Pros and Cons, Parks and Churches

So. Readers. Today is the end of my fourth day here in London, and things have been going, for the most part, quite well. As I do with most things, my method of evaluation for my time here thus far is using a list. Here it is:

Things that I LOVE About This Country:
Hummus (incredible)
Tea (English breakfast with a spot of milk- simply to die for)
Fish and Chips
The people (much kinder, with better manners)
Public Transport (much cleaner)
Accents (much more fun to imitate)
Alcohol (it is everywhere)
Conversion Rate (if I thought I was poor before...)

Things that I DETEST About This Country:
Noise (this is night THREE of major roadwork outside my flat that begins at 9PM and goes until approximately 2AM)
Air Conditioning (there is none)
Appliances (teeny tiny)
Accents (sometimes it is absolutely impossible to tell that you are speaking the same language)

So, clearly the pros outweigh the cons, and I am not returning home early (just kidding Mom and Dad)! In all seriousness, I am having a wonderful time here so far, excluding the fact that I have had about 4 hours of sleep total in the past 4 days, but you know- you win some you lose some (just for you, CEO). Anyway, bad jokes about sleeplessness aside, I really am growing to love the UK more and more everyday. It is the perfect combination of things that I am used to from home in the US, and things totally unique to this culture. For example, it is fun listening to people speak English in accents and use quirky words, not wandering around scratching your head all the time trying to figure out a foreign language.

Speaking of wandering around, today I had my very first "field experience" for one of my classes here. Every Wednesday morning from 10AM to approximately 1PM, we have a FE for our British Culture class. I am insanely excited about this class and the accompanying FE's, because our professor is amazing. I will refer to him as R from here on out, and he was born and raised in London. A stocky man in his late thirties who wears camouflage shorts and worn punk t-shirts with skateboarding sneakers and a shaved head, the last thing you would think to call him is "dr." That is, however, what he is, and he is brilliant. His areas of expertise are autobiography, poetry, and sex and gender (woohoo!). Since he was born and raised in London, he is able to show us this city from a Londoner's perspective, not a fellow tourist. We are bypassing all the typical tourist locations (Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, etc, etc) and getting acquainted with the less well-known but equally amazing and beautiful parts of this spectacular city.

Today, we went on a sort of "catch-all" walking tour around London, and there were two things in particular that I was absolutely crazy about. The first was Postman's Park, a park in London that has a memorial to Londoners who lost their lives saving others, and the second was Saint Bride's church, a church specially dedicated to journalists, reporters, and publishers. Although both sites were completely and totally different, and appealed to me for different reasons, they were both extraordinary.
 Postman's Park is not unusual in the fact that it is a green space located in the middle of the busy, day-to-day activities of London. Londoners definitely do love their green space, and on the occasional beautiful day, the parks around the city are filled with Brits enjoying the rare sunshine. Postman's Park is, however, different from some of the larger and more well-known parks around London such as Hyde Park and Saint James' Park. PP houses one of the most unusual, unique, and beautiful memorials I have ever seen in any city. The memorial in Postman's Park is dedicated to Londoners that made the ultimate sacrifice: their lives.


After visiting Postman's Park, we went to Saint Bride's church, which is located just off of Fleet Street (Sweeney Todd- ring any bells?). Fleet Street used to be the central location for journalism and publishing in London, until Prime Min Margaret Thatcher spearheaded a campaign to move most of the newspaper offices and publishing houses to another district in London. It was a brutal fight, but they eventually did move. One of the only remaining pieces of evidence that Fleet Street housed this industry for many years is Saint Bride's Church, a church that specially prays for and commemorates journalists, reporters, and publishers. There is evidence all around the church of their special affiliation, and as an English major, it was a really moving experience to walk around the church and see all the plaques dedicated to people who dedicated their lives trying to uncover truth. It was amazing!

Catch Ya Later Colonies! On to London!

