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| Have to get the picture with the Parliament and Big Ben |
I just can't believe that it has already been two weeks just about in London. I have really enjoyed my time here and am glad to be here. I have met so many great people from around the world and really have enjoyed the city.
Its a very nice city and the apartments I am staying in are very centrally located, right in the heart of the city. To get to class I cross Waterloo bridge every day and see the City of London to my right and London Eye and Parliament to my left. Every day it is beautiful and I don't see how it could get old.
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| City of London skyline over the Thames |
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| London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben...and of course a cabbie |
So I have been able to go around London a little bit, although not as much as I would like. Of course at near the first opportunity I went to Westminster to see all the sites firsthand.
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| Big Ben |
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| Westminster Abbey: West Entrance |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| British Flag |
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| Trafalgar Square - Filled with Harry Potter fans camping out to see the celebrities a day later |
I also of course had to try some of the local cuisine, which is of course fish and chips.
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| Fish and Chips |
One day I went to the Imperial War Museum in the afternoon with a friend, Caleb. We were there for I think 3 hours and were only really able to see two large sections of the basement, the World War I and II exhibits. They were great and I definitely need to go back before I leave
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| Imperial War Museum |
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| Just inside the museum |
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| How about some weaponry? |
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| These might have had a bit of power |
One day I also walked around the City of London a bit with some of my friends I've gained here and we saw some of the major sites and skyscrapers.
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| St. Pauls, unfortunately we weren't able to go in then since they closed right before |
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| Not sure what the building is, but it is nice |
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| The Gherkin |
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| Other skyscrapers in London |
I also was able to go to Oxford for a few hours one day. I only got a quick tour around and got to see some of the colleges of the university, they were quite posh. I hope to go back sometime before I leave to get a more extensive look around the town.
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| Nice building |
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| The Bodleian Library |
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| Another building |
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| A rather posh college |
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| Home, Sweet home |
That is my luxurious room here at the apartments. It isn't the largest room, but it does suffice. The door on the left is the en suite bathroom, in which half is a shower.
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| Spork |
So, you may wonder why I decided to put a picture of a spork on my blog. Well, the story goes like this. My friends and I went to Sainsbury's, a (small) supermarket to get some food and everything. I hadn't gotten any cutlery yet and my friend said last time he came they had it at the counter or whatever, so I asked one of the workers if they had any plastic silverware or anything and he said they did and left to get some. I went to check out and when he returned he brought me this spork, while my friend was cracking up seeing him do this. So, hopefully next time I go to the supermarket I can actually get some cutlery.
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| Somerset House, right by my university |
Again, I am so glad to be here. I have only been here for two weeks, yet I have met a lot of great people from literally all over the world. I was somewhat surprised to find that there weren't too many Americans or Brits in the Summer School program, although there are some. For instance in my flat of 7 people I am the only American and the others are from Singapore, China, Tanzania, Russia and two from Italy. In my class I am again the only American and there are also I think 5 from Italy, 2 from Germany (plus the professor), 2 from Turkey, 2 from the Netherlands, 2 from India and one person from England, France, Austria, Canada, Brazil, Qatar, Lebanon, Greece and Taiwan. Apart from all of these people I have met people from Argentina, Colombia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Slovakia, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Portugal, Australia, South Africa, El Salvador and Pakistan. I am also probably forgetting a few countries. So, obviously there are people from a lot of places and it has been such a pleasure being able to meet so many people here from such varied backgrounds. It definitely has made for a bit of interesting discussion in my class having such diversity since my class is titled: Managing International Conflict, thus is an International Relations type class.
So far though it has been amazing to meet people from other places, both here in the UK and in the other countries that I have been to. It is always interesting to meet people who are coming from a different place and have a different background. I have enjoyed discussing some of the differences between the States and Europe and have loved hearing about other countries and cultures. It only wants to make me want to travel more to see all these places that I hear about and to further experience these other cultures, especially some non-Western countries.
One thing though that I have especially come to realize is to ignore stereotypes. Although I have always known never to trust and listen to stereotypes, it is even more obvious once meeting people from so many places. Obviously, you can never judge a person solely on their nationality nor can you judge a nation solely on one person. I do think that stereotype disrupt relations though and make people more close-minded and prejudiced against others, which doesn't help anything. So, again, I am glad to have met all the people from other countries and I hope that I have been able to be a good sort of ambassador for the US and have helped to lessen some of the negative stereotypes of Americans and the US. Maybe I am turning into a constructivist, but I do think that interaction with people from other countries and cultures promotes better understanding between people, which is always helpful with all the conflicts worldwide.
That all isn't to belittle the Americans I have met here. I haven't met too many, but I have met some from various parts of the country and they too have been great people to meet and get to hang out with some.
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