Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

Being an individual who thrives on organization and cohesiveness I have been very pleased with how everything in this course is beginning to connect. On Sunday I was part of the Docklands group that went through the museum and saw the African slavery/triangle trade exhibit.  Viewing the exhibit was a very moving and captivating experience and I was very pleased to see it brought up today as part of our discussion. We have been given ample opportunities to take what we have seen on our adventures outside the classroom these past few days and bring them into our formal class discussions and today we took advantage of that opportunity. In my perfect world this is what all learning should be like. From learning through each others blog posts/thoughts in class we will not understand everything about London but we will get a greater understanding of London than if we were all charged to study everything about the place. Receiving information in small concentrated doses has been a great way for me to really focus on one subject at a time and absorb that material. I hope that continues.

 On a completely different note, Aidan, Brandon and I went on a wonderful walk around the Thames on Saturday night. We took the Underground from Goodge street to Embankment and walked around that area for a bit. During our stroll we saw a lot of people dressed up in eclectic garb, singing, dancing and gyrating. One of the most entertaining moments of the night was when a group of five women dressed in matching skimpy maid outfits climbed on a boat and headed down the river. Four of the women were in their 20’s and one was about 60. One thing i’ve noticed here is that People here don’t seem to care much about age differences when it comes to social life. In the five days i’ve been here I’ve seen people from vastly different generations laughing together at pubs, sharing personal stories in a park and walking hand in hand.  Regardless of their age everyone seemed excited about the weekend and the prospects of a good Saturday night.  The streets were packed and it was hard to move more than five feet without bumping into someone.  Overall we sensed embankment to be a fairly touristy area with many American style/fast food restaurants lining the streets.

After our walk uptown we headed down to the waterfront where we made our way across the Thames by way of the Hungerford bridge. While walking over the bridge we got some fantastic pictures of the London Eye. When we finally reached the other side of the bridge we took some time to observe the variety of buskers/street performers lining the streets. While observing a jam band I was nearly “roundhouse kicked” in the face by a man who was either very intoxicated or was missing a few marbles. At this point I decided that I had heard enough of the jam band and moved on to observe a magician locking himself in a suitcase and a man break-dancing with a bicycle helmet on. Both were very talented and entertaining. I like that London requires these buskers to receive licenses in order to display their  acts. This ensures that only the cream of the crop are given the chance to perform . From my own brief busking experience back in high school I know all too well that not every busker is worthy of the limelight. 

After hanging around County Hall for a while we decided to head back across the Thames. We completed the loop and took Westminster Bridge back just as the sun was setting, snapping some fantastic photos of Parliament, Big Ben, County Hall and the London Eye. After walking back to Embankment We got back on the Northern Line and headed to Leicester square where we decided to grab dinner at “The Spaghetti House”. Despite the overall quality of the food we decided we would probably not go back again. The reasoning behind this decision was twofold.  The first reason was the food was a bit too expensive for its quality and the second was we had two waitresses taking care of us. The latter may sound like a good thing but neither waitress knew that the other one had us covered. This simply created confusion and left us with multiple bills at the end of the night.

From this walk I took a couple things that will stick with me. I became better oriented with the waterfront and the monuments that are set around it. I also learned about both the Westminster  and Hungerford Bridge and would love to learn more about the history of bridges over the Thames. Another thing that stuck with me was the vibrant personalities I experienced during our walk. Between the street performers, the eclectic characters we saw in the streets and the man that almost knocked me out with his shoe I quickly learned that London has such a variety of personalities and life experiences to offer. There is an amazing cast of characters that lives within this city. We have now become a part of that cast as well. The million dollar question is where exactly do we fit into London’s present plot both as Americans, as young people and as students? This is something I will continue to explore during the rest of my time here.

After little sleep, I awoke this morning at 7:30 to begin my journey down the Thames rive; the first event of this trip to really make me feel like I was in London. Coming from New York City, I am used to city life, trains, buses, and lots of people. So exploring the city on our first day and learning the tube was a little less exciting for me. As I walked the streets and rode the train I felt almost like I was still back home, that the plane had circled JFK for 6hrs and 55mins and then just put me back where I started.

Big Ben

But that feeling disappeared as soon as I stepped onto the Ferry boarding dock and spotted Big Ben in the distance. Instantly I realized that there was nothing like this back home. After snapping way too many photos of the distance clock tower, we boarded the Ferry which would take us down the river.

I found the Ferry ride itself to be mostly relaxing, especially considering the low amount of sleep I was running on. We docked near a dirt beach and headed on our long walking tour around Greenwich. Although I found the history and fun facts that we learned along the way interesting, what really got me excited was the details of the architecture. Not only was every single building ornaments with ionic or corinthian columns, but also faces, family crests, and shields. As an art minor, I find the time spent on the monuments and decorative elements of London to be the most beautiful thing about it.

Royal Observatory

For example, when I visited the Royal Observatory today, it was not the clock museum, the view from the telescope tower, or even the amazing planetarium show that I loved most about that part of our day tour, but rather the gorgeous and detailed buildings that housed these things.

"Astronomia" Mermaid Relief

Just as I left the planetarium show (which I encouraged everyone to attend, and turned out to be a huge success!) I spotted a mermaid relief low on the wall across from the exit. On a closer look I found the word “Astronomia” engraved on it. I found that these small details and reliefs awakened my passion for visual arts that the historical facts and information never could.

That is another element of this city that really differs from my home city. Although the architecture of New York will always have a special place in my heart, it lacks the ancient and authentic hand crafted beauty that the old buildings of London have. There is always something very striking to me about the juxtaposition of the modern buildings against the classical structures that founded this city.  It is almost like there is a continuing battle between history and modernization. Unfortunately for my passion, it looks like modernization is winning.

