These past two weeks have been filled with excitement and interesting sights. My classes have been teeming with interesting content and hands-on activities that have truly enhanced my experience here in London.
In my “London Across Literature” Class, we have been reading a book titled “The Buddha of Suburbia.” This text narrates the story of a young biracial boy desperate to escape the English suburbs in order to experience life in London. The novel has provided me with great insight to what growing up in 1970s London was like and its vivid descriptions of the racial tensions, pop culture movements, fashion, and British youth have helped me understand what the city was like back then; providing me with a great opportunity for comparison between the 70s and today. It has been great to see the places mentioned by the novel in real life and I have felt more connected to the city by reading the text, especially when I understand some of the foods, places, and customs it references.
I have also enjoyed various field studies in my other classes. On Tuesday, October 25th, we went on a guided tour of the Whitechapel neighborhood. This was extremely enlightening because we learned a lot about the large Bangladeshi population that lives in this area and how economic developments in the recent years have marginalized them. We also went on a street art tour of the area and I was amazed at the abundance, beauty, and complexity of the art exhibited on the street walls.
These few days have also been extremely exciting because my boyfriend arrived in London on Wednesday, the 26th. After anxiously waiting to see him for over a month, the day finally came here, easing my homesickness and filling me with joy. On his first day here, we went sightseeing and I got to explore some unknown parts of the city with him. On Friday, he came to my internship with me and got to meet all of the pensioners that I work with. This has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my trip because I got to witness my loved ones from here and from back home coming together in a wonderful way. All of the older people that I work with were enchanted by my boyfriend and we all shared a lovely afternoon together. On Saturday, we both had a huge cultural experience: attending a Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace game. This experience got off to a wild start because my boyfriend almost got lynched for wearing a Liverpool shirt to Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace’s home stadium. People were booing at us and asking the guards to kick us out. We were finally allowed to enter the stadium under the condition that he hid his shirt under his coat and didn’t make a single noise in favor of Liverpool. This made the experience a tad bittersweet but it was extremely fun overall. The following Sunday, we went to a famous street market known as The Brick Lane Market. The place encompassed London in a small street. It was a medley of smells, colors, races and ethnicities, clothes, foods, and sounds all combined into a vibrant market. It was a delightful sight. We then continued our busy schedule by going to Budapest the Monday after that. This is where I am currently writing from. We have been exploring the city and I have found that the people here are much friendlier than in London. The food is exquisite and the sights are breathtaking. We will be adventuring here until Thursday and I am more than excited for what’s to come.