Hello again readers! So after much preparation, anxiety, scheduling, and obsessing, I am FINALLY in London! We flew out of Dulles International Airport yesterday at about 7PM, and landed at Heathrow at 7AM London-time. After some quick adjusting, we have started to settle down in our new digs in our new home for the next two months. After making our way to the coach that would bring us to our new flats, unpacking all of our things to fit in these teeny little apartments, making grocery store and pharmacy runs, and taking a walking tour, we finally did what I do best: eat. Before I elaborate on the fantastic dinner we had, here is a brief rundown of some cool things that I think are seriously worth mentioning: 

An example of a business that is proudly
displaying its affiliation with the
Olympic Games here in London

Since the Olympic Games are coming to London on the 27th of July, one week after we leave, the city and the Brits are gearing up for the international spotlight. Reminders of the games are everywhere, from signs all throughout customs urging families of Olympic athletes to make themselves known to staff to receive priority treatment, to special candy bars and food products hitting the shelves with the Olympic Games logo, to large public reminders on buildings. One of the characteristics of the British that we have discussed at length during the TWC program was their national pride- and the Olympic Games provide a way for the British to show, to an international audience, just how exceptional their beloved Britain is.

Although today was mostly a day of adjustment, it is always interesting to see the ways in which basic things differ from country to country. It should come as no surprise to the readers that know me as a foodie, that the number one thing I recognize is- you guessed it- food and the places it is sold! Grocery stores vary not just internationally, but all throughout the USA as well, and I think it is a really interesting way to look into the culture of an area to take a look at the way food is sold, packaged, prepared and consumed. Here in the UK, one of the most famous grocery stores is Marks and Spencer, along with a few other nationally recognized and popular chains. M&S is on the high end of grocery stores, and they also sell non-food items (such as clothing). Fun fact- when we visited the British Embassy while we were still in Washington, we met with a British woman who told us that "all upstanding British women buy their underwear at Marks and Spencer's." It certainly is odd to think that you could do a one-stop shopping trip for underwear as well as dry goods or produce! 

Cheers! Our very first meal in the UK!
Nothing beats good food with good
friends: pictured are (L to R) BD and
KK, and on the other side of the shot
are myself and JR. 

Now onto the good stuff: the food. We made a note to scout out a few local pubs during our walking tour today, as it has been recommended to us to find our "own" local pub near where we are living to try and get a sense of the people that live in the area. There were three that are very close to our flats- and I couldn't wait to start out this evening to determine which one would become "ours" for the next two months. Our journey turned out to be a modified Goldilocks story: one pub too fancy, one too scummy, and one just right! Three Famous Kings Pub was officially established as our neighborhood bar, and we had the quintessential English dinner of fish and chips with hard cider to celebrate our very first night on this new international adventure. The meal was amazing- the cod was fried lightly and wasn't too greasy, the chips were crisp, and the cider was cold. It was the perfect end to a very, very long day.

Monuments, Memorials, Museums- Oh My!

The Korean War Memorial

Hello readers! Even though it is late and I am absolutely exhausted, I had such an amazing day today that I couldn't wait to get back to my laptop to share my experiences with you all. As part of the "domestic" component to the TWC program, we went on a tour of a few of the national monuments. Even though I attended school in DC, and have seen the quintessential monuments, memorials, and museums too many times to count, today was totally different. Dr. Johnston, our academic coordinator, took us on a tour of the National Mall, which included stops at the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial. Going to see these sculptures, statues, and memorials again after spending some time away from them proved to be a spectacular experience, and even though I was fortune to go to school in DC for a year and a half, pretty soon the amazing things about our nation's capital became common place, and I failed to be effected in the same way. Today was a great chance to re-realize the beauty of these pieces.


The Korean War Memorial might be my favorite monument that we visited- it was absolutely haunting. The memorial depicted a squad of soldiers, represented by sculptures seven feet high, walking through the rice paddies in Korea. The soldiers were a mix of army soldiers, navy, and marines. The rice paddies were represented by juniper bushes that were underfoot, and there were long blocks of black granite underneath the soldiers feet as well, to represent the rivers and water that runs through the paddies. The soldiers were exceptional from afar, and breathtaking up close. They were all carefully constructed to show the fear and tension on their faces, as they look off in every single direction to simulate the care that a squad must take to detect enemy action. The monument also has a slow moving pool at one end of the simulated rice paddy, with engravings depicting the amount of Americans killed, wounded, and captured in the war. The wall behind the pool has a large engraving that says "Freedom is Not Free." The overall mood of the memorial was very somber, and it was incredibly moving. Especially being a young woman, it was amazing to me that the sculptures were so clearly young men, and all I could think about was the fact that people my own age were placed into such life-and-death situations, relying on their instinct and each other for survival. The memorial really made me take stock of myself, as well as reflect on the sacrifices made for thousands of young men my own age for this country. 

