London; the Conclusion

This blog has helped me really reflect and think deeper into the trips and experiences I had everyday here in London; something I would probably not have done otherwise. Looking back on my blogs, I realized that some really small things are what I wanted to talk about and had the most to say.  I liked finding the things I found strange, and contemplating whether I felt they were weird because my frame of reference i as an American, or people from the UK shared my opinion.  For one example, at my internship I asked the girls if the "Happy Eggs" I always see in the store are real eggs or not because they are just on the shelf, unrefrigerated.  At first they laughed and said yes, of course they are real eggs, they just never refrigerate eggs (or mayo).  Then they thought about it for a bit and found a strange dichotomy; they didn't see anything wrong with eggs sitting on room temperature shelves at the market, but once they would buy them they realized they put them in the fridge after purchase. So without even knowing it or being aware, there was a kind of opposition or contradiction to their initial thinking. I also always got a kick out of conversations while we were out.  When us girls would go out and be goofy, and talk like we usually do, people from England would usually get the biggest kick out of the way we spoke to each other.   Also, they definitely had Americans stereotyped and would often be entertained by asking us to say things like "what-ever" and "OMG", etc.  This would actually begin to annoy me after a while because a lot of them have a negative, sort of dumb stereotype of Americans; silver lining is it was fun proving them the thick ones for categorizing one group of people.  On that note, however, it is true and quite evident how much more globally aware people in London are.  It is probably because Europe is comprised of multiple countries, which could be compared to Americans knowing about different states, at a distant level. What I also noticed about London, and evident in the recurring theme of "cultural fusion" in my blogs, is that London's identity is comprised from everywhere else.  I think the whole time I stayed here, I only ate "traditional English food" twice, and one was forced upon me at our going away dinner.  This is because of how much fantastically delicious food exists from other cultures, but thrives in London. I think I've had more sushi than any other food during my time here....I know...whattt??? I also made a new habit of evening red wine and fine cheese, but were going to treat that as a totally off topic addition, unless you count it as me having afternoon tea like a good English citizen.  But herein lies my love for this country, I love how big of a melting pot London is.  I love that I think I have met more people from other countries (predominantly Australia) than people actually from London.  I thought I was from a melting pot, coming from America, but to me London is comparable to a concentrated USA.  Japanese, Indian, Thai, American, Spanish, and Italian influence; and that is only in the one mile radius of our student housing.
      Upon returning to London, which I WILL do soon and with my family, I would definitely make a point to venture to Manchester and Brighton beach.  I also want to travel to nearby Dublin and take my dad to the Guinness Factory, then a trip back to Amsterdam and visit the Heineken experience once again.  The Harry Potter experience, where they show you the places Harry Potter was filmed and a tour, etc., is a place I would try to take my sister too, because I know she would really love that experience.  I didn't do that this trip because it wasn't really something I felt I HAD to do before I left.  One the risk of sounding superficial,  I would take my family to Topshop/Topman, because my brother and sister would especially love that place and all of its uniqueness.  Other than that, I am pretty satisfied with what I got to see and do while here in this wonderful city, and the amazing places I got to see when I ventured outside of London.  I have grown and changed a lot because of this trip, and I genuinely love it.  This experience makes me want to continue to travel more and more because I love the feeling of opening your horizons and learning the ways and thinkings of different cultures.  I truly believe that learning about other cultures and meeting the peoples of those places makes you wiser than you will ever be just simply trying to study it through books and other devised learning tools that fall short of the real think.  

Cheers, London, I'll see you soon enough ;) 

XOXO,
     Abby M.