In class the past week we have been learning all about the government. There are many differences between the US and UK governments. The elections in the UK are completely different then ours. They do not have a set length of time for a term; they just have time periods when an election must be within. The next election has to be called by May, so I will be here for an election! The elections here are not nearly as big of deal as they are in the States. Partially because they don't have a President; they have a Prime Minister. However, they don't vote on a Prime Minister; they vote for a party and then the party leader automatically becomes the Prime Minister. Prime Ministers have a similar position to a US President only with less power because they have to run everything by the queen and House of Lords. Since there are not set dates for the elections, the media doesn't get nearly as involved. I learned that the political leaders have a specific budget that they are allowed to spend on campaigning. A common budget is about 20,000 pounds, which is nothing compared to how much our political leaders spend. For instance, Obama spent 96 million dollars in TV advertisements over a 5 day period in our past election; these guys have 20,000 pounds to use over the entire campaign for pamphlets, advertisements, employees, and the whole bit. Another reason why campaigning isn't as big of deal here is because the country already has some of the major issues settled. Here are some of the issues they have figured out that the US still debates over: Health care - free, Gay/Lesbian Marriage - Legal, Abortion - Legal, Gun Control - Guns Banned. The biggest issues at the moment are the war and legalizing euthanasia. The UK is unique in the fact that they don't have states so their laws for drinking, gambling, tobacco, and driving laws are all the same. I think the US should really adopt this policy too as it is silly to have some states that allow gambling at age 18, some states that allow same-sex marriage and some that have capital punishment. My opinion is to keep it the same all the way across the country. Anyways, I also find their gun control laws interesting. They don't allow guns at all; no one can purchase a gun in the UK. We learned that this law came into effect long ago after there was a shooting massacre at a grade school. Our professor told us that he had never seen or touched a gun in his life and British people are very afraid of guns. The police do not even carry guns around; instead they are armed with a stick! However, if the people don't have guns, why would the police need them. Hunting is not allowed here, but they do have a process of minimizing wild animal populations, such as deer. They call it culling and it is a very prestigious job where they obviously get to use guns to kill overpopulated wildlife. We discussed the American Constitution's right to "bear arms" and how the US will probably never eliminate gun ownership. I find all the differences between the countries very interesting.
On Sunday I went to the Colombia Road Flower Market. This is now my favorite market. A whole entire street lined with vendors selling fresh cut flowers and plants. You could buy everything from a dozen roses to a banana tree. It was incredible. The stores on the actual street were cute too. I spent the morning browsing the area. Luckily I do not have a lot of luggage space to bring things home or I would have bought some cute nick knacks in the garden stores. However, I couldn't resist trying out my green thumb in London. So I bought two small plants for a pound each. I also had to purchase 2 terracotta pots as the plants just came in plastic containers. I couldn't stop smiling; I was so excited to get these planted! I got daffodils and muscari; each container had about 5 bulbs. After the flower market I checked out the Spitafields market, which is a craft and clothing market. I really enjoyed this market and saw a lot of exciting things. So after my day of markets I decided I better get planting. I got my plants out and separated them into pots, but realized I needed more dirt. Where was I going to find dirt in this city? It was night by this time so I thought it would be a good idea to go steal some dirt from St. James Park a few blocks away. I had to steal a spoon for digging from downstairs and I was on a mission. Walking to the park I noticed a patch of grass in front of an office building. There was dirt around a shrub. Perfect! The dirt was different from Iowa dirt, more of a clay consistency. However, I figured it was pretty good because when I got it home I noticed it had worms in it. I decided to flush the worms, as I didn't want them making themselves at home in my room. My pots turned out great. We have a nice, big window in our room so they get a lot of sun. The flowers have absolutely been flourishing; it must have been a combination of my green thumb genes and that dirt. Above picture of the market, below pictures of my progress from start to 3 days later!
On Monday I went to the famous British Museum. This building is absolutely massive. The outside architecture of the building was impressive alone. The museum houses a vast collection of world art and artifacts. The museum is free and was packed with all sorts of different people. There were so many things to look at. I was there for 3 hours and I only saw the first floor. I was very impressed with the Rosetta Stone and the double-headed serpent. Pictures below of the British Museum, Rosetta Stone, and double-headed serpent.
