Emily Schwinghamer

After living in London, traveling to Scotland and Ireland, and visiting many different cultural sites and institutions have I truly feel like I now have a deeper knowledge of what it means to be “British.” The first thing I realized about the people of London is that they aren’t much different from most people that live in a city when it comes to getting around, they are constantly rushing. Rushing on the tube, rushing up the escalator, rushing across the street. I, along with everyone else in the group, learned very quickly to do things like: having your oyster card out and ready, standing on the right side of the escalator, and taking you backpack off while riding the tube. These small things might not seem very important to answering the question of “what it means to be British”, but not fitting in when you’re out in public is a dead give away that you are not from a particular place, so I believe it is actually very important in understanding what it really feels like to live in the city. 

Another thing I have noticed about Londoners, and people in the United Kingdom in general, is that there is an extreme amount of diversity here that I did not expect. Before coming to London I had the image in my head of a white male or female when I thought of the typical European. After being here for half a month and traveling to three different countries I now have a completely different image. People of different color, religion, gender, and origin are all living and working here simultaneously and harmoniously, which is a very cool thing to get to be a a part of. The diversity could truly be seen when we went on our guided tour of the primary school and walking tour of East London. When we stopped in at the  primary school diversity was immediately seen. There were children of all races learning and playing together. I talked to a group of kids from London, India, and Bangladesh who told me that they were each others “best friends” and that was truly eye opening to me. It is so important that these kids are learning, when they are so impressionable, that no matter what you look like or where you come from everyone’s the same and equal. On our way to Brick Lane we walked through a part of town that was mostly populated by people from Bangladesh. This area was also home to one of the biggest Mosques in England, which was built right next to a large Synagogue. This was a very cool way to see the diversity of not only race but religion as well. good para

Finally, the main thing I have discovered about the United Kingdom is that the Royal family is not nearly as big of a deal here as I had thought. As I had stated in my pre-reflection I had this imagine of the country being obsessed with Queen, Princesses, etc. People obviously like the Monarchs and respect them, for the most part, but people definitely do not fawn over them like many people in the United States do. Girls in the United States grow up watching the Disney princesses movies and I believe our love for the Royal family stems for that initial exposure to “royalty’. Another interesting thing I learned about the feelings of the nation came about in our trip to Scotland. Our tour guide made it clear that the country is divided on that topic of leaving the United Kingdom and becoming their own independent nation. Many people think that they would be financially and economically fine if they seperated, but some people fear they do not have the military infrastructure in place to keep the country safe and secure if they were to break away from England.  Overall, as more days pass and my trip becomes closer to ending I am beginning to realize that there is so much more to this historic, beautiful, diverse country than I had ever dreamed of and I can’t wait to discover more hidden things about London in my final week