I was so excited to be there. I kept thinking how I'd seen pictures of Paris in my French textbooks in high school and couldn't believe I was actually there. It was so surreal. This whole experience has been surreal.

Our hostel was great, as far as hostels go. We were all happy with the quality, and excited to be in one giant room all together.

My favorite spot was Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. I wish I had more time to spend in Paris, because I would have liked to spend a 

whole day in Montmartre. A tour guide showed us the Sacre Coeur at night, and it was incredible. The church is a blinding white. The coolest thing about it is that the more it rains, the whiter the stones become, so as time goes on the church gets whiter and whiter. It has a tragic story though. When Paris closed its gates and succeeded briefly and became a fairly successful socialist country, a traitor was paid off by the government and there was a massacre. The socialists were all executed. Where the Sacre Coeur is now is where the government rounded up socialist leaders and executed them. Those that survived were forced into slave labour to build the Sacre Coeur. There's a plaque in the church saying the church was built to forgive the sins of the socialists, not the government. It's tragic. But the church is absolutely breathtaking. It's composed of all different types of architecture, Greek, Roman, Taj Mahal-esque, to represent unity.

Incredible. 

I saw the Moulin Rouge. It wasn't what I was expecting, but still very cool. It now costs about 80 euro to go see a show there. And did you know that there are over 2,000 prostitutes working in the red light district any given day?Toughcompetition.

Another of my favorite things in Montmartre was the man stuck in the wall. There is a story about a man who was able to walk through walls and he went to the doctor for an explanation. The doctor gave him a pill to make it stop, but the man wasn't ready to give up his ability. He liked walking through walls, and it made his affair with his neighbor's wife much easier. One night, before seeing his mistress, he had a headache and took an asprin. Except it wasn't an asprin, it was the pill the doctor gave him. So as the man was going through the wall, he got stuck. And he stayed there, and, presumably, died there. But his friend came to visit the wall every day and play guitar for him. I thought it was a cool story.

Of course I saw the Tour Eiffel. I never knew it was brown. For some reason I always assumed that it was a kind of greenish grey like the Statue of Liberty (which I have never actually seen, and it occurs to me that I really should start to see some of the landmarks in my own country). It really is enormous. I was giddy just looking at it.

 

Notre Dame. Very cool.

Fontaine de Sainte Michele. Sainte Michele is the one who cast Satan back to hell.

The Pont Neuf bridge is funny. Henry IV threw a big party for all his friends and got them stinking drunk. He hired a sculptor to recreate his drunk friends at the party, and put their likenesses all along the bridge. What a way to be immortalized. 

We saw L'arc de Triomphe and the eternal flame. Funny story: there was an Australian tourist who once fried an egg on the flame. He was put in prison for one night. But what a great story. 

The Louvre was very intimidating. It's impossible to see everything, it holds so much art. I spent my time in the classical Greek/Roman wing. Naturally I saw the Mona Lisa, but to be honest, it's not that impressive. What is impressive is the amount of people who crowd around it constantly. But my favorite was the Roman sculptures. I saw the Venus di Milo! 

The Palace of Versailles was very cool. It's unbelievable to imagine living there, especially considering the state Paris was in at the time. Disgusting really. But the Palace is incredible. And I found my room: 

In general I wasn't too put off by the French people. I've heard bad things about them, but some of them are very nice. I think they appreciate when tourists try to speak French...unless you're abismal at it. But there was an older gentleman in a pastry shop who thought I was fluent in French. It was a highlight.

I definitely prefer the tube to the  metro. The tube is cleaner and doesn't have as many sketchy/creepy men. There was an interesting poster in one of the metro stations

though: 

One thing that really struck me about Paris was the amount of homeless people. Once when we were on the metro two young girls came on and made an announcement. It was in French, and I didn't understand everything, but the gist of it was that they needed money because of some tragic story. When the got off at the next stop, they were yelling to their mother. What kind of mother would have her children doing that? I was just so taken aback.

Anyway, my time in Paris was amazing. If I spoke fluent French, I would definitely want to stay there for a longer period of time. But I do like being home in London. I think traveling has really made me appreciate the small things in my life, the comforts of home, the familiar.

Time is flying by. Only a month and a half before I come home. It doesn't seem possible. I think this has been the fastest semester I've ever had.

Uniquely London

This journal assignment is supposed to be about what I've done or experienced that is "uniquely London." Something that I can only do here in my temporary home. Something beyond the obvious, something undiscovered, something I would recommend to future study abroad students. And I can't think of anything specific. So, bear with me, I'm taking this entry in a different direction.

I spent this weekend in Paris. (I promise later this week I will post about it and put up pictures, because it was an absolutely amazing experience.) Paris is an amazing city, and I fell in love with it. My only regret is that I can't speak fluent French. After three days though, I was ready to go. It was frustrating to not know what people were saying or what signs said. I missed hearing English spoken on the streets and in shops and restaurants.

When we got back to London, I was so happy to be home. I knew where I was going, I could understand the people, it was familiar. London feels more and more like home to me. I didn't completely realize it until I left.

"What we have we prize not to the worth

Whiles we enjoy it, but being lack'd and lost,

Why, then we rack the value, and then we find

The virtue that possession would not show us

Whiles it was ours."

Much Ado About Nothing Act IV scene i

Now that I'm back, I love London even more. Everything is "uniquely London" to me. Through this whole trip, this whole experience, I've learned a lot about myself. Without London, I wouldn't have the realizations I've had. I'm indebted to London.

What I can recommend to future study abroad students is to break off from the group.  Branch out and see something on your own. Even just walk down the street by yourself. Start small. Personally, I find everything here to be "uniquely London." I get a kick of walking into a coffee shop and hearing British accents. I love talking to people and being called "love" and hearing the smallest, simplest things called "brilliant." Eavesdropping may not be exactly socially acceptable, but it makes for an interesting experience.  

In my life in general, it's the little things that make me the happiest. So going off to just the grocery store or to get coffee or going to class by myself is a great feeling. I feel more independent that ever before. I'm amazed at how comfortable I am walking around the city by myself.

Going to a poetry reading at Poetry Cafe was a great experience. It was stuffy and crowded and uncomfortable. There was good poetry, awful poetry, confusing poetry. But it was authentic and real. The locals were supportive of the American Poetry Cafe Unplugged virgins. I enjoy the local experiences.

I have to catch my breath every time I walk across the Millennium Bridge and see St. Paul's greet me. It's the little things that make my time here so unique. So it may not seem like much to the world travelers, but for me, it's everything. What makes London for me is the everyday that seems so extraordinary to me, and reminds me every day how fortunate I am to be here.