The Art of History in London

So. This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while, but as I sit here alternating between my paper on WWII and my paper on the Great Exhibition, fresh off a viewing of The King's Speech, I felt compelled to write it now.


I came to London, specifically this semester, for several reasons, however there being one central one: The BU London History Programme. Two core classes, one a seminar and one general history of London from 1666, doubled with a 5,000-6,000 word thesis due in less than three weeks' time. It's London, it's old, it's historical, so it makes sense, right?

Pictured: How I pictured 99% of Europe

In the past semester, I've learned more about Britain, the British Isles, Europe, and the world in general than I ever have before. Since I declared a history major at BU I've been slowly and steadily branching out beyond my scope of general American knowledge  and into a world that's filled with the most amazing, incredible things. Learning history in this country, a country that's, what, five times the age of the United States, is so different from studying it anywhere else. It's living history. It's one thing to look at an old painting and think about a house or an alleyway that may have existed at some point in time; it's another to look at said painting, pack up your things, walk three blocks and see it yourself. Everything from grandiose castles and mansions to something as simple as the winding corridors of the East End, still surviving after years of war, Blitz and fire, still seething with dark caverns of mystery and buried under a layer of historical detail.


And don't even get me started on the World Wars. I've always found the World Wars to be interesting, of course; what history person isn't interested in at least one aspect of those glorious, bloody wars? But, obviously, the United States wasn't really involved in the struggle as much as it was over here. Over here being, well, northern Europe. Just a hop skip and a jump from where the bulk of both wars were fought. I'm of the opinion that they're minorly obsessed with the Wars here but, to be fair, they did have a big effect on Great Britain. Going to Belgium and seeing the vast fields of green where thousands of bodies still lay, and seeing the trench first-hand, walking around, smelling it's horrendous stench, looking at the rabbit hole they called a door into a dark, dank corridor beneath the ground... uncertain if they were to ever come out.

Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum has to be my favorite place, in addition to all this nonsense. Just the way it walks you through the problems of the 20th century, starting with the Home Front in WWI and slowly adding in more and more nations until it's 1989 and half the world is waiting for the Berlin Wall to fall. And the Churchill War Rooms... that's just amazing. To walk the same hallways that Churchill did, and his generals, and his staff, and running to and fro during air raid sirens to check their maps and try to figure out just what they could do to stop the Third Reich from swallowing Europe whole.

It's just... ugh. Good Lord. I first saw "The King's Speech" in either June or July, randomly watching it with my mother on a rare evening off. I enjoyed it, but I couldn't say I was completely in love with it. I enjoy Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter as much as the next person but I didn't have this... investment in it. I just re-watched it while trying to simultaneously write a paper (I don't know why I always think I'm good at that kind of thing) and... I just felt so much more about it. I understood the context of the time; I've been to the places featured; I've seen instances of the fear, the confusion, and the crumbling facade of the British Empire. It's astounding to just think of all that Britain was going through in the late twenties and early thirties-- hell, my thesis is about that time. It's incredibly terrifying and exhilarating and I spent the entire movie yelling at the screen.


This place, I feel as if I've become immersed in wartime Britain. Considering how much of Europe's history is just carved and shaped by war, I'm surprised I'm surprised but... as I said to my roommate this morning, "History has a way of being very, very depressing, doesn't it?"

Oh yeah. School.

So. School. That thing. That thing I’m doing here, right? Something that’s on my mind, especially as I stare at a foreboding stack of books that I probably should be reading. (Don’t worry, I’ve already read a lot.)

The first week of classes has officially passed, and this is the first day (two weeks to the day!) that I’ve had absolutely no place to be at any given time today. No trips, no class, no orientations, no haphazard hikes to a 2-mile-long market out in central London. Just me, my window, my little table and this laptop and a pile of books staring me down.

The first thing I have to say is, school here is fabulous. I don’t know if it’s the accents but, every lecture I’ve had has been captivating so far. I had eight hours of class in two days, and I think I learned more about the causes of WWI in those two days than all the other classes I’ve had on that subject combined. Learning about it from the English perspective is also interesting, considering it was much more of a threat here than it was at home. (We were too busy having a growing economy and whatnot.) And my core classes? We found a 3-hour class wasn’t long enough for all we wanted to talk about. All of the six other students are brilliant, outspoken, and always asking questions. It’s a wonderful learning environment, and I’ve learned so much about English history in the past week. My favorite thing had to be learning about the Union Jack, which was just... amazing. AMAZING. And I have three field trips this coming week. THREE. Including one to Oxford University. I know, astounding! I’m a little apprehensive to go, considering I’m not super close to anyone in my program but, I think that’s okay, because we all love history.

That’s the best part: everyone is a total dork. We were in the Monument to the Fire of 1666 and once we made it to the top (after much grumbling) we just stood in awe and stared at the surroundings. The juxtaposition of old London—old, old, Roman, the City, London—surrounded by skyscrapers, modern businesses, and soon, the tallest office In Europe—was just incredible. Myself and another girl, Alex, just stood and pointed out all the old buildings wedged between the new. Everyone was silent and staring out, just gaping. It was breathtaking. The entire walk down all we talked about was touching the walls and how old the building was beneath our fingertips. Speaking of old buildings—

This is what it looks like on the OUTSIDE.