Lincoln sitting within 

The Lincoln Memorial

From the Korean War Memorial, we moved onto one of the most famous monuments on the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial a Grecian style monument, with Doric columns surrounding the temple which houses a larger than life sculpture of Abraham Lincoln seated in a chair and surrounded by his Gettysburg Address and Inaugural Address. Lincoln's gaze is in direct line down the length of the mall to the Washington Monument, and past that, the Capitol. The Lincoln Memorial was home to many noteworthy events that have become as famous as the memorial itself, such as Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. The memorial symbolizes freedom, opportunity, and the value of human worth, all values which have played an enormous part in the history of our country. While we were visiting the memorial, there was a high school band that must have had a showcase for the day, and they contributed a soundtrack of classical, quintessential, patriotic American ballads that almost gave the effect of being in a movie as we toured this memorial that has meant so much to so many throughout the formative years in this country's history.  One interesting observation that has been made about the memorial is the positioning of Lincoln's hands as he sits high above the crowds. It has been suggested that the sculptor of the great statue deliberately crafted Lincoln's hands to eternally hold the sign language symbols for "A" and "L," because Lincoln chartered the nation's first university for deaf students, and the sculptor's son attended the school. This intimate, personal layer of meaning to the great memorial contributes a personal feel to a monument that is so large, it could easily feel cold. 

A length of the wall, which looks
towards the Washington Monument.
When we visited, there were roses,
prayer cards, and commemorative
wreaths placed along the length
of the wall by family members and
friends, near the names of their
loved ones who were lost.

We also visited the Vietnam War Memorial on our tour, which is the memorial that I had the most knowledge of. Made out of polished black granite and highly controversial, it sits carved into the ground and is engraved with the name of each soldier that was killed in the Vietnam war. The total is staggering- 58,000 lives were lost and were subsequently memorialized in the wall. The wall is one of three memorials to the individuals who served in the war, but it is my personal favorite. The architect, Maya Lin, was an undergraduate at Yale University, and her design was selected when a call for ideas was sent out throughout the country. She originally created this design as part of a school project, and it was eventually selected by the committee of architects that spearheaded the creation of the memorial. While some think that the wall looks like an ugly scar carved into the ground, and doesn't pay proper tribute to the thousands of men and women that lost their lives in the longest war in American history, I think that the feelings of reverence, reflection, and solidarity that surround the wall are appropriate. All the names engraved on the wall are done so uniformly, without rank included. This has the effect of highlighting the fact that each soldier lost was, at his or her most basic level, a human being. Stripped of titles and ranks, the wall highlights the breathtaking amount of human lives taken during this time in our nation's history. The wall also holds special meaning for me, as my father was of age to be included in the draft. Luckily, he failed the physical exam and was not deployed, but as I walked along the length of the wall and saw my reflection along with the names of all those that perished, I couldn't help but feel blessed, and wonder how many future fathers or husbands were lost, how many sons, brothers, boyfriends and friends were taken from us as a result of the war.

The WWII Memorial

One of our stops on the day's tour was at the World War II Memorial, which, when compared with the other memorials located in Constitution Park, is vastly different. Triumphal and majestic, the WWII memorial was commissioned in 2004, in a time where not many veterans of the war were still alive. The memorial was created to recognize the two theaters of WWII- the Atlantic and Pacific. Around a large pool of water fed by fountains, stand individual columns representative of all the states and territories in the US during the time of the war. The feelings evoked by the monument are ones of triumph and glory, of the conquering of good over evil. Along with the sheer size of the monument, this feeling of exaltation is evoked by quotations found throughout the memorial. They were my favorite part- as an English major, I definitely have an affinity for good quotations, as I believe they can can capture a sentiment or feeling powerfully and specifically. They definitely spoke to me more than other parts of the memorial, and were my favorite specific part of any given memorial that we went to see. An interesting discussion arose within my group as one of my friends KK pointed out that the moments reflect our country's attitudes toward the wars. While the national perception of both Korea and Vietnam are sobering, we see World War II as a glorious victory, and the construction of each individual monument reflect those opinions and feelings. Each war was different in its historical, political, and personal context, and it would be foolish and oversimplified to create every monument the same and not pay tribute to the way in which each war was seen in hindsight.