If you would like to continue following my adventures, feel free to visit my photo page for a slide show tour of some of the sites I have seen over the past two days: http://s644.photobucket.com/albums/uu163/mliberty2011/London%20the%20first%20two%20days/?albumview=slideshow

[[On our way out from the Greenwich Observatory we sat down at the steps and had a short discussion as a group where Professor Qualls spoke on the concept of time, and how we can use it as a tool to observe as well as analyze the different communities we were to explore in our time here. And that is just what I have attempted to do today.]]

Time. I moved slowly.

As a group, we took a somewhat speedy boat ride through the Thames river in order to get to the Greenwich. This boat ride was… fascinating. We saw various popular spaces such as Big Ben, The London Bridge, The Tower Bridge, The Globe, St. Paul’s Cathedral, among many others. The whole time we were on the boat I only moved if necessary, to get a better view for instance. I was mostly touched by the breath taking view of Big Ben, finally the sight of one of the London’s most popular icons, the one I have always associated with the city. Just yesterday I had only seen the sight of Big Ben in pictures, three thousand four hundred and forty miles (a 6-hr flight) later I am here facing the marvelous structure. It was a slow moment of glory for me.

Time. We moved fast. They moved slow.

After arriving at our final destination Greenwich Pier. We walked through the Royal Park to get to the Greenwich Observatory where the Prime Meridian is located as well as an Astronomy Museum and a really cool clock exhibit. We left here and walked through town a bit, where we saw various interesting places including the architectural marvel of the University of Greenwich. Then went to eat and to a cool market where I purchased earrings made of Chandelier crystals for only 1 pound.  All of this was done by approximately 2pm… we were moving fast.

They people in Greenwich moved slow. Since we visited many popular (touristy) locations, mostly frequented by tourist, people moved slow, at their own rhythm. People sat peacefully at the Royal Park, they paced calmly through the museum and through the University. People moved slowly.

Time. People moved fast.

I went to Camden town, a cool funky place filled with young fast moving people. Everyone had lots of energy. There were people everywhere chatting with friends, shopping and eating at various local eateries. For some reason, I was a little surprised to see a few well-know stores from the U.S. such as: The Gap, Aldo, H&M and American Apparel. I liked this place a lot, time went by pretty quickly. People moved quickly and I moved at my own rhythm.

So far, the concept of time in the different communities I have been to has definitely been an interesting variation, influenced by numerous factors such as the location of the community and people’s purpose for being there. Time, whether it goes by slow or fast impressively projects  certain truths I have been previously unaware of, I now see time in a different way… and I am glad for my timely lesson. Thanks professor!

Today started off with the most amazing breakfast I have possibly ever had.  Of note were the mushrooms, which were simply fantastic and attained an effect I have never been able to achieve in my many months(i would not be so bold to say years) of culinary inquisary.  The Orange Juice was a little odd, but it is what it is. When then hurried off to Embankment to catch a boat.  After taking a few pictures of Big Ben when got on the boat where we were bombarded with 80’s pop music and our own personal singer to boot, which was also amazing.  When we got off the boat we wound through a few streets, being mocked by a grandmother at one point, until we came to a park. The park, although hilly, seemed to be populated by several dog owners and surprisingly little else.  When we finally arrived at the top of this ginormous hill we had arrived at the meridian line and a few museums. 

     I had read the time article on the plane, and thus retension was not at the highest it has been. Nevertheless, it was neat to apply some of the ideas I did remember.  I’m sure this line will get old very quickly but as a cultural anthropologist in the making( in itself a paradoxical statement of anthropological perportions) I am always intreged to look into another cultures life– see how they view the world. There is no better way to do that than through the value people put on time and the control people try have over it.  The british are quite obessive when it comes to keeping time, and it has a lot to do culturally with what they consider as proper behavior.  As a whole they consider utility of human existance, I believe. A person who isn’t working with the machine is working against it. Londoners walk briskly whereever they go, and scaff at those people who prefer the more leisurely stride. Of course this is a hastey observation and one that needs more field research to verify. But it should also be noted that the pace at which people speak is also indicative of how they consider time and the importants they weigh on it. One example that comes to mind is that of the southern drawl: a slow methodic pace which is found in the agrarian areas of the South, a place(at least at one point) where time was based around harvesting.

But i digress. The planet show was amazing, much better than Dickinson’s and the guy was a lot funnier than my astronomy professor.  We went to a pub for lunch to get finger food, which i seem to be eating a lot of lately, and I had the Scrumpy Jack. On the whole I think I prefer the Scrumpy Jack to the Strongbow, but again further research is required.  I think a lot can be said about a cultures food and alcohol. If anything you can learn more sitting in a pub than sitting in a museum. In a museum everything is there for a reason, there are no blemishes unless they are put there on purpose. But in a pub or market, you get everything: you get the bad, the beautiful, the bacalonious. And I think that is more important than any historical thing, but then again I’m not a historian.

We traveled through the tunnel under water which uneventful for the most part.

Going along with two statements ago, we decided to venture into Camden Town to search out a proper english pub.  We ventured off the main road and into the Good Mixer, where we found much hussle and bussle. We also found Captain Jack Sparrow. I tried  yet another hard cider although i did not know the name of this one from all the noise– sadly it is my favorite thus far.  We chatted a bit on the different perceptions tied behind alcohol, comparing good old D’son to that of London. No Natty light, to my grave disappointment (I guess Guiness will just have to do). I also realized why there were less drunk people around in London than I was used to seeing in Philly was because alcohol was so damn expensive you couldn’t afford to get pissed.

Anyway, cheers