Exploration at Embankment

We started the day with a lecture on multiculturalism. We began by pointing out different ways in which London is a multicultural city. For example, foreign newspapers are sold at several news stands, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Also many of the signs around town have several languages displayed on them. Then we looked at some statistics. Here are some for you to read:

• Around 275 different languages are spoken here
• 76% of the population classify themselves as white British
• The largest minority group is Irish

We then looked at the conflict between immigration and national British identity. We learned that some people think that to be truly British, one must be white. This conflict is a paradox because, while the British government has passed legislation to curtail immigration and there is resentment towards immigrants, after World War II citizens of the commonwealth were invited to come to Britain to help rebuild it. The commonwealth consists of 53 nations, thus inviting in diversity. We also looked at the notion of old racism versus new racism in London. The old racism was more so focused on biological differences and on Africans. The new racism is focused on culture differences and the Muslim community. I am personally not a fan of talking about race conflicts, but I did find some points to be interesting. Next week's lecture is on the monarchy, so I'm really excited for that!

Next we went exploring in London and wanted to stay out later than we do typically. Our area of exploration was embankment. We were in search of food but came across Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye, so we stopped for more pictures of those landmarks. We also saw lots of street performers and interesting people. I do really like embankment. I just like being by the River Thames.

We were in search of food but all the places we came across were too expensive. Unexpectedly we came to  the Real Food Festival, where they had tons of vendors selling food, and treats. The food was so diverse and from tons of cultures. There were Turkish, Polish, and Spanish booths, just to name a few. And everything looked delicious. I bought a chicken sausage sandwich topped with potato salad. It sounds weird, but I was in the mood to branch out. And it was delicious. Lindsay and I also split some churros, which were amazing. And we saw a rainbow. I highly recommend this place to anyone in London and the food was cheap! We will be going back there! So look at that, we had a lecture on multiculturalism and we had a first hand experience!

Real Food Festival

We then continued to walk around the streets of London. Essentially we simply did wonder. It was so great. I really like it; you see things you would never see on the popular streets. I really don't know where we went but we found a cute area with lots of pubs and performers. (After some research, it turns out we were near Covent Garden) It was very beautiful and we got to see some of the night life. We also stumbled upon a precious bakery named BB where we hung out and got free little pastries. Check out the website, it's precious. We ended the night in a pub called The White Lion.

Fun telephone boxes

A circus one!

It was a great night overall, but now I am exhausted, with a bit of a cold, so sleep is desperately needed. Next on the agenda, we are going to the Harry Potter studio tour! Seriously, cannot wait for this!

Week Three: Day Five: BLC 12