6/6
On
June 6 instead of heading to Faraday House in the morning, we met our
professors at Paddington Train station to depart for the day out to Eton and
Windsor. Following a tube, train, and taxi ride, we came to our first stop for
the afternoon at the Eton College Rowing Center. The rowing center on Dorney
Lake will be host to the rowing, sculling, and canoe competitions for the
London 2012 Olympics. We were introduced to Terry Hunter, the Eton rowing coach
and father of Team Great Britain’s
Mark Hunter. Terry was probably one of my favorite people who we have had the
chance to meet during our trip. He lead us into the clubhouse that overlooked
the water, and delved into the history of the rowing center and their role in
the Olympic games. The 2000 meter stretch of water was man made after it became
increasingly difficult to row in the Thames with the tides. We learned how one
man dug and filled the lake himself, and how it has developed since then. There
was much bustle going on around the lake, as grandstands and press areas were
being assembled. There is also a device that stretches across the length of the
lake so a camera can zip down it as the rowing competitions are taking
place. It was such a privilege to
not only go on site, but get to row in the water!
We
were almost in disbelief when Terry told us that we would have the chance to
row out onto the water. Luckily he assured us that the boats we were going out
in could not tip over at all. What we thought was going to be a leisurely boat
ride turned into a fierce competition between the two boats. I was in the boat
steered by Terry along with Lauren, Eleni, Jessie, and Carter. We rowed out hurriedly
toward the opposite end of the lake. We ended up cruising to the 1500 meter
mark, with heavy encouragement and direction from Terry. Apparently he thought
that the names of fast food restaurants would help motivate us Americans, so
oftentimes instead or “ROW..ROW..” we were pushed along by
“POPEYES..MCDONALDS…” It was funny and just from the time we spent with him it
was evident how great of a coach he is. Though there was some debate of who won
the race, I believe that we crossed the Olympic finish line first after coming
from behind. It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to go
out onto the water. Though I have watched these types of events before, I’m
going to take particular interest to them this year as I’ve now experienced the
venue in the fullest! I also just found this vide on on Mark Hunter and Eton
Dorney if you want to check it out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15495142.
After
our time at the rowing center, we cabbed back to Windsor and had the afternoon
to explore there. After looking through a gift shop, we went to go grab food in
the main area. Some of us went to Nando’s to eat (shout out to Emily Fedeles
who introduced me to this place in DC!) and then we walked around afterward.
Though we didn’t go inside of Windsor Castle, the Queen’s home away from
Buckingham Palace, we did walk around the outside and take as much in as we
could. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the area.
6/7
After
sleeping in on Thursday, we had a presentation by Richard Tames in our class.
He is a historian, author, and also a SU London staff member. He talked in
depth about the 1098 Olympics which was the first time that London hosted. The
city wasn’t supposed to host originally, but due to the eruption of Mt.
Vesuvius the games were moved from Rome to London. This was a Games of
firsts-the first purpose built Olympic stadium was built at Westfield, and the
silver and bronze medals were awarded for the first time. They had lunch from
Pizza Express for us, so his presentation continued into the afternoon.
Following a brief break, we had a
second guest lecturer who is also a SU London professor. He explored the 1948
Olympics, the other time that London hosted. These post-war games were unique
in that they came to be known as the “austerity games” due to government
cutbacks and desire to reduce deficit spending. For example, athletes had to
make their own uniforms, were fed only a cheese sandwich/egg/apple for lunch,
and they had to bring their own towels. The 1948 Games did bring along with it
the birth of the Paralympics, however. One of the most interesting things we
learned was about how female athletes had chaperones. These were typically
older, ugly women or even nuns who would travel alongside these women in order
to fend off any unwanted attention.
