Before arriving in London, my assumptions about the British were that they had charming accents, lived under a royal family, and and seemed to live much more fashionable and classy lives than we do in America. Clearly, my perception is purely based off of news channels that put the royal family in the spotlight followed by fashion magazines and movies who use London as a fashion icon city. A big reason of why I wanted to study abroad in London was to enhance my knowledge of the actual culture and history of the city and not just base my assumptions off of an outsider perspective.

The royal family’s presence in the media is something that I would say had a very large impact on my previous assumptions of the British. It seemed to me that living under a royal family was so proper and beautifully medieval, but hardly knew any facts or history about British parliament at all. All I really know about the royal family is who is currently on the throne as well as her successors, and what the media decides to tell me about their lives. It is very amazing to me that even all the way in America, we are so curious about the royal weddings, births, etc., like we romanticize the idea of a royal family rather than actually understanding how parliament works and what the actual duties of the royal family are.

Another form of media that influenced my opinion would be the countless movies and TV shows based on royal families or that took place in the United Kingdom. I would swoon over their British accents and love the idea of having a palace within your home city, even though it most definitely is not as glamorous as what these movies made it seem. Of course, Harry Potter is a series that influenced my perception of London, even though it was highly fictional.  Something else in movies I had noticed that caught my eye as a difference from here in the united states was the presence of school uniforms. School kids looked so sophisticated and put together and proper over in London, while here in America we looked like we had just rolled out of bed half of the time. Of course, Harry Potter is a series that influenced my perception on the United Kingdom, even though it was highly fictional.

Overall, I am very excited to get a more deep rather than superficial opinion of the people and culture of London as well as the history and function of parliament. Even in my first few days, I have learned that there are more to them than just charming accents and good fashion taste. Their culture has stemmed from a great deal of crisis and overcomings to form the beautiful image they have today. It is also really interesting to me comparing the history of the United Kingdom with the United States and seeing how different lives we have lived up to this day that has caused us to have such distinct cultures.