Week 5 Impressions by Andrew Barnes

An Epic Week

The last seven days have seen the group’s outlook on life in London swing from exuberance to academic hell and back again. The week was filled with parties, papers, and a much appreciated free dinner. I had the joy or misfortune of experiencing my 21st birthday in a country where the legal age of alcohol consumption is far from the aforementioned lofty American requirement. I was somewhat uncertain how such an American celebration of coming-of-age would translate across the pond. Far from family, friends, and home I feared that it would be a night of unfulfilled expectations. But I have come to realize that the individuals of this trip have come together to form our own unique dysfunctional family that I absolutely love and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with in London. It is a teeming mass of endless energy and ridiculousness that one of the group so keenly called an amoeba: We are a group of undefined shape and identity that has developed an overwhelming sense of camaraderie.

This idea of identity was to many a central idea for the week. The Diaspora Studies class assigned a 2,000 word essay that looked at British identity and community. This paper was not of exceptional length when presented to a L&C student, but for some reason it was the bane of everyone's existence. It could have been the lingering remnants of my birthday party the night before, but everyone seemed to run into difficulties forming coherent ideas and putting them to paper. A long night was had by many, clearly evident by the tired looking crazy eyes and heads nodding the next day in class. Perhaps merely by circumstance, Tom had organized a dinner for the same day that our paper was due. I think everyone was craving a chance to experience any sort of food in London through the wallet of another, and allowing the opportunity to save some portion of one's precious per diem. Tom of course made a superb choice of location at one of the local pubs, the Anglesea Arms, where pints and almost exclusively fish & chips were had by all. I think it may have offered the first time in some time where the entire group met in a social environment where conversation could actually be heard without the presence of bumping techno music at a club or bar intruding into the conversation. Of course my end of the table took full advantage of this opportunity and had serious discussions on the production of beer and what parasites from around the world we would avoid at all costs, clearly topics appropriate for our quasi-family dinner.

There is a growing skill within the group to recognize Americans from afar, a skill that we have nurtured to exceptional prowess. We avoid Americans like the plague. Those North Face wearing floozies are a group we would not like to be associated with. The group, although not always successful, has made a conscious effort to not be stereotypical loud Americans through behavior or dress. This was clearly on display this weekend at Kavanaugh's, a local bar which we have previously enjoyed for its eclectic 90s cover band and collection of authentic British boozers, The crowd that night was overly American, and it made an impression in our minds not to go back. I’m not exactly sure what that says for our sense of American identity, but it may be related to the bubble that is Lewis & Clark life or the fact that we are just so much cooler than everyone else.

The academic highlight of the week came from the Social Welfare class. With everyone still dazed and confused from their less than stellar essay writing performances, a field trip had been scheduled for the British Library to see an exhibition called “London: A Life in Maps”. To our delight, I think most found the exhibit to be very interesting and enlightening. The exhibit was a collection of maps giving a visual representation of the growth and development of London. The exhibit contained a variety of maps, ranging from maps reporting cholera epidemic deaths to unemployment distributions within London. It offered an interesting chance to remove the vast size of this metropolis from one's consciousness and see how issues of social welfare and infrastructure actually play out across this vast city.

The group is about to embark upon a totally different academic journey in the next week. Internship interviews have begun, and the days of long weekends are over. The joy of finally starting our placements, and getting out there and doing something currently is making the loss of free time acceptable. I personally am somewhat sad to see those days go. These past few weeks have seen the growth of so much friendship, and so many good times have been had, but the camaraderie will remain to take care of those who have had too much fun or to pick up those who have fallen over benches, and to sit and laugh about trying to break into the locked kitchen for the all important warm bread.