THIS IS THE INSIDE.

Gorgeous. It used to be a house, until BU did their BU thing and bought it.

Being forced to consider history in a different way and having living history around me, I think, has made me a better observer. Saiya and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum on Friday (NO CLASS but I had work) and we were there for two and a half hours, and we saw a grand total of two galleries. Yes, two. It’s that kind of museum. While we were there, I found myself observing things closer and trying to pick out small details that make up the entire picture. We were in the Greco-Roman areas of the museum, looking at reliefs and paintings and huge tapestries from when England was still under Rome’s control. It was incredibly beautiful and astounding all at once. Having Saiya there helped a lot, too. She’s an art history person, and her knowledge combined with her enthusiasm really made the experience a lot more rounded. I wanted to find the beautiful details that real art appreciators always pick out, and as I was looking I was also able to see the history behind everything. The little touches that light something up in a historians mind as to aha, that’s what that’s from or that’s when that took place.

Also, we got to touch really freaking old things.

AWESOME.

So, yeah, school is good. I’m researching for a paper I have due in three weeks, and weeding through the reading I have to do for all my classes tomorrow. (Still a procrastinator, no matter how interesting the classes are, heh.) Simply because yesterday, I was at the Doctor Who Experience which, as someone who knows some about Doctor Who and has only seen one season, was extremely fun. And of course, a dork can appreciate things like, say,

...standing on the ACTUAL SET of the TARDIS. Yep. Ballin’.

I’ve been listening to the same 14 songs over and over again all week. I don’t know why.

And it’s going to be really, really cold today.

My Birthday and Other Things We Did This Week

Well, it’s been one week. Just about, anyway. I’m gonna call it a week. And all I’ve learned this week is Goddamnit, I suck at navigation. (Yes, I know I addressed this in my previous blog entry, I swear this is the last time I'm going to complain about it.) Every single time I think I’ve finally understood in my mind where a street ends or a way begins, I get turned around and I’m standing in front of a restaurant with torches on the outside boasting pork in the middle of a crowded street with taxis honking at me.  Speaking of which, the cars here are going to destroy me. I thought Boston was bad; oh, no. I don’t know how many times I’ve jumped back on the curb and stared as a taxi blared around the corner at approximately a gazillion miles an hour with four or five cars close behind. Jesus, London, why are you in such a rush?

We went to Greenwich on Tuesday (aka MY BIRTHDAY), and by “we went to Greenwich” I mean we got on a ferry and were left in Greenwich. But it ended up being fun. I wasn’t all too excited about going, especially because it was rainy, but once we got there, it was beautiful. The Observatory is gorgeous, ancient and so well-constructed, and the Prime Meridian made me feel like a super villain. Like “Now I have BOTH the world’s hemispheres under my feet!” But then I just moved on and other people got to do the same thing.

I don't know why I chose to wear sandals that day.

We saw the Queen Anne’s/Queen Henrietta’s house, which was very pretty. I thought it’d be more of a house museum, with each room set up with period furniture and everything, but it was an art museum because it hadn’t been used as a house in a very long time. LAME. But it was still nice; our tour guide was American, although she had been living abroad for long enough that her accent was a little strange. But she was super friendly. We then went back to Kensington and made dinner and had cupcakes for my birthday, which was awesome. I had told Fallon back in, say, March that I wanted to do something for my birthday with her, but I never anticipated having made so many friends so quickly. Everyone on the program is so fantastic, and so nice. It boggles my mind. Two people bought me cupcakes! And Piper bought me wine!

Protip: It tastes like Franzia. 

It was a great birthday. Regardless of the fact that I’ve almost died via car several times and have gotten caught in the rain, as of this very second, a grand total of seven times since Sunday. I think I missed a couple times in my count, even.

Anyway, in addition to that other stuff I did, today my program climbed a big-ass tower and looked at an incredible view of London from the top. It was a monument to the Great Fire of 1666, and it had this incredible mural of people burning in flames and King Charles II looking like freaking God. (Propaganda is so fun, isn't it?) Unfortunately I didn't even know the class was going to be 4 hours long, let alone we were going to be traveling, so I didn't bring my camera. NONE OF US DID except Alex, so she wins the prize. I discovered on the trip there that the other girls and I in my program are all equally dorks about history and like to touch old walls and marvel at their age. We ate at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese last night before we went out, and not only was the top portion from 1667, but apparently the bar in the basement had a foundation of a monastery from the 13th century. Margaret posed an idea that Henry VIII destroyed the monastery when he decided "to hell with Catholics!" and turned it into a motherfucking pub. Awesome, right? Awesome for us, anyway.

Also, I had bangers and mash. Which is DELICIOUS.

Cheers!

The Art of Navigating London

I actually have a post written about my birthday but I just wanted to talk about this first. It was such a monumental day in my mind.

September 8^th, 2011, will forever live in my mind as a successful day: I navigated the city of London by myself.

Well, somewhat.

