Oh and...I do think the Thames looks nice at night...

(Sorry there are no real photos...there is no photography allowed in Parliament)

Last week my friend Trisha asked me if I would like to be her date to a function at Parliament. Trisha is working for a member of the Labour party in British Parliament who-among other things-sits on a committee that discusses alcohol. I'm not entirely sure what such a committee would do in Europe...but one of the things they do is promote alcohol trade with countries to encourage trade in general. This event was to recognize a new relationship in the trade of Ukrainian alcohol in the UK. I met Trisha (despite some communication qualms) on Monday evening across the street from Parliament. I walked with her upstairs (through metal detectors and all) and into the function with loads of liquor and tasty hors devours.

My friend Trisha and I. This was not actually taken at this event as Parliament doesn't allow photography within the building...and has very few dancer's poles:


We enjoyed many of the gastro-delights and mingled with the 40 or so people present. However, as we are both Americans, interns, and young, we mostly stuck with the people she knew, which mostly consisted of the researchers she works with. I was her guest after all. However I did have a nice conversation with a Ukrainian woman who does something with UK-Ukrainian business relations.

Afterwards, we joined her researchers at one of parliaments bars and discusses many things, with particular attention to (surprisingly) politics. After about an hour (and several glasses of wine/champaign/beer) their Member of Parliament (MP, the equivalent of a US Senator) called one of the researchers and asked if we would all like to join him on the Terrace of Parliament. Now, I've heard about the terrace a few times from all of my housemates who work in Parliament. It's an outdoor patio on the third or fourth floor of Parliament overlooking the Thames, South London, and has an absolute money shot of the London Eye...and only Members of Parliament and their guests are allowed access to the area. I was SO tempted to bring my camera out but fought myself and decided not to. It is one of the most serene view I have seen in London thus far, perhaps aided because of it's exclusivity.

I met her MP in person and he asked how I felt about American politics. He seemed relieved and downright jovial when I pointed out the anti-Bush button on my bag. Once again, apparently, it is expected that most Americans in some way voted for/support Bush...who (unlike the massively popular Clinton family) is not exactly in vogue over here. Everyone I've spoken with including her MP and his staff are quite supportive of Hilary in 2008. Eventually the conversation moved on to other things with more familiar faces, but we did sit out on the Terrace with several Members of Parliament and staff for about an hour, at which point we politely excused ourselves and took one of the last tube rides home. It was a fantastic evening and one I don't think I'll forget for some time.

This is some random photo I found online of Parliament's Terrace...just so you have an idea. I have no idea who this dude is, but the view is lovely.

An American in London

As usual, this has been an incredibly busy week. I've learned a lot in the past few weeks and there is so much I could include in this post, but hopefully, these are the highlights.

The week began with my second week interning with Prospect Pictures. I worked on some web stuff for dailycooks.com, including another REALLY great report on improvements they could make to their site as well as summarizing effective design elements from other cooking shows.

Work has in general been interesting, but I have a lot of down time as I'm doing a lot of independent work like creating photoshop images and converting video for the web or DVD, the latter which takes a lot of waiting around. I don't blame them for asking the intern to take care of it. However, every now and then-usually once every 1 - 2 days-something special will come up and I will get to do something different. Sometimes this means watch a film from Lebanon or conduct some research on tourist trends in the Arab world, but last Tuesday, I was asked to meet with two of Prospect Picture's development producers.

Exciting Developments

I met with Richard and Sally for about 30 - 45 minutes discussing everything from street fashion to MTV, but mostly technology, new media, and how young people use it. They're working on a new television show about how young people use the internet and I suppose they figured that having a young, American intern in the office might be a useful opportunity to learn more. We had a great discussion. I've been reading up lately on how new media has been changing the way young people interact. This knowledge in addition to just being in college in a hip city (such as techno-savvy SF) at this time has allowed me to be somewhat more keen than most about technology and youth. Experience has taught me that it's rare to find people who don't have a blood claim who are this interested in what I have to say: they were taking notes! I felt like some kind of buzzword-dropping, pop-culture enthusiastic, youth-observing authority...but in an un-oxymoronic way.

Apparently, they thought the meeting was successful as well, and asked me (via Louise, Prospect's Head of Production) to work with/for them on a part-time basis to help generate ideas for the show they're working on. Because I'm here on a student visa, I cannot legally get paid, however I was offered a stipend for food and travel expenses if I choose to work more with them. This is BIGnews. I've never actually been offered a paid media job other than USFtv, especially in development, which is what I think I'd like to do in media. The catch is that I'd be expected to work at Prospect more often which means giving up some of my hours at Out There News. I think I'm going to cut down to one day a week at Out There and try to arrange my schedule so that I can work on Friday's every now and then if possible. However, I have upcoming trips planned to Berlin, Edinburgh, Florence, and then my SF friend Katie Newman's visit to London...in addition to class and my research paper: this could be tricky...AND rewarding!