Our country's international conflicts and confrontations speak volumes about the individual citizens who risked their lives to protect our values. Next week, we are touring the Capitol, Supreme Court, and ending our time in DC with a tour of the British Embassy. Our monument walk served as a basis and reminder of the value placed on the freedoms and liberties found within this country, and similar feelings that extend to the international community. Millions of American have died to reinforce, protect, and instill these rights and values in people around the world, and it is necessary to revisit these monuments to remind ourselves that freedom is not free.

Back in the Blog Game

Hello, my patient fans! I appreciate you all being so patient with me, as my third posting was in the works for- cough, eight months, cough. I actually do have an excuse though- I was assigned a semester-long blog assignment, so I was working diligently on that, and just didn't have it in me to work on my own. Although I am sure you are all dying to know exactly what that second blog was about, I can't post a link to it here because of privacy rights and all that jazz (I volunteered at a medical clinic for the uninsured in Philadelphia). Regardless, it is nice to be back, adding to my own cozy spot on the 'net. At the moment, I am in Washington, DC, getting prepared for a study abroad program in London. The Washington Center, a program that is based here in the capital, requires all students to spend two weeks here in DC before we leave for London.

I have really enjoyed the time in DC, which has been spent thus far getting reacquainted with the city, getting to know the other kids in my program, and really getting an idea of what I got myself involved in!

The Washington Center Headquarters- from here on out, it will be referred to as TWCHQ. Today, we learned that this building was formerly the home of a Virginia coal baron, and then the Nigerian embassy. How cool!

Today was our first "official day" in the TWC program, even though we all arrived here Saturday. Before I even talk about what we have done, did, and will do here in DC, it is amazing to think about how involved just the arriving was- there are students from all over the country in my program, from the east coast, to the mid-west, to the west coast. It is incredible to be part of such a diverse group! It is a lot of fun to interact with people from such diverse and different backgrounds, and to see similarities as well as differences. Very cool. Anyway, moving on...

So, yesterday, our first and only "unofficial day" in the program was filled with explorations around the city. Since I used to go to school in DC, at GWU, it was fun for me to reacquaint myself with this city, as it has so much to offer. Even though I spent a year and a half here, and didn't think I could possibly go to one more Smithsonian, see one more monument, or take one more Metro ride, doing all those things again with people that have never done them before lends an air of excitement and wonder to it again, and I am able to see, in their reactions, why these things are so truly amazing. It has really put my return to DC in perspective for me. 

The first thing we did, luckily for me, was go to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. KG, our program coordinator, suggested to us that we check out the global marketplace event that was being held in the museum. NMWA is my all-time favorite museum, because they display artwork by female artists. It is the only museum in the country with that policy, so I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit such a wonderful, progressive place that is dedicated to giving female artists more notoriety. The global marketplace was an event that brought goods- jewelry, clothing, small decorations, picture frames, scarves, etc- made by women in countries around the world, to the US to be purchased by people here. There were various non-profits that were in charge of this exchange, most of the time, one non-profit focused on one particular country or region from around the globe, and the NMWA brought them all together. There was jewelry made by women in Guatemala, slippers and robes made by women in Africa, and and woven purses made by women in Japan. Even though some of these women live daily on dirt floors with no running water, the skill sets they possess are incredible. 

The visitors to the Global Marketplace at the NMWA

Aside from that one event, the museum itself is amazing. Since you are not allowed to take pictures, and I am all about following the rules (it is true) I could only snap a picture of this piece that is hanging on the stairwell. Beautiful! It was painted by Joan Mitchell.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Sunday was by far our most exciting day, by blog-standards, because today we just hung out at TWCHQ and went over the rules and regulations and what was expected of us on the academic end of the program. As always, stay tuned! I promise you won't be waiting eight more months this time...