6/8
Friday
morning we had a normal lecture about Politics in the UK. Professor Cook gave
us an overview of the political system and the Houses of Parliament. This was
great background knowledge before our tour of Parliament on Saturday. I’m not
usually big into politics but it was very interesting hearing about the system
of another country, and one that is as unique as Great Britain’s. After a
decently long lecture, we departed for the borough of Hackney-one of five
boroughs in which the Olympic Village is located. Hackney is not very
economically sound and has a very high rate of unemployment. Our stop for this
field trip was the Hackney Marshes Centre where we were introduced to Charlie
Forman, the head of the borough’s Olympics committee. He gave a great
presentation on how the Olympics are directly affecting the borough, both in
terms of place and people. What was most interesting about this though, was the
explanation of the legacy the games will hopefully leave on the borough.
He discussed how the games hope to
provide jobs to those who have been out of work for quite some time, and even
if they are temporary places of employment, it at least gives them some sort of
transition into getting back into work full time. The Olympic Village has
created widespread regeneration efforts of the land itself, with the Hackney
Marshes center just being recently built and home to 60+ rugby and soccer
fields. It was really powerful hearing the impact these games are having on
this specific part of the city, and really showed how these Olympics focus on
the cultural diversity of London rather than the Big Ben/double-decker bus/old
school type of London that many people think of when they think of the city. I
really hope that the world is able to see how much these games will improve the
lives of those living in the five boroughs, but particularly Hackney. I asked
Charlie if the international coverage will really get to how much the legacy
part of the games is affecting the surrounding area. He answered by explaining
the different parts of the games that members of the community are
participating in, such as performances during the opening ceremony and events
leading up to the Olympics. He is definitely optimistic in the lasting legacy
of London 2012. After his presentation, my skepticism was definitely pushed
aside and I am hopeful too for the impact these games will have on Hackney and
the other boroughs for many years to come.
 |
| Me and Jasper, the birthday boy! |
Friday was also Jasper’s birthday.
We were planning on going to a pub to watch a football game but that fell
through. We ended up going to Penthouse again which was a good time. Highlights
included playing limbo with people on the dancefloor-two people would hook arms
and others would try and maneuver under- and getting free glasses they were
handing out (err I didn’t get mine directly..thanks, Mike). We also made a pit
stop at McDonald’s before taking the bus home. We all had a great time and
Jasper definitely had a great birthday celebration!
6/9
Saturday morning we had a scheduled tour of the House of Parliament. We met Professor Hollenbeck outside and passed
through an intense bout of security before finally being admitted in. The
architecture is as beautiful on the inside of the building as it is on the
outside. Each room is incredibly distinctive in its décor. We were able to see
the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and more as we precessed throughout
the building as the Queen would do when she formally opens Parliament.
Professor Cook’s talk the day before about the makeup of the government
definitely helped so we could picture the duties and roles of the different
chambers. I thought the most interesting part was how they vote on legislature.
Before we entered the House of Commons we got to sit in a hallway which we soon
learned was the “Nay” chamber. Instead of voting by ballot in the different
rooms, the Members of Parliament (MP) go to either the “Yay” or “Nay” hallways
to place their vote in the ballot. They have a certain amount of time to do so,
and our tour guide explained that some will even go to a local pub to grab some
brews mulling over their decision until they hear the warning bell to come back
in and vote. On the way out, we got to see the stained glass window that was
made specifically for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and will soon be going up in
the main window when visitors enter the House of Parliament.
After our tour wrapped up we walked
across Waterloo Bridge back to the Southbank and the area by the Eye. We
grabbed lunch at Wagamama, a popular noodle house chain in London. It was
packed but we waited in line and still ate there, it wasn’t bad. I thought
Noodles & Co back in the states in better but it was definitely a filling
lunch! Then we walked down to the Southbank Centre area where we went to the
World Street Food Fair. I thought that the market wasn’t there as the food
festival was only that weekend, but I turned out to be wrong (sorry Jessie!!).
There was an extensive selection of food tents and stands, not as many as the
food festival but still a substantial amount. A long day of touring and walking
complete, we headed back to the flats to hang out for the evening. We stayed in
as we were going to Brighton as a group on Sunday.
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