Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

And what a gap we’ve had to climb across. I’ve tried to compare the city of London to Philadelphia (near my hometown) with limited success. Certainly, there are in both cities museums, rich histories, congested traffic, great restaurants, distinct cultures, and hidden sights known only to the most astute tourist. Once I consider London’s inherent variety – cultural, architectural, personal, etc. – my comparison falls short. Nay, even dismantled entirely. Every venture into the surrounding city reminds me that I may never realize just how much variety comprises the massive city of millions of people.

Our walk through what was Roman London (Londinium) on Sunday gave me some solid evidence of the historical variety of London. Over the last 2000 years since the Romans invaded and settled in the region, London has changed leadership as various civilizations came to the dominate the area in turn. Even within it’s own boundaries, London has shifted from The Canterbury Tales to the development of green spaces to the bowler hat and, despite continued debate, the recent introduction of immigrants from around the world. London has not stood still since dropping the name Londinium and, given recent readings (See A.N. Wilson’s London: A History), I doubt it ever will.

Bloomsbury surrounds our hotel with parks, pubs, celebrated figures, and some of the most beautiful areas of London I have seen thus far. Sure, I’m still in the phase in which every part of this city (even the “rubbish” bins) fascinates me to no end. But these parks are just incredible. We passed through about a half-dozen through our walk. I’m sorry Rittenhouse Square, but as beautiful as you are, Tavistock Square may be your new rival.

Consider, too, the variety contained within London’s museums. I, not unlike some of my classmates below, enjoyed the Museum of London Docklands as providing a very different, localized perspective on the history of the city. The curators handled the controversial and well-debated enslavement of Africans during the 17^th through 19^th centuries with grace and decisiveness. This is important, as the subject never really left the forefront of academic research to this day. Just as Sarah noted in her post “London, Sugar & Slavery at the Docklands Museum,” the museum approached it’s survey of the slave trade without provocation. Even the aesthetics of the building gave support to this ideal. The ceiling structure of the museum offered some quiet reminiscence to the original use of the site – a warehouse used to hold rum, molasses, coffee, and other goods from the West India slave plantations. While I certainly found this exhibit moving and among the best I’ve seen, I do not want to repeat the thoughts already shared by my classmates, for I hold many of the same impressions (please see many of the posts below to get a better idea!).

I will comment on the final exhibit of the museum that covered the modern history of the Docklands from the Blitz to the Beatles to Container City. The twentieth century, just as any century in London, has brought an onslaught of change and variety to the city. The Luftwaffe attacks in 1940 brought solidarity, though sometimes brought on by propaganda. The Underground renovations brought a renewed transport system to an increasingly crowded city. Though immigration was not discussed to any great length in the exhibit, we know that this was the time of an increased Afro-Caribbean presence. Nevertheless, it was an incredible, aesthetically pleasing, and largely informative exhibit.

London has never remained put. I see it in the museums and the other areas I’ve visited in the last few days. The variety is simply inconceivable. At the very least, this guarantees me a new experience every time I venture out into the city. I mean, what more could I ask for?

Google is leading me astray. I have only been in London for five days, but I have seen more pubs than I could ever fathom existed in such a small area. I mean, London isn’t small by any stretch of the imagination, but come on. There is a pub on every corner! Pubs are across the street from pubs. This is like Starbucks in New York City, except a lot better.

I remember the first day in this city I asked Professor Qualls what the ratio of pubs to people is, and his response was, simply, “very high.” Since I am a child of the internet age, naturally I asked good ole Google how many pubs exist in London. The answers I have found range from the laughably inaccurate 38 to the ludicrously enormous 7000. So I remain in doubt as to how many public drinking establishments really exist here.

Then again, what exactly defines a pub? Is a café that serves beer and/or liquor requisite? Or does it have to have wood paneling, at least six kinds of ale on tap, a loyal set of customers, and a coat of arms out front? According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a “public house” is an establishment that serves alcohol to be consumed on site (or out front, if the weather is nice). So technically, the ever-prestigious Museum of  London is a pub. So is the Docklands. Heck, the furniture store on Tottenham probably sells booze.

So what’s the point of all this? Compare this abundance of pubs to America. It is rare to find bar after bar after bar across from a bar caddy corner to a bar in any place I’ve ever been, big cities included. Having done minimal research, it is safe to say that the reason can be summed up in one word: culture. It is extremely common to frequently spend long evenings with friends over a pint or two or seven in the local _______ Arms down the street from your flat. Social class has nothing to do with it. Granted, many people tend to stick to their own kind when going out (again, I’ve only been here five days, so feel free to shoot me down), but such a huge sampling of the city frequents pubs. It is safe to say this based on the grounds that there are just so many places to go. How else could they stay in business? I have no idea how competition plays into things, but any economics majors in search of an interesting thesis topic, look no further than British pubs.