Back to Basics

On a more casual note, my social life in London has been pleasant as well. Last Monday (11 June), I met up with my USF friend Morgan, who is studying in London in July but is traveling around for about a month before. We were supposed to meet up earlier but there were some phone issues and something about a twisted ankle. Regardless of the circumstances, it was nice to meet up with another familiar face for a drink. I forgot my camera at home that day, but I'm sure she'll post the photos we took at some point when she has access to a computer that she doesn't have to pay for.

As far as class is concerned, last week was the best class we've had yet. We discussed business culture and how that is affected by national culture. It was more interactive and discussion-based than other classes which was a nice change. I haven't been a big fan of our class thus far for a few reasons. First, many of my peers are obnoxious and talk whenever given the chance...sometimes even during a lecture. Being disrespectful in a classroom and to a professor one of my BIGGEST PET PEEVES, and it would appear that very few other American students share similar values. Second, the material is VERY business-centric, which I should have expected, but I think I was expecting a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of policy, sociology, and politics. However, I forgot to mention in past posts that during one of our classes on the structure of businesses, we watched scenes from the original (UK) version of "The Office," you know...the one with Ricky Gervais. That was a welcome change of pace. As a social science (media studies) student, I have been pretty uninterested in our material thus far. Fortunately, much of our grade (and work) is devoted to our research project, which is entirely up to us.

At the moment, I'm working on both of these theses: 'UK Media Structure and Independent Production' or 'New Media and Traditional TV'. I will have to choose one of these in the next few weeks of course. I'm currently leaning more towards the latter which would examine the changing way in which people view, interpret, and ultimately interact with traditional television programming in new ways because of new media, particularly the web and video on demand. If I choose the other thesis topic, I would examine the differences between the structures of the US and UK media industries and how the UK media industry is inherently more supportive of independent production. I'll let you know which one I select.

Another thing I've noticed about living in London, is that unlike most of the major cities in the US, it is still legal to smoke indoors in public places here...at least until July 1st when a country-wide policy goes into effect and public places will become smoke-free. After witnessing two grandparents die from smoking-related diseases, it's extra-gross to be around cigarette smoke. At school (where many of my friends smoke) I don't really mind the smoke too much because you can only legally smoke outside. It's absolutely disgusting to sit in a pub or restaurant and be surrounded by smoke...like, ew. I am SO ready for Smoke-free London, fuck nicotine. There are much sexier vices.

I also discovered one of my new favorite local restaurants near my apartment. Just so you know, it's called As Greek As It Gets, and it's cheap, close, and great.

My American Thursday (long, but hopefully a good read...promise)

I had the most peculiar and unfortunate day last Thursday. I was especially tired after a long night of class, Greek, and making a late appearance at the birthday celebration for my housemate Alex, so I wasn't as motivated as usual for work. However, I told them I would come in between 10 - 10:30 and as it was a only 10 after 10, I thought I would stop by a local cafe I wanted to try for some breakfast take out. Everyone at this cafe is really nice, but many of them have indecipherable accents which made ordering a challenge. I figured I would get adventurous and order a veggie/egg panini with mushrooms and when asked what kind of sauce I wanted from the neo-cockney chef, I repeated: "uh...white?" I figured it would be like a light hollandaise and I would enjoy some type of fusion eggs benedict. Upon realizing that the white sauce was actually mayonnaise and much of the sandwich was fried/greasy, I recognized that I was certainly not in San Francisco anymore. I considered this a cruel lesson I needed to learn about British cuisine, so I took the breakfast to work. Unlike most Americans, I am morally opposed to most greasy food and feel socially obligated to not let anything go bad. This meal put me in a massive contradiction. Ultimately I couldn't eat much of it. It was covered in mayo and I just couldn't, I would rather go to social justice purgatory for throwing greasy bread away than put crap into my body, whatever...perhaps I'm vain.

The bits of meal that I ate I enjoyed from the communal kitchen on our floor as no one had arrived at the office yet. I was a little early so I didn't think too much of it. But after the first half hour rolled by, I began to worry. The worst case scenario was that I worked at my other internship, which wasn't a bad prospect (no pun intended) at all. I asked the building's reception desk and there were no extra keys available, so I decided I would give them an hour and then head over to my other office. I figured the lobby would be a pleasant place to wait for my coworkers and read...

On last Wednesday, a student from Iraq came into the office to translate some interviews from Arabic into English for a story they're working on. I'm not entirely sure how to spell her name, but it sounds like 'Roose-elle,' and I discovered after she left on Wednesday afternoon that she studies medicine and is working towards becoming a doctor. She and her family left Iraq after the war started for several reasons, paramount being that the universities in Iraq have been shut down. Intellectuals, artists, and students are all leaving the area in droves because there is no longer work/school/support for them. Some of the producers at Out There joked that they should film their American intern and their Iraqi student translator talking. I was a little taken aback at first, but it's actually not a bad idea.