I have had my internship two full days now. I am enjoying it, but have decided I won't be content just sitting at my desk and looking at my computer all day for the rest of my life. Another issue is the fact that my boss doesn't give me enough work to do. I always feel like I am sitting around waiting for her to give me something else to do. The biggest problem is that she is busy on the phone or with other people so I sit there with my project done just waiting for her to give me feedback or give me directions for the next task. I have made a leaflet and a newsletter for the organization already. I am amazed at how much I have learned about the organization in just a short time. The other day my supervisor took me out for lunch to have a typical greasy spoon. She told me that she usually fills up at lunch because she has a baby and doesn't have time to eat a big dinner. She ordered an omelet, salad, and tea. I ordered an omelet as well with chips (fries) and tea. She ate her food so fast that I had a hard time keeping up while we were chatting. However, afterwards we just sat there for a long time talking and drinking tea. She ordered a KitKat when she was done and gave me half. KitKats and tea are very good together. We talked about the differences I have noticed and things to do in London. I learned that her "baby" as she calls it, is actually 2 and a half. I am not for sure if she is married or not because she told me she let the baby's dad pick out the middle name. I also have gathered that she makes the majority of her income by owning and renting out flats. She is always on the phone discussing rent and fix ups. After lunch we went to a convenient store to get a extension cord she needed. We saw a mom pulling her kid around the store on a harness/leash (around the body). My supervisor was disgusted and said something harsh to the lady that I didn't quite catch. When we left she said that I would see that in the poor neighborhoods and that it never used to bother her until she had a baby. I really like my supervisor; but after witnessing her mad in the store and on the phone to contractors, I have decided I definitely don't want to make her mad. On Tuesday night we went to a football game as a whole group. The weather was terribly cold and rainy so only about a third of the entire program went. I decided to brave the storm and go since it was free and a typical British experience. I actually really enjoyed it a lot more then I thought I would. This was hardcore soccer. The fans and the stadium atmosphere was like nothing I have ever experienced before. It was basically a huge stadium filled with rowdy fans cheering back and forth. The people are very proud of their teams and have organized chants and cheers the whole entire crowd gets into. I have a lot more respect for soccer as a sport now. The professional athletes have to be very fit and in shape as they run around the entire time. The game consisted of two 45 minute halves, but only 3 substitutes went in the whole game. The footwork of the players was amazing to watch as well. I have seen a little professional soccer on TV, but it doesn't compare to seeing it live! The London team, Charlton, ended up losing 1 - 2, but it was still a very fun time. Believe it or not, tea was sold at the concession stands.
On Wednesday night I went to Harrods with Carissa and Allison. I can't believe I waited this long to go there, but it was incredible. Harrods is the famous, luxury department store in London. The store occupies a 4.5 acre site and has over one million square feet of selling space in 330 departments. It is one of the largest department stores in the world. You can literally buy everything in this store, especially name brand and expensive. They sell clothing for all, electronics, jewelery, sporting gear, bridal wear, handbags, health and beauty items, food and drink, pet and pet accessories, toys, furniture, housewares, home appliance and basically anything you can think of. I couldn't believe they sold pets; the puppies were very cute and cost at least 1,000 pounds. The food halls were mind boggling. You could get everything from a bag of frozen peas to a cake that cost 3,000 pounds. I am not exaggerating at all. It was like the best grocery store I have ever been to and it was inside of a huge department store. Of course you can eat there too. The ice cream parlor looked the delicious, but so did the pizza. There were a lot of people buying sushi and other meat delicacies from the meat counter. The sweets room was very impressive too. Then I went to the women's clothing. It is amazing that all the money I had saved to study abroad would only buy about 2 outfits total. The evening gowns were gorgeous, but out of this world expensive (some were over 10,000 pounds). The shoe section was likewise. Ugg boots were basically the cheapest shoe in the department, where as they are probably one of the most expensive shoes in our department stores at home. Every single designer handbag that you could think of was available, especially the big brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, etc. There was a Tiffany & Co store inside along with Cartier, Rolex, and the famous British jewelry store, De Beers. I ended up just buying a cookie, which tasted great. I couldn't believe everything I saw. This was a fabulous place to go and just look around. Pictures below: left - Harrods, right - sweet display inside. By the way, I made all the pictures a little smaller so they didn't take up so much room, but double clicking them should
make them larger.
make them larger.
No comments:
Post a Comment