Day 3/Foggy London Town

After a hearty traditional English breakfast, we made the long slow journey into London. Brighton actually isn’t too far away from the capital, but traffic in the suburbs was terrible. This did, however, mean that I got to see some interesting restaurant combinations that result from ethnically-mixed neighborhoods: Halal Chinese Buffet. (Note: “halal” in this case refers to food permitted by Islamic law). We set the students loose in the big city, reminding them that they only had three hours of temps libre and not to get lost. As for the profs, we enjoyed a nice tea break at a charming café next to Westminster Abbey and lunch in Trafalgar Square after popping into some souvenir shops. Our visit to the National Gallery was supposed to last one hour, but one of the students became enraptured with the Italian Renaissance Art and we had to send back search parties (yes, plural) to find him. More souvenir shops awaited us on Oxford Street and I supervised the students as they bought inappropriate logo T-shirts referencing McDonald’s and Adidas. Quick side note: everyone here says MacDonald’s and MacDo in French, which just reminds me of Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

While I enjoyed London, I was shocked until dinner that night. Over fish and chips, the host family proceeded to denounce blacks, Arabs, Romanians, Poles, and other ethnic groups who had ruined the beautiful capital with their poverty-ridden slums. The fish I had just eaten jumped up my throat a bit and I had to decide whether to smile and nod or bolt to the bathroom. Thankfully, the BBC was playing in the background and we were able to discuss the terrible snowstorms in Scotland and Wales. Their views of immigrants as disease vectors instead of people reminded me of some of the more radical rhetoric concerning Central and South American immigrants in the United States. One big difference between the US and Western Europe is that we have a long history of immigration and have gone through the Civil Rights Movement. I’m in no way claiming that racism is dead in America, only suggesting that we are more aware of a) how dangerous racial and ethnic tensions can be and b) the many economic and social benefits that come from having a diverse multicultural society. Furthermore, there is a lack of role models for minority youth in Europe – they really don’t have an equivalent of Beyonce, Oprah, Jennifer Lopez, Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, or Amy Tan. Having been raised in a multicultural society with heritage plays, these dramatically different societal dynamics struck me from my first day in Europe.