She came into the lobby about 15 minutes after I began reading and we spoke for a little while. I got the feeling that she was very shy and not entirely confident with her English abilities, but I quickly realized that there was a more profound reason for her standoffish demeanor. Like the first time you meet someone after secretly viewing their facebook/myspace profiles or hearing about them from a friend, I asked her questions I already knew the answers to. I asked what she studied and why she moved here, and if she liked London. There was a sincere sadness in her voice in describing that London is not the first place she would like to study, but being a refugee is easier when you have family in a city and speak the local language. I asked her what Iraq was like before the war and she lit up. She quickly responded that before the war, Iraq was the most beautiful place in the world. I feel like thats a pretty strong assertion, especially coming from someone who hasn't seen the whole world, but I realized this was probably not the right time and I was not the right person to point this out. I responded by foolishly joking that I was from the desert as well, that perhaps we had more in common than one would initially observe. She quickly replied that Iraq was MUCH different than the southern United States, even the part near Mexico. Rusell politely told me that she would walk around and come back later.

It was not disdain that filtered her statements, but instead a heavy level of dislike. She may simply have been shy or not liked communicating with men, and perhaps I'm reading into it too much. But, it was like she held me personally responsible for the death and suffering my country have brought to her country, as if I encompassed America, in all of it's nationalistic and vast greasiness. I have never felt more American, and fully realized last Thursday that whether I like it or not, I represent my country, our culture and our collective identity. I may live in San Francisco, but to some, I might as well have voted for Bush.

Trisha and Shannon on Trisha's first visit to a 'love' bookstore, Leicester Square:


That evening, I went with some of my housemates to an amazing bar in Leicester Square that has an event on Thursdays called Karoake Rock Star. It's basically just Karaoke, but with a live backing band. It was awesome! To make the night even better, I met up with an old acquaintance that I met through my friend Clay who quickly became a new friend. I didn't get home until 1:30 am that night, but it was a nice ending to my most American day. If the war in Iraq and greasy food identify America to some, it was refreshing to rediscover that so did good old fashioned rock and roll. Even if it does come with fries, I'd take American rock and roll any day.

My new friend Alicia and I at Rock Star Karaoke:


History in the making?

On Friday we went as a class to The London Museum (which was thoroughly LAME) and the Bank of England (which was much better than expected). I learned a lot about the role the bank plays and the history of British currency. They have a history of everything here...like...everything.


"Romans Go Home" and more at the disappointing Museum of London:


Outside the Bank of England:


Later that evening, I had a conference call with a woman named Esther who approached me at the USF Student Leadership Awards Ceremony. She heard we started USFtv at USF and explained that she worked with the Southern Sudanese Refugees and would like to help them set up an independent television station there. We've been corresponding back and forth about the project and finally spoke over the phone with several people who are extremely interested in getting a station on air before the 2009 election. It sounds like an incredibly daunting task, but I'm willing to help find the right people for the job so someone else can take the lead. I'm sure it will come up again on this blog.

Brighton

On Saturday some of my new friends and I traveled to the delicious British beach town of Brighton. Brighton's just about 1.5 hours from Central London, so we arrived via bus at around noon and since we couldn't get any hostels in advance, took the first bus back on Sunday morning...at 4:15 AM. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but Brighton was absolutely lovely...and tiring.

Trisha looking into the ocean for the first time...ever:

even if it is the English Channel, it's still sea water, get over it ya'll.

The Brighton Pier which had some super fun amusement park rides:


Cathy, Shannon, Trisha, Allison, and me on Brighton's beach:


This American Apparel-esque photo of Cathy, part of Allison, and I at such a fun club night called "murder disco." It was like popscene, but with even better music and the people here were actually nice. Some female hipster even complimented me on my loose, 'comfy' jeans. Prediction: loose jeans are the new skinny pants...thank you Katie Newman.


Because we stayed up for about 21 hours solid, including a dance club, some pubs, and an amusement park, I was fairly tired on the bus ride back:


Happy Father's Day!
My father and I during his last visit to SF (Feb. 2007):


My Mother and Ernie, her long-term boyfriend:


Favorites:

British Digestive Biscuits, at first I thought (and still do) that they sounded disgusting...leave it to the English to name a cookie a 'digestive biscuit' just because they're high in fiber. Once I tasted them at work, I quickly became addicted, they're especially nice with milk chocolate coating.


The Cardigans' "I Need Some Fine Wine, and You Need To Be Nicer" from Super Extra Gravity. I've been a Cardigans' fan for ages but this song came on my ipod last week and gave me just the right amount of kick in the ass.