The relatively nice bar I bartended at a few years back attracted people in a lower economic echelon. Despite the bar’s high prices, the main clientele was comprised of truck drivers, granite workers, and other blue collar folk. It is egregious to say that poor people go to bars more than the rich, but compared to London, this is the way it seems to be. I am certain that the class blindness of pub culture will become even more apparent the more time I spend out drinking with locals and learning the ins and outs of London culture.

Interior of a typical British pub from http://static.laterooms.com/hotelphotos/laterooms/89745/gallery/masons-arms-york_030320091553041117.jpg

What I love about our walking tours is the complete sensory overload that occurs when we set off up and down the streets. Of course, the visual stimuli are wonderful, The Roman Wall, the Tower of London … I could go on and on. But the great thing is that it’s not just visuals. On market day I was able to indulge in the delicate spices wafting through the air from the many food vendors at Acton Market. Also, this entire journey has been made even more enjoyable by the wide selection of tastes I have enjoyed… Wensleydale cheese, Aloo Kachori, Sheppard’s Pie. Yesterday on my Bloomsbury tour I was able to hear some different sounds than I was used to. When we walked past Coram’s Fields I heard the laughter of children and the whooshing of a zip-line inside the playground. This was the complete opposite the church bells pealing and the traffic rushing by that I heard on the Roman Wall tour earlier that morning. The tube is another story altogether. The Brits who ride the underground are silent…. Another one of their “privacy rules” I’ve noticed. If people are talking it’s in another language or it’s one of my classmates. Listening to other languages as I wander around has really made me appreciate London as a global city. Where else can you walk down a side street and hear one man talking in rapid Portuguese on his mobile and hear a woman speaking to her daughter in Farsi within two blocks of each other? My trip out to West India Quay this afternoon only increased my interest in the sounds of this great city.

The Docklands Museum provides a wonderful time line of life by the Thames from pre-Londinium to the present day. In considering London the ultimate melting pot of humanity, this museum manages to incorporate many of the major events of the Docklands history in its three floors. I enjoyed many of the interactive aspects of the museum such as the touch screen information panels, the dark sailor’s alleyway (thanks for going first Brandon!), and the spice boxes. However what really struck me were the audio aids. At every exhibit you were bombarded with snippets of sounds that perfectly blended with the content of the prompts and the visuals. Like many of my classmates, the exhibit on the evolution of slavery in England made a major impact on me. The audio and video that accompanied this section was powerful, arresting and disturbing. I can tell you that the words will stay with me for a long time. As I walked around reading about the Middle Passage, Caribbean plantations and the struggle for Abolition, “YOU WILL BE BEATEN, YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR FREEDOM” kept ringing in my ears. Once I reached the exhibit on the London Blitz, the whispered and paranoid tones of “ Keep it under your hat” and “Loose lips sink ships” had me looking over my shoulder to make sure I was alone.

Take each small moment and observe what is going on around you. At lunch I heard opera music drifting into the back garden, I heard the fire alarm 20 minuets ago, A dog is barking outside right now. Each day I spend here gives me another opportunity to “listen in” and lean about the city of London. I encourage everyone to look up when you walk around, open your window, sit out in the garden, go to a park or a pub.

I read this poem at The Docklands Museum and it immediately made me think of this course.

“The London Breed” by Benjamin Zephaniash (1996)

‘I Love this great polluted place

Where pop stars come to live their dreams

Here ravers come for drum and bass

And politicians plan their schemes,

The music of the world is here

This city can play any song

They come to here form everywhere

Tis they that made this city strong.

A World of food displayed on streets

Where all the world can come a dine

On meals that end with bitter sweets

And cultures melt and intertwine

Two hundred languages give voice

To fifteen thousand changing years

And all religions can rejoice

With exiled soul and pioneers

It’s so cool when the heat is on

And when it’s cool it’s wicked

We just keep melting into one

Just like the tribes before us did

I love this concrete jungle still

With all its sirens and its speed

The people here united will

Create a kind of London breed.’

I am excited about this coming year, but I also feel like I am an incoming freshman again.I’m hoping that I will love England and UAE as much as I love my time at Dickinson. It’s also strange to think that we won’t be on campus again for an entire year. I’m not so scared about the cooking part, I love to cook and do it a lot, but I am concerned about keeping in touch with my frieds from school and home. Many of them are also going abroad and I can’t wait to travel and see them.