I have literally been trying to get to Argos, the British solution to Wal-Mart, since Monday, for pillows. We were given one sad little pillow and it wasn’t enough for my spoiled 3-pillow self. So, I finally ordered two pillows and two pillow cases for roughly £5. But that meant getting to Argos to pick them up.

At first I was supposed to go with Jenna and Sarah, but they had floor events so they hand-wrote directions for me. I was feeling pretty good at this point; I had just gotten offered a paying job, survived orientation, and it hadn’t rained yet that day. So I bid them farewell and went off with my hand-written directions and sense of pride.

I see your game, directions.

At first, I was walking along briskly down Gloucester Road, looking at all the beautiful architecture of Kensington-Chelsea borough. This was the first time I was trying to get somewhere by myself since I’d been here, and I was not about to screw it up. As I walked, I realized that I somehow had missed one of my turns, and was at Hyde Park. Confused, I called Sarah and asked if she could use Google Maps to somehow place me and help me find my way. I loitered at Hyde Park for a while and then she gave me a shaky set of directions, including a street name I couldn’t quite hear. Now, you have to understand that London doesn’t have street signs like in the states that stick out in your face and are bright colors. They have these plaques on the sides of some buildings with street names. Helpful, London.

So I continued on, past Hyde Park, down Kensington Road, wandering through some shopping districts. And by some I mean a lot. American Apparel, H&M, the Orange Store, PC World, etc, etc. I was looking for a particular right turn so I could take a few more arbitrary turns when I saw the telltale blue-and-white Argos sign in the distance.

I had finally found Argos.

I was wearing flats from my interview, so I couldn’t really run, but I kind of jog-skipped into Argos, and it was like Christmas came early. There it was, the big catalogue books, the people dressed in blue polos, asking what my order number was in adorable accents. Finally, after three days of planning and attempting to find this mysterious store, I was inside. I gave my order number and 5 minutes later I had my pillows. I had stopped at Ryman’s on the way there to get notebooks and pens and I had gone to Waitrose earlier for some other essentials. So here I was, with my pillows, ecstatic that I had finally found Argos.

Now, I just had to find my way back to Sorbonne House. Armed with a new sense of accomplishment, I walked off into the busy sidewalk, heading in the direction of Hyde Park. I had finally reached the main gate of Hyde Park when I realized I wasn’t 100% sure of where Cromwell Road was; Cromwell Road is the street my house was off of. But luckily I saw Nicole, another friend, jogging around the park, so we walked together until she gave me awkward directions to the Natural History Museum and disappeared inside the Crofton. I wandered a bit more, found Waitrose and Boots, got a little confidence boost, called Saiya when I forgot where I was and finally, after I had left an hour ago, walked into Sorbonne House, map in one hand, bags in the other. I had finally navigated the city myself.

I’m starting to get you, London.

Oh, and Saiya and I got locked into Hyde Park and had to scale a fence to get out. Before we got lost in London. Again. I'm starting to get London... but London is definitely winning at the moment.

Saiya, successfully hopping the fence.

"Two BU students arrested in London for being too rebellious."

Life in the Big Smoke -- Day 1

So, at 7 a.m. this morning, I landed in Heathrow International Airport with roughly 50 other college students. We disembarked from the plane in a massive heap, and then awkwardly followed a crowd of well-seasoned travelers to customs, where we waited in line (FOR AN HOUR) to get into the country. Once we were in, though, we got our bags, called a cab and forever and a half later I was dumping my things all over the floor of my new home for the next 4 months.

Quaint.

This was all after I hacked up a lung and probably got everyone around me sick on the plane. I ran out of tissues about.... 2 hours into the flight, and had to keep reusing the same ones over and over as my dose dripped mucus all over me. On the bright side, I saw X-Men: First Class and learned how to play Bejeweled! That's good, right?

Anyway, after a ridiculous cab ride and making hasty dinner plans with people I just met, I wandered inside my flat and found my roommate. I then ventured to find Fallon and had a nice chat in her kitchen :) I love Fallon. She also helped me later when I almost got lost the first time I went walking. We went to Tescos (well, she led me and Sarah to Tescos) and we did some minor shopping. We're going to do more major shopping tomorrow after orientation. 

So far the trip has been good. Confusing as all hell; I got lost coming back from Sarah's flat and basically wandered the streets of London at night alone while not really knowing where I was going. Thankfully I live across the street from the Natural History Museum and that was... okay at least. My voice is nearly gone and that compared with my Yankee accent has made communication somewhat difficult, but I'm sure it'll get easier. 

The transition to living here was much easier than I thought. The cars driving on the wrong side of the road is a bit of a trip-up still but I'm getting the hang of it (although Sarah and I were almost hit by a cab on our way to dinner) and I overcame one of my biggest fears; making a huge fool of myself. Sarah and I did everything possible to do wrong in the pub, from thinking we were going to be waited on to not paying when we were supposed to. But we did it in stride and with laughter and it worked out fine, and now I feel like I can conquer every restaurant in this city. Maybe. We'll see. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, even though I'm out of money on my phone and I think I spent too much at the Underground, it's all good. It'll happen.

Cheers! :)

View from my window at night!