Yesterday was the first day of class and I had my art history. I
felt very out of my element because I have not studied art, art history,
religion or European or British history, but I will learn a lot very quickly.
The professor is a short woman who is exactly what I would picture for a
British art professor. She was wearing a pink dress, pink belt and carrying a
pink bag. For art we will go to an art gallery once a week to study the art in
person. After class we went grocery shopping and I have started to understand
the nuances of the grocery store. We had some creamy mac and cheese for dinner
and then did some homework. Today was the second first day of classes. My first
class, History of London, has a very entertaining professor. She is against the
monarchy (she went to Germany when the Royal Wedding occurred) and really
entertaining as she is very opinionate and British. We will be going on a
walking tour of London once a week. Furthermore, our homework involved going to
museums and other places in London. It will be a great way for me to explore
London. My second class, Ethno-National Conflicts, will be a very interesting
class as well. I do not have much prior knowledge (besides MoPro) and am not
well versed in political science, but it just means I will learn that much more.
Our professor seems incredibly intelligent- she teaches at several universities
and she consults for the government on policy. Our course will study a range of
conflicts all over the world. My final class was neuroscience which I am most
excited for (I am a neuroscience concentrator after all). We will be studying
all aspects of neuroscience and it will incorporate study at multiple museums
and field trips to the Freud museum, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Cambridge.
As of today, I have lived in London for 8 days. Today as I
walked home from class, I realized that I recognized the restaurants on the
walk home, the chipperies, the cafes, and the takeaway places. However, when I
diverge from the well-known paths, I am quickly lost. Tomorrow my art class is
at the National Gallery, a 1.5 mile walk from home, so it will be a good test
of my abilities. Another interesting thing in London is the languages that
exist. London is a multicultural city and thus I regularly hear 5+ languages on
my walk to class (especially because everyone is currently on holiday). Furthermore,
I now notice people’s accent, whether it is American or British. It is interesting
to learn the language differences that occur, even when we all speak English. Here
are a few of my favorite words:
Loo (bathroom)
Queue (line that you wait in)
Plaster (bandaid)
Cuppa (cup of tea)
Bin (trashcan)
Rubbish (trash)
Lorry (truck)
Brolly (umbrella)- learned this while going through security at
the Parliament and they asked me to put my brolly in the bin.
Bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes)
Chips (French fries)
Pants (underwear)
Car Park (where you park your car)
Cashpoint (ATM)
Chemist (pharmacist)
Surgery Hours (open hours like at a doctor)
(bank) holiday- vacation
Jacket potato (baked potato)
Lift (elevator)
Petrol (gas)
Takeaway (to go)
Wellies (rainboots)
Zebra Crossing/Pelican Crossing (different types of crosswalks)
Pitch/Match/Football (field/game/soccer)
Okay, so that was more than a few but oh well!
Our professors also use some funny pronunciations including
laboratory (pronounced la-bor-a-tor-e), schedule (pronounced shedule), and
frequently say naughty, brilliant, and bloody. We have also learned that we
should say we study (instead of go to school) and go to university (or uni)
instead of college. Other funny thing here is the money. The smallest notes are
the tener (10 pounds) and fiver (5 pounds) and the notes are in different sizes
based on their value. Coins vary from 1 pence, to 2 pounds and some in between
(5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pence). It is weird to use the pound and two pound coins
so often and sometimes feels like we are playing with monopoly money. I have
started to get used to looking left first, but getting on a bus on the left
side feels really weird.
My favorite fun fact I have learned is that after the 2012
Olympics, boroughs which had a resident win gold get the main mail boxes
painted gold (normally they are a boring red).