This whole visa process is very nerve-wracking and I rally would like just to get it over with, but noooooo, it is a very long drawn out, and incredibly dramatic procedure. I just keep waiting for something to go wrong, so if there is anything that is making me truly nervous about our upcoming adventure its the whole visa ordeal. I understand the necessity of it, but its still makes me feel like I’m banging my head against a wall.

I love horseback riding and really would like to ride in Norwich. I heard that British trainers are much sterner than their American counterparts so we will see how that goes! I have also been skiing since I was four and I definately want to try some skiing on the Alps. I also want to make an effort to try something new, something I wouldn’t think of doing if I was at home or at Dickinson.

I see this next year as full of opportunities and I want to try as many of them as I can. I want to explore England and Europe as much as possible and really immerse myself in the culture because this is a chance for all of us to something great.

It has taken quite a while for me to choose a topic for this blog entry. In no way have I not enjoyed every second of this trip, it is just that I do not want to pick something specific. I just want to write about everything! I really loved the Docklands museum, I thought the interior design of each room, and the way each time period was organized truly helped in understanding. Each room produced an equal amount of fact and fun, both of which made the museum so memorable.

Regardless of my inability to make up my mind, today I became extremely interested with the the numerous parks or squares located throughout Bloomsburry. In particular I developed quite a fascination with the Peace Park. After 9/11 Americas devastation radiated through out the country. We frequently remember how tragic this event was and we continue to annually commemorate its date. However, many of us have forgotten, or rather never understood, the 7/7 events that took place in the heart of London. On July 7, 2005 a series of Muslim men took their own lives on public transportation units in response to the UK’s involvement in the Iraq war. Almost 60 people were killed, and about 700 were injured.

I decided to research this incident simply because of my own ignorance. When we entered the Peace Park today, I was overcome with its beauty. The park is rectangular shaped and in the center, surrounded by flowers, is a statue of  Mohanda Karamchand Ghandi. I am unable to think of a better person to represent what this park stands for. In a way, the beauty itself symbolizes our world, and the statue is what our world needs, together they create serenity.

Nothing could have made my day any better. I felt as though the walking tour aided in helping me fully understand the path we take every day, and to appreciate those that have walked them before us.

Today I was apart of the group that went to the Dockland Museum and finally got to experience what everyone had been raving about yesterday. Like Azul, I had taken the Museum Studies class last semester and put together an exhibit on co-education this summer, so I can no longer look at museums or exhibits without using a critical eye. Hands down, the London, Sugar, & Slavery exhibit was the best I have ever seen. The task and challenge of the curator to take on a subject that is not particularly easy or pleasant was a feat in itself. And the exhibit was absolutely spectacular.

After reading the lists of ships and passengers at the exhibit’s entrance, I was moved by this satirical painting that followed those disturbing lists. The painting was called May Morning by John Collett, 1765, and showed a crowd of people of different ranks and statuses, all white except for one African man in the center of the painting. At first when I looked at the painting, I though it was interesting that, for the 1700s, the African man was the focal point of the picture and was not standing out in any obnoxious way but just blending in. Then I read the description of the painting and found out that it was meant to be a satire. I also noticed that all of the other people had lighter clothes on and were highlighted, while the African man was in the back and dimmed. I found it interesting that this painting could have been viewed in two completely different lights depending on the knowledge known about it beforehand.

(sorry it’s blurry, couldn’t use flash).

About halfway through the exhbit I came upon the sight of beautiful china, teacups and saucers and pots. Any other time I would have been delighted at the sight, because I love old teacups and such. But after going through the horrors of the exhibit and seeing the suffering the enslaved Africans had to go through, the sight of these cups full out disgusted me. I knew that people who had no idea of the pain of these people who worked to give them sugar for their tea. I was talking to Audrey, who was viewing the artifacts next to me and she had the same reaction. It is strange how an object that I usually think of as beautiful could be so cruel and disgusting to me.

One of the best points of the exhibit that actually happened in the beginning and resounded in my head while I browsed the exhibit was the words, “This is your history” from the video. I thought it was quite bold, but much needed, of the museum to place those lines simply, but powerfully, at the end of this very moving video. To me, it was like a cold slap in the face, and I believe it was for many other people to, to make them realize that yes this is our history and we have to come to terms with it. Once we accept, learn about it, we can finally move past it, instead of trying to brush this brutal history aside.

This exhibit completely moved me almost to tears. I learned so much from it and was glad to read that a majority of the comment cards were positive about it as well. I hope someday in the near, near future we can all move past pretending the bad parts of our history don’t exist.

