Museum of London (Jan. 16, 2008)

First British Life and Culture (BLC) field trip today: Museum of London. It was not exactly thrilling. I almost felt as though everything was spelled out for me, like there was nothing for me to discover on my own. There were some artifacts that I could touch, which I really enjoyed and I did find a exhibit on the great London fire interesting because I could related it to my sweet home, Chicago. Most likely, I will write my paper for the week comparing the two great disasters.

This one’s for you Gram: A view from the museum window. Look how green the grass is!

Also, the tube stop we were at today made me think of my heritage. Perhaps Holben originated from this: Holborn Tube Stop

Last night, our BLC lecture, which proceeds our field trips, was given by a guest speaker. Wendy, who is a politics and international relations professor at another college in the city was very interesting and explained that London is not necessarily representative of the UK, or even England, as a whole. She said it has more in common with NY, Rome, Milan and other cities where there is una mezcla (mixture) of people from all over the continent and the world (This is why there is no convention for which side of the sidewalk to walk down… Everyone just follows what is custom in their homeland).

I also found out that many Londoners don’t practice a religion. Wendy told us, “We shop on Sundays… the new cathedrals of consumerism.” Ah, a sect even I can identify with!