Of Lords and Lagers

Ahh...my first blog from back across the "big blue wet thing"; it feels so familiar, somehow. The action of blogging, that is, not the city. London, and my experience in it, is completely different than Paris. Worker v. student, hostel/renter v. dorm, croissants v. the traditional English breakfast--all very different.

For one thing, though these cities share the value of an incredibly rich cultural and social history, London seems to have transcended its ties to this legacy and moved forward at a much more rapid pace than its continental counterpart. The city itself is much larger than Paris. Whereas wikipedia (insert heavenly awe music here) informs me that London is about 1500 square kilometers with a population of seven and a half million, Paris is only eighty-seven square kilometers, with a population of over two million. The result is that London feels much more urban, much more modern, than its French equivalent. Banks are on every street corner, chain restaurants abound (especially Subway and Pret-a-Manger, which means "ready to eat" and caters to the busy, price-conscious population), and tourists feel mothballs swarming in their pockets practically as soon as they leave Heathrow airport. Even the British Museum's (which is really close to University College London!!) ultra modern internal design doesn't seem to have caused nearly the controversy of I.M. Pei's Louvre pyramid, which really, by contrast, is quite subdued. Even the mode of shopping is different. Whereas in Paris local markets dominate the culinary scene in every arrondissement (19 of them) at least two or three times a week at various sites, there are only two to three markets selling fresh food products in all of London! The pace of life here is too fast for these to become a staple of the economy.

So what do they have instead? Pubs! These British establishments permeate every block in every area of the city. Most of them serve only drinks after a certain hour; the Jeremy Bentham, for example, which is named for the UCL professor who ordered himself embalmed so he can still be taken to philosophy department meetings (yes, weird I know!), only serves food until 3. After this, people come for the beer and the socializing. Only last night I went to some pubs in Camden with some people from my hall. This area is known for its trendy culture. Let me tell you, though, the post-9 o'clock culture could stand to be de-trended, if you ask me. While the majority of the people in the pubs drink responsibly and bouncers check anyone who even looks under 21 for ID upon entering a pub, the culture is one of pathetic drinking and drug usage (using pathetic in its literal sense). I saw one girl so strung out that she couldn't walk properly from the curb to the bus door, forcing her to lean on her boyfriend (I hope) for support; she couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen. Then there were women of 40+ years who made geisha look demurely made-up and were dressed in skin-tight see-though shirts and ultra-mini mini-skirts. That is not even mentioning the guys who came up to the guys in our group and asked them if they wanted some coke (and not the liquid kind). I never felt unsafe, and the peer pressure to get into the British drinking culture (i.e. drink to feel a buzz or to get drunk) was easily refused, but I couldn't help thinking of what these people were making of their lives. Would they regret these Kroenenburg-filled hours? Would they wake up one morning and realize the fruitlessness of such an existence?

Let me reiterate the fact that pubs, being such an essential part of British culture, are much more wholesome (using the word loosely) than American bars. In London, they are conduits of social interaction; thus, the obviously-intoxicated are few and far between. Plus, the eight pound daily fee for driving in the city means that DUIs bow to tube usage. Yet, the reliance upon a type of beverage whose very definition involves a change of the mental and physical faculties seems wrong simply in principle.

But I must give London its fair share. It is gorgeous! The first two days I was here, prior to orientation, a fellow Ramsay Hall-mate from Washington University in St. Louis and I walked all around the city. No sense of schedule, no sense of pressure. One of our favorite stumbling places was Covent Garden, a rich medley of shops, and stalls interspersed with local entertainment. A juggler, for example, demonstrating acrobatic feats on the cobblestones right outside the London Transport museum, while a string quartet challenged passers-by to keep pace with a rowdy jig. We loved it on the first day we saw it, so we decided to return the second day as well for lunch. We stuck to distinctively British fare--pasties, anyone? They're similar to a calzone, stuffed with such hearty staples as steak, potatoes, and cheese.

We also wandered into Soho, the heart of the Chinese district, where Chinese lanterns perpetually drape the city streets in a red and gold oriental aura. Like Chinatown in the US, the signs suddenly burst into characters, with noodles and rice appearing on every menu.

We also visited Westminster Abbey. I was completely dumbfounded by the sheer history of the place. Literally every stone is etched with it, as one treads across the graves of English nobles on the way to the coffins of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Mary I, Edward the Confessor, and other British monarchs. Even Chaucer is here, his grave nestled amidst memorials to other English playwrights and poets after his brilliance was discovered long after his death. The church is enormous, but doesn't feel so due to the incredible utilisation of space employed in recognizing what seems to have been every lord and lady in the history of the British empire. I only regret not being able to hear the Westminster Choir, made up of men and boys from the Westminster school. The selection on the audioguide wasn't enough to sate my desire to hear more of the near-celestial music.

Bored yet? I hope not--because there are almost three months to go! :) Today we're off to take a look at Buckingham Palace, though perhaps not pay the enormous amount to actually go inside (in a later post I will discuss such economic issues).

Until next time, cheerio!