I would be lying if I said that I was unaffected by the slavery exhibit at the Dockland Museum. I would also be lying if I said that I expected such a reaction. I realize that the types of heinous treatments and horrific events (as depicted in this museum) are all in the past, but imagining how the enslaved Africans must have felt bothered me immensely. In particular, I saw a painting of six Africans enduring six types of torturous punishments (filed teeth and an iron neck brace, for example), each with a gruesome smile. I was disturbed by their expressions and the way that the artist depicted these people. The image, to me, is utterly haunting.

A group of students and I also watched a short video with images and phrases meant to help the viewer better empathize with how the enslaved Africans must have felt. Describing being away from one’s family, having one’s name changed, and being forced to learn a new language and set of customs were included in this portrayal. I could not help but think of Nanzeen, the main character in Brick Lane. Although her situation was entirely different, many of the ways she felt in the novel were the same. Learning to adapt to an English lifestyle after loving her childhood in Bangladesh seemed to have taken an exceedingly negative toll on Nanzeen’s psyche. I was appalled by that; how much worse, then, would I feel if I fully understood the impact that slavery had on the Africans? I was also a bit put-off by a poster showing a picture of Oleaudah Equiano (or Gustavo Vassa), who wrote The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oleaudah Equiano. He describes his experience in becoming a freed man and moving to London to make a name for himself as both a hairdresser and musician. In the museum’s representation, he is shown as a hero who worked hard to fight against the slave trade. In reality, though, Equiano recounts instances of him actually working as a part of the slave trade. For a period of time, in fact, he was an overseer on a plantation and reports mistreating other slaves. During these events he had already been freed, and thus could have chosen not to act in such a manner. I feel that, although he may have done good things for the African enslaved community, he also stooped to the level of those who formerly oppressed him. I do not think that this should have been overlooked.

Finally, I was moved by a quote from The Negro’s Complaint, written by William Cowper, stating: “Men from England bought and sold me,/Paid my price in palry gold:/But, though theirs they have enroll’d me/Minds are never to be sold.” I can’t pinpoint exactly why I liked the quote, but I did want to share it regardless.

Yesterday, among the jam-packed day of activities (Passing the Tower of London and following the Roman wall, seeing the Museum of London, and visiting St. Paul’s), I went on a Qualls-guided-tour of the Bloomsbury district. For those of you who don’t know what the Bloomsbury Group is, they were about the hippest, coolest, people in the 20th century. They were artists and writers who threw elaborate cool parties and talked about politics and sometimes even swapped partners (homosexuality was still illegal in England at this time)!

Bloomsbury Plaque

How do I know all this, you ask? Well it’s because I know everything! Actually, I spent my second semester of last year pretty much completely immersed in a course called, Forester’s England, taught by Professor Wendy Moffat. While writer E. M. Forster himself was not a member of the Bloomsbury group, it was through this class that I learned so much about the group, its members, and their importance to the time period and England’s history. With all this in mind, it was probably one of the most exciting things I will do during this London course, to stand where these great, free spirited, free thinking people stood. Knowing all that was on the lone, these artists and writers strove to change the society before them. Being able to see where that was happening was truly amazing.

Virginia Woolf Bust

After our class discussion this morning about English people’s connection to their country’s history, and their “English Pride,” it is even more exciting to think about the Bloomsbury group and just how revolutionary their ideas and way of life were. Even the idea of political change is not something most everyday English people think of, let alone act on! As an artist myself, I know the power of the creative arts as motivation for political change and activism.

Standing where Virginia Woolf once stood, where John Maynard Keynes once discussed his economic theories, where Vanessa Bell once must have visited her sister and painted, I only hope that someday my creative efforts can achieve as much as theirs did.

Below is a slide show of photos from my full day, including the Bloomsbury tour, St. Paul’s, and the Museum of London.

Following another group’s visit to the Docklands, I had the advantage of advice. Based on their stories of their experiences, I knew to pay close attention to the part of the museum that focused on London’s role in the history of slave trade. The advice proved true as that was possibly the most interesting parts of the museum. Interesting only begins to describe the section, however. Nothing could have prepared me for the emotions the exhibit hit on. Opening with a list of numbers of people that were traded as commodities, the exhibit never ceased to be emotionally gripping as it portrayed the cruelty that came out of such trade. The photographs, video clips, personal accounts- everything on display made the reality of this blemish on all our histories keenly felt. The exhibit ended, for me at least, with a feeling of hope. Hope that we have learned that people are to be treated as just that- people. Hope that such mistakes will never be repeated.

