Our first activity of the day was driving back into London to speak with former Parliamentarian Patrick Nelson. A very engaging and energetic man and trained speaker, Nelson served at least twenty years in the lower house of Parliament, or the House of Commons. His last term ended in 2001. Now that he ended his political career, he is a lobbyist and lecturer. He is also a lawyer; he didn’t specify what area he practices in, but he did mention Constitutional law.). The night before, I had many thoughts about the visit, and worries. I was apprehensive of the visit, thinking he might scorn us for being American or me for looking “odd.” I wondered if he would be hard to understand, or unintentionally bore us to death. I wondered if he was a Mister or a Sir (Are Parliament members knighted? And on tat note, what are the current day criteria to be knighted? Is it a military or civilian title or both?) These were the thoughts going through my head.
Incidentally, you become a knight by: nomination by the public, the British government, or the Queen herself. There are many levels of knighthood, but many public servants such as doctors, educators, scientists, etc. are honored in this way. (Info courtesy of http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/forum/forum_comments/2845/). And if the Queen herself won’t do it, you can have it done by a company especially for the purpose, http://www.britannichost.com/, for only 149 euros.
He spoke for a while explaining and defending certain practices of England, Great Britain, etc. One he focused on is England’s refusal to use the euro even though they are a member of the EU. It was rather inconvenient to switch from euros to pounds back to euros again, but he did make a convincing case about the patriotism and unity within England by having a separate currency – focusing on the country over globalization.
He commented on his thought that GB and the US have a special mutual-help relationship because of the US help supplied to Britain during WWII. I took it as referring to British troops sent to Afghanistan and Iraq.
He also spoke a little bit about domestic issues, such as the sorry state of public schools; an issue the US also has in abundance, especially in Arizona. In a global environment where it is so hard to get a job without an education, any country that does not put huge emphasis on it is doing their children, and therefore their future, a huge disservice. Nelson suggested a few strategies for improving public education systems, including having schools compete for students after a government-paid aptitude test for all. He also rather poignantly commented that the classic American Dream of prosperity might die with my generation. This comment weighed and still weighs heavily on me, entering a tough job market with, hopefully, two degrees in industries that are either considered dead or considered poverty line in income levels. Along with his other duties, Nelson is also a political reporter, and he seemed fine with that position, though.
He was also most helpful in explaining some of the political climate in England. England’s government took on its current form in 1660, when the people wrested executive power away from the monarchy and founded a Parliament. I then wondered why the monarchy was kept ceremonially. The districts which elect Parliamentarians are about 75,000 people, much smaller than US districts. The candidates run on a party ticket but their personal platforms consist mostly of helping their would-be constituents with everyday problems, such as seniors collecting the English version of Social Security. He told us about the Conservative Party (more of a moderate party, in American eye’s/related to US politics) which was in power from the late 1970’s until Tony Blair came to power as the face of the left-leaning Labor Party. As his tenure continued, the party became more middle of the road.
He told us more about his stint in Parliament – he spoke about their arduous hours in the past, but that working times had recently been reduced to 7 PM, even in the midst of a scandal about extra expenses plaguing Parliament, with public outrage about their expenditure in the middle of a recession. Nelson himself called the scandal and recession a “perfect storm” in politics; at the time, it seemed to me much like the current US climate, too. At the time of my journaling, I made the foreseeing comment of Obama’s lack of really doing anything at the time, and public being on the brink of this realization – at the time of writing these blog entries; I feel this realization has come to pass. At the time of the trip, and now, it scares me a little bit about all the unrest and strife in the world, even close to home.
After speaking to Nelson, we went down to the Cabinet War Rooms, where Winston Churchill was holed up during WWII. The line was incredibly long, so we almost missed going through at all. Once we made it inside, we got one of the self-tour audio headsets, and ran through the rooms quite quickly. The government carried out their duties as before the war, convening everyday and working feverish hours, suffering the constant noise and shaking from bomb attacks, unable to go outside for fresh air, stuck in tiny, claustrophobic rooms with steel doors and small hallways. Though I wasn’t able to remember all the history I heard and record it in my journal, you can read more about the War Rooms at http://www.iwm.org.uk/ I do think, however, that I got an accurate feeling for the fear, oppression, and stress that sat to heavily and precariously on Churchill’s and the rest of Europe’s shoulders. Even the most mundane items in the bunker were changed to suit strictly war purposes, and ghastly reminders of the war raging above ground were evident in every room, such as ever present boxes of gas masks.
We got back on the coach and made our way down to the Isle of Wight, near the very south tip of the island. We arrived at the coast with the Isle right across a bay absolutely brimming with sailboats of every conceivable kind, color, size, and state of disrepair. We hopped on a small barge to take us across and met some of the people working at the UK Sailing Academy, our final destination on the island.
For our orientation, one of the guys told us more about the programs UKSA has, from hosting international guests and royal family to holding workshops for kids. The Isle also has the America’s Cup Sailing Race. Most of the day was spent listening to our tasks a sea over the next two days, trying to decipher the employee’s English-isms, and fishing for crabs. I dreaded any of the water activities, enjoyed overcoming the language barrier, and failed miserably in catching any crab (I wasn’t too dismayed – they were slimy and rather snappy).
Some of the new idioms we heard were “posh,” meaning rich or spoiled, as far as I could tell. Also, “sun cream,” which was sunscreen, and the funniest of all, “swimming costume.”
For more information on the UKSA (you can go there and take a course), go to http://www.uksa.org/index.asp
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