The Brits

In addition to postings of my own design, I'll be including my daily blog posts written for one of my classes. The overall intention of those specific posts is just to think about observations, ask questions, etc., specifically with relation to the culture of London and of England. These posts may at times may not seem to make much sense, as some will be related to course concepts and terminology, but you'll have an idea the kind of work we're doing! Below is the first of these "daily journal entries."

One of the first aspects of London life that I noticed upon arriving is the prevalence of parks, and with that, the large numbers of people who spend time sitting in those parks. Truly, on their days off, people go to the park. They simply sit, rest, read, eat lunch, visit with others. The parks are also close to full during lunch hour. This park culture is fascinating, as Americans rarely take the time to slow down long enough to enjoy a break or pleasant conversation.

Walking back to the flat from the grocery store, my flatmates and I talked about if we think Americans, specifically Texans, would take the time to sit outside in a park if the weather were more like London's. We still didn't think Texans would, which leads me to wonder if this disinterest stems from a subtler factor than the hot weather. Perhaps this difference is yet another indicator of America's often cited stress and inability to rest. 

Later in the afternoon, when on our bus tour of London (tourist-y, but so worth it), I took the second photo. While characteristic of most urban areas, the diversity of those around me continues to surprise me. I wonder if perhaps this is because I've seen many diverse people groups, but rarely totally mixed as they are in London. In many urban areas it seems like the multiple nationalities still tend to remain in their own neighborhoods, while this seems to be less the case here. Or I could just be imagining things in some sort of researcher bias. 

I took the above picture while on the Tube to Bond Street. These two people are representative of about two-thirds of those around us on the train. Many appeared to be headed home from work, yet so many chose to read the news. This dedication to news reminded me very much of our readings for Media in Britain, particularly the discourse about the Brits' superior appetite for the news. I admire such commitment. To attempt to avoid the possibility of proving the "stupid American" stereotype, I made sure to catch up on The economist. Even this publication makes it clear that unlike American news, the British have a desire to remain informed about the global community, not just the United Kingdom.