Last Days

The last two weeks have been filled with lasts. I hate lasts, and I usually try not to think of them. But I can't help myself when I feel I'm being kicked out of a city that I've come to love and adore.

My last day of work was surreal. Just like we expected, we seemed to just get our feet on the ground when we were forced to leave. I could never thank every single person I met while at work enough for every opportunity they have given me. The internship has meant more than just work experience and I will never forget it.

Lasts are inherent in the semester system. Finals are the ultimate embodiment of that. Classes here have been sometimes confusing, definitely different but a learning experience nonetheless. This is mostly due to some of the incredible students I've met, both at the British university I took a class at and at the Arcadia courses. Their new perspectives are priceless.

But London has always meant more than this work and academic experience. London's history echoes everywhere, while the crowds of people and the distinct city feel modernize it. I have always known London to be nothing if not dynamic, which is exactly why I have loved it for years. Living here has given me the opportunity to experience that, and become a part of it.

There were a series of posts I wanted to make before I left. Royal Wedding preparations, of which there are many. The abundance of change rather than bills (or notes, as they are known here). Even the meaning of the Portcullis signs, which appear nearly everywhere you see something Parliamentary.

Yet none of those posts would really capture how much living in this city and meeting everyone surrounding this program has meant to me.

So I'd like to end this by just saying thank you and I'll miss you. I'll be back someday. Until then, cheers!

Why I Haven't Been Updating

I feel like an explanation of what's been keeping me away from blogging is in order.

One number, two words: 7,500. Word. Dissertation.

In case you're wondering what that looks like, my final page count is 32. This number includes, a title page an index page and a two page Bibliography.

Yes, I made this in Paint using Copy and Paste.
I'm talented.

Mine was simply called "Parliamentary Communication in the 21st Century." I would post it online for any of you at all interested in reading any of this, if I wasn't scared someone would steal it and I would get in a lot of academic trouble. Being a Journalism and Political Science major though, it should be fairly obvious what my paper discussed.

Combine this with a Presentation on this paper, another 3,000 word paper, one British Politics written Final, one Diversity in the British Workplace Final, another presentation and one American Foreign Policy Final, I've been more than stressed for the past few weeks. Especially because most of those were intermixed with my last two weeks of work.

Anywho, now my classes are done and I am left with four completely free days in London to do whatever my heart desires.

But no, I will not be only blogging. Just blogging more often.

Because I Had to Attend Some Protests

There were two moments this semester where I wanted to be back in the United States. The first was when Gabrielle Giffords was shot, and I suddenly longed for fast-paced American television coverage again. The second was when protesters surrounded the Wisconsin Capitol building for weeks to argue against Governor Scott Walker's Budget Bill which ended collective bargaining rights.

So partly just for missing out on those protests, I had to attend the protests going on here in London at the end of March. Depending on which estimates you followed, turnout throughout the day ranged from 500,000 to 800,000 people. Either way, they were the biggest protests in London since the one in 2003 against the Iraq War which drew about 500,000 people.

Similar to the movements back in Wisconsin, the protests were predominantly organized by a union: the Trades Union Congress. However, the protest drew crowds of people protesting any and all of the Government's multitude of cuts to public services, particularly the NHS, education and disability allowances.

The protests also became the biggest example to me of just how more biased the media in Britain is than in the States. Tweets throughout the day either called the protesters "violent anarchists" or simply focused on the high turnout and Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband's speech in Hyde Park.

The Guardian wrote, "Vast majority were ordinary people wanting to make voice heard, but small group of rioters seemed bent on trouble."

Covering the same protests, The Telegraph used the headline "the militants behind the violence" and wrote, "a ragtag army of anarchists, squatters, student militants, environmental activists and radical academics planned the spin-off protests that led to violence during Saturday's march against cuts."

Twitter was fun that Saturday.

Given, there was some violence. A group of protesters broke into a building and pretty much held it hostage for a few hours. Others broke the window of a Topshop and splattered paint on some police officers. This is ridiculously unfortunate, mostly because police officers are also facing job losses and changes to their retirement benefits. Other than that, they blocked traffic. Which is what happens when about 500,000 people protest...




I learned afterward that there was also some damage to the Ritz hotel. I didn't go past this side of the building unfortunately though.

Looks fine, doesn't it?




Police officers keeping a watch over the crowd.

The march ended in Hyde Park,
and a bunch of people crowded
this statue of Achilles.

And now for some of the best signs:

I think this is proof that Britons and Europeans have different views towards socialism than Americans.

I think it's also noteworthy to say that protests attract a variety of more "extreme" views. Did I see a sign supporting communism? Yes. Do I think the majority of protesters were arguing for communism? No.



In case this one is difficult to read, it says: "No American style Health Care here."

...Oops. Sorry GB.





Here's a short video I was able to grab of the protests. Sorry for any poor quality... I tried.


Below: That's a picture of Samantha Cameron. Humour prevails.

St. Patrick's Day

Just a late note on St. Patrick’s Day. Because St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated everywhere, becoming more of an occasion for those with Irish blood now living outside Ireland. Before coming to London, I assumed that the English would probably avoid this holiday, and most things Irish in general, simply because of the fraught history between the two countries.

This is an absolutely untrue and pretty unfair assessment. Turns out there are a lot of people in England with Celtic ancestry, who want to do justice to the small holiday.

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a little closer to its homeland, a pub chain in London (we can ignore for now the fact that there are actually a few of these bars in the States as well) called O’Neills (fittingly) was pulling out all the stops to go Irish. Bartenders were wearing full out green, white and orange. Pints of Guinness were buy one, get one free. And they were even giving out these cool top-hats to anyone who asked for them. (Side note: these can cause a surprising amount of controversy. Who wants what hat? Where did my hat go? Stop stealing hats!)

Needless to say, St. Patrick’s Day is just as big here as it is in the States. Unfortunately, I don’t think they dye the Thames River green like they do in Chicago, but the feeling is still here.

Besides that, who wouldn’t want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? An excuse to have some fun in the middle of otherwise boring March? Yes, please.

Olympics 2012

Tickets for the London 2012 Summer Olympic games officially went on sale yesterday, March 15th. Since then, I think I've noticed a lot of energy buzzing around the London Olympics.

First, I tweeted about the official Countdown Clock being set up in Trafalgar Square yesterday, marking 500 days until July 27, 2012. (This date also happens to represent my 22nd birthday!) The BT Tower also had a nice little fireworks display to celebrate the 500 day mark.

This morning, I read on the BBC that the Countdown Clock had also broken down yesterday. Which is just depressing. Honestly, it seems like a bad omen, doesn't it?

Then I read how Iran dislikes the London 2012 Olympics symbol, because it apparently spells "Zion."

Uh, ok?

They are also having problems in the ticket sales, as only Visa cardholders are able to buy them online at the moment.

Ok, minor glitches. Still, what is going on with the Olympics? Or is it the '2012' part? Eek.

Either way, these are all problems that I hope London gets sorted out before the Opening Ceremony begins. Not only because I think they're going to be fantastic in London, but because I will probably be going crazy with happiness watching them on my birthday.

In other news, there was a Chelsea football fan march down my block in London just before 6 p.m. tonight. I was just hanging out in my room, when I suddenly hear people chanting down the street. And when I open my window, there are hundred of men, dressed in Chelsea blue and white, walking down the street on their way to the Chelsea match.

Uh, awesome?

There were also some policemen on horses to the left of this shot, and police cars followed behind them. All the fans were singing (what I'm guessing are) Chelsea songs and I was reminded of the whole college football pre-party. (Badgers!)

So I hope Chelsea wins tonight.

That's all for now! Cheers!