Empire Windrush

Just a floor below this part of the exhibit, this hope was shaken quite a bit. Mixed in with videos of pretend interviews with the leaders of the dock strikes and boxes of exotic spices to smell, a small posting stands unassuming amongst the rest of the other relatively unimportant/of moderate importance posts. This posting mentions Windrush. As I have just visited Brixton, I knew the name to be an important one. Windrush had been a ship used just after World War II to bring Caribbean migrants over to England (advertised as “the home land” or “the Mother Country”) for the purpose of those migrants to work on the docks. To the world, this transportation of immigrants was advertised as a ‘multiculturalization’ (my word, but I think it works here) of England.

Arrivals off the Windrush

Let me start of by saying that yes, I recognize that this is in no way slavery. These immigrants were asked to come to London through job postings, they made the decision to come over, and were offered jobs, houses, and lives of their own once they arrived. But I cannot shake the feeling that there are striking parallels (or at least common threads) between these two acts. Firstly, referring to England as the Mother Country only harkens back to their days of imperialism. It would be difficult to convince me otherwise. Secondly, asking those from a country that has at any time been a colony to come to your country for the sole purpose of providing cheap labor and enticing them to come with the promise of cheap transportation seems to me like asking them to come and assume the role of someone just one step over what a slave might have been. Then to claim that this is the beginning of a multicultural society is an act that just seems ludicrous to me. Yes, these immigrants settled in community of Brixton which does bring diversity to London but to claim that this was the intent of the invitation to come to the country seems (again, this is a personal feelings) less than honorable. So while Windrush Square is in the process of being built as a community center in Brixton, I wonder if the community should feel such a strong connection to the name. Maybe using the word “should” is a bit vague. But I wonder why the name is used. Is it really honoring the community or placing a reminder of one’s place in society? Maybe I’m reading too much into things. But I’m not convinced that that’s the case. I would argue that if Brixton wanted a community center, it could be named the Brixton Community Center and no one would demand that the name have any more historical value. Again, maybe I’m wrong. I guess the hope is that I am.

When I first left Tower Hill Tube station and looked out over the road to the Tower of London, my first thought was “I really wish those cars weren’t driving on the road so I could get a clear picture.”  Then I managed to get over my disappointment, reminding myself that I will be going there eventually and will be able to take pictures in abundance, I looked around and noticed the section of Roman Wall standing less than 100 feet to my left.  I admit, knowing the importance of the Romans and the impact their wall had on the development of today’s London, I feel kind of silly for letting my eyes slide over it to the prettier and more picturesque Tower.  That written, I think that my mistake of dismissing the wall as nothing but an unimportant ruin happens to countless tourists and even the people of London every day! 

Roman Wall my eyes skimmed in favor of the Tower of London

What I found most interesting about the Roman Walk was the idea that London is a modern city built on top of several stages of ancient city.  The fact that the basement of a hair salon can house Roman ruins is difficult to fathom.  However, the knowledge that people in the medieval ages recognized the brilliance of Roman engineering and decided to fortify and expand the existing wall is even more incredible. 

Medieval section built on top of Roman Wall - complete with pigeons!

  When I started my second of two walks of yesterday, I didn’t know very much about the area or the people who have lived there.  Although it was really neat to see where this writer and that philosopher worked and played, I was much more interested in the buildings and how they related to the history of London.  There was one section of the tour that particularly captured my attention.  When standing in the centre of one of the green spaces, you could look to one side and see original row houses, with the dark brown brick and white window frames, and to the other side you could only see bright red brick houses that seemed to have been completed in the last five to ten years.  The original houses that still stand were only cosmetically damaged during the Blitz; while the red brick homes had been completely annihilated.  What shocked me was that only a small span of grass and trees separated the barely injured and the completely destroyed.   

Original rowhouses that were barely damaged in the Blitz

New red brick rowhouses where old ones were destroyed in the Blitz

 Today at the Docklands Museum, the City and River: 1800-1840 exhibit really stood out.  I’m not a huge fan of taxes and duties, but there was a section on customs and why the docks had to be formed that made a lot of sense to me.  It explained that there was so much illegal shipping into London through unauthorized channels that something had to be done by the government to try to control it/use it to their advantage to get more money through taxes.  What I found particularly interesting was that the proprietors of the different docks were paranoid of each other to a fault.  They didn’t trust the police to look after their docks and warehouses, so they hired personal security forces to keep out anyone they didn’t want around.  After seeing the different wharfs and how close they were to each other when I went up to Greenwich the other day, I completely understand the paranoia of the businessmen.

Even though I’ve been in London for only four days, I feel like I’m slowly beginning to understand that there is much more the London than I could have possibly imagined.  I’m learning that I need to keep my eyes open because you never know when you’ll turn a corner and find the next nugget of history, culture, art, or architecture.