Markets and Flowers

Last Sunday, IES led a tour of the East End Markets for students. We started at Petticoat Lane which was a huge market full of inexpensive clothing and knock-off items. Petticoat Lane was renamed in 1830 to Middlesex Street due to the “promiscuous” thoughts that were mustered from its name! We then traveled to Spitalfields market which was more artsy and sold many handmade and vintage clothes and accessories. We continued down Brick Lane, which lies in the heart of the Bangladeshi area of London. There were food vendors from all over the world selling delicious smelling food. Our final, and more memorable, stop was the Columbia Road Flower Market. I won’t describe it since the pictures will do the market the most justice.

 

What I learned in class this week:

• One of the first films to banned in London was called Cheese Mites in 1903. It showed microscopic mites eating cheese, which caused the cheese industry to complain, arguing that it would hurt their business by scaring people away from buying cheese.
• The Beatles were one of the first, if not the first, to sing pop songs in British accents and about English news. This revolutionized British music and helped to develop a distinctive British youth culture.
• The Black death killed an estimated 30 to 40% of the English population. While this traumatized the country, peasants that had survived were now at a material advantage. They gained a strong bargaining position for wages since work demand greatly increased.

Ice nights

Upon arrival in London, the city was in a frenzy – no one seemed to know how to handle the (to my perception) very small amount of snow on the ground. One woman spent 10 minutes explaining to me that the reason there were hardly and hair dryers in stock was because the trucks just couldn’t get through all the snow. She was apologizing that I couldn’t buy more than one… Due to this, I want to show you are few things icy things I’ve been up to!

I’ve now been in London one full week, and I’ve had the chance to see and do lots of exciting activities. During orientation, the whole group went ice skating at the National History Museum. It was one of the first events IES held for us, and to make it even better – it was free!

View from above the rink.

A bunch of us skating.

We have five local British students that are essentially ambassadors for us. So, they plan events and show us cool places around London. On Monday night, we had a surprise event. They took us to an Ice bar! Apparently there are only four in the WHOLE world, so it was really a treat. The whole bar is made of ice, and they give you parkas so you don’t freeze in there. You are also only allowed to be there for 30 minutes, understandably! It was definitely a one time thing, but a great experience!

Hannah, myself, Becca and Megan and the Ice Bar.

What I learned in class this week:

• The term “teenager” (when used to discuss youth culture) actually applies to 14 to 44 year olds!
• London was first inhabited in BC 43 by the Romans, who called it Londinium.
• The City of London, an area of a little over a square mile, was walled in by the Romans. Today, this section is the financial district in London and it has its own mayor that is different than the rest of the city.

Food!

In my four days here so far, I’ve encountered quite the variety of eating situations! In my residence hall, I share a kitchen with five other girls. I’ve been cooking my own meals, which has been great so far. Last night, my friends and I cooked our dinners together, which was so much fun.

Megan and my roommate Hannah in our kitchen

Today, during our lunch break at Windsor Castle, I had a traditional British meal including roasted duck, carrots, potatoes, gravy and, my favorite, Yorkshire Pudding!!

Lunch at Windsor Castle

Classes start tomorrow. I have three classes and each class is 2.5 hours long. It will be a long day, but exciting too. I've even packed my own lunch: good ‘ol PB+J and Smarties cookies!

Hello London!

I arrived in London three days ago and it has been a whirlwind! I sat with a bunch of girls in the airport before the flight to London. They were all embarking on their study abroad journeys and just talking to them eased my nerves! Once landing in London, we had to wait on the runway for an hour while a plane was defrosted in order to open up a spot in the terminal for our plane. My luck went up when I was bumped up to first class on the train from the airport to central London!

In my short time here I’ve picked up on a few interesting things:

• The British are much quieter people than Americans. We have consistently been the only ones talking on the tube, bus and in elevators!
• SO many people use the tube (which I think is great). Today I watched three packed tube trams pass by me before I was able to squeeze onto one. I thought third time is the charm, but I guess on the tube fourth time is the charm!
• In order to take full advantage of all the discounts offered to students, you really should have no less than three student discount cards that save you money all over London! Good thing I cleared space in my wallet!
• The best way to fully appreciate the British museum is to go for an hour and look at one or two exhibits. I’m planning on spending lunch breaks at the museum since it is a half block from my school!

Finally, I learned an interesting (non-British) fact on a tour of London today: The origin of use of the word “john” meaning the toilet was developed when John Quincy Adams moved into the White house. He had a toilet installed and so Americans coined the restroom as the “Quincy,” which was later shortened to the “john” after Quincy himself.

Part of the Elgin Marbles

This bank was used as Gringots bank in Harry Potter!