Books

London from "A" to "Zed"

Ann Clark

06 Feb 2009

United Kingdom

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Get a book called "A to Z" (FYI, Londoners pronounce "Z" as "zed" for some reason). It's basically a pocket guide to all the different neighborhoods in London. And, seeing as street names can change halfway through a block, these user-friendly maps can come in handy--especially for people like me who are already directionally challenged.

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Getting Around

Double check your train destination

Hillary Darville

23 Nov 2009

United Kingdom

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When hopping on a train in the UK, make sure the person who instructed you to board a train understands where you wish to go. On my way to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, I presumed when I said "Stratford" to the clerk that he clearly understood. Especially if you have a thick southern American accent, never assume that the clerk, let alone any Englishman, can understand you. One hour later I realized I was headed to "StaF-ford." Which was in the completely opposite direction as "StRat-ford." After jumping trains at "Stoke-on-Trent," I finally returned home without Shakespeare, but with one more adventure under my belt.

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Festivals & Events

This ain't your grandma's naked fire festival

Jonathan Rapoport

10 Feb 2009

United Kingdom

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Each year in April up on Calton Hill, the city of Edinburgh hosts the Beltane Fire Festival. Originally a Celtic festival, it was restarted by hippies in the 1980s. Scantily clad and fully painted pagans dance around and light various bonfires before hundreds of stunned onlookers. You have to get a ticket but it's well worth the 10 pounds ($15). Plus, you can get in to the pagan after-party which is sweaty, dirty, and goes on until the sun comes up. It also involves a lot of naked human pyramids, which had been on my top ten list of things to witness before I die.

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Culture Shock

Not culture shock... culture creep

Marshall Worsham

06 Jan 2010

United Kingdom

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For many Americans living in the United Kingdom, culture shock is perhaps better described as “culture creep.” The absence of any (serious) language barrier makes the initial adjustments to British life relatively easy. But the longer you live there, the more cultural differences seem to pop up. One is British people’s reluctance to get personal. An English friend complained to me once: “Americans always have an opinion. All they want to do is talk about themselves.” At first it struck me as nasty aloofness and antisocial condescension, but his comments point to the fact that the British take a very different approach to sharing the details of their personal lives.

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Must Do

Row row row your...punt?

Amy Glynn

23 Sep 2009

United Kingdom

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Oxford and Cambridge may be known for their rowing, but what about punting? A punt is a flat-bottomed boat pushed by sticking a long metal pole into the ground. Sound easy? It is actually harder than you would think; the first time I went punting I witnessed a punter fall into the river because his pole got stuck in the mud (note: if that happens, let go of the pole!) But once you get the hang of it, punting can be a relaxing way to spend some time with your friends drifting around Oxford's Chirst Church Meadows with a few bottles of wine and some nibbles. Or have a romantic getaway with your boyfriend--you sit back and relax while he does all the work! Punt racing is also a must, but make sure you give yourself plenty of room!

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Contest

The London Monopoly Challenge and the Circle Line challenge

Marshall Worsham

16 Mar 2010

United Kingdom

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One of London’s most popular weekend activities for the competitive at heart is the London Monopoly Challenge. You have twelve hours. Get a group of friends, a Monopoly board, and a spare liver. Stop at a pub on each of the 26 streets on the board, have a pint, and get the bartender to sign the square you’re on. Again, I really wouldn’t recommend it. But if that’s not enough for you, then also don’t try the Circle Line pub crawl. The Circle Line is a fantastically unreliable London Tube line running in a closed circuit around the center of town. Take 12 hours, get off at each of the 27 stops and have a pint nearby. Last one standing wins. (Disclaimer: Don’t do it. If you must, try it first with half-pints, or orange juice, or water)

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Etiquette

Keep your feet off the grass!

Vanessa Quirk

03 Feb 2009

United Kingdom

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Every college at Oxford has its own unique quirks and idiosyncrasies that weed out the tourist from the genuine student. But, here's a general rule of thumb: don't walk on the grass. Every college has its own rules about its spots of green, or quads. Some can never be walked on (not just for fear of incurring the wrath of the spirits of Oxford scholars past, but also the wrath of the burly porters who manage the college grounds); some require you to proceed in a clockwise direction; others can be walked all over and even used for picnics or to play croquet - but only after the summer term has begun. So in short, to avoid a lawn faux pas, just avoid all greenery until you get the low-down from someone in the know.

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Food

Teatime features cucumber sandwiches

William Hardy

12 Aug 2009

United Kingdom

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If cucumber sandwiches with butter on white bread and the crusts cut off are not your thing, then try to steer away from one of London’s most common daily events: teatime, with tea and sandwiches.

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Film

Play instead

Marshall Worsham

06 Jan 2010

United Kingdom

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The film industry in the UK has a hard time keeping up with its U.S. and Continental counterparts. Think of “Love Actually,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and that awful early-1990s “Moment of Truth” series, and you’ll get a sense of the purple in which British cinema is steeped. Go instead to a play. Many of England’s smallest towns have independent theaters with some top-notch actors. If you’re in London, go the tourist route and see a musical, or Shakespeare performed at the Globe. Or go underground and check out the Rose – a hip new black box company that performs above the ruins of the South Bank’s first Elizabethan theater, just down the street from the Globe. You shan’t be disappointed.

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Packing

Bring a raincoat

Ann Clark

06 Feb 2009

United Kingdom

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No need to pack a poncho--it rains, but not as though you're in the middle of White Water rapids. It's generally more of a drizzle, in which case a raincoat or umbrella will suit you fine.

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Religion

God save the Queen

Marshall Worsham

16 Mar 2010

United Kingdom

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I’ve been attending Sunday morning services at the chapel at Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis was a Fellow. Most of the colleges in Oxford and Cambridge have really beautiful high Anglican Masses, usually sung by boys’ choirs that have been around for four centuries or so. They’re worth seeing for aesthetic reasons even if you’re not religiously inclined. What I’ve found really interesting, though, is how the services reveal England’s un-separation of Church and State. At the end of some services, the congregation breaks into a rousing chorus of “God Save the Queen.” It’s been fascinating, if not a little unsettling for an American liberal, accustomed as I am to having my politics and my religion served on separate plates.

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Politics

Want to talk politics? Make sure you have a few hours to spare.

Marshall Worsham

09 Nov 2009

United Kingdom

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Drop the name of any recent Prime Minister – Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher – and you’re likely to get an earful. Or mention the phrase “Red Ken” in any pub on a Friday night and watch how people line up. That refers to Ken Livingstone, the controversial Labour party mayor of London from 2000 to 2008. Ask what people think about the current mayor, Conservative Boris Johnson, and you’ll get an even different split. All told, British politics is complicated, but people love to talk about it. As well as American politics. And EU politics. And Indian politics. Few topics are off limits, and if you’re not careful you can easily get sucked into two- or three-hour debates.

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Music

500 years and still singing

Marshall Worsham

09 Nov 2009

United Kingdom

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If you do nothing else in Oxford, be sure to hear a choral service in one of the college chapels. Magdalen, Christ Church, New College, and Queen’s Colleges have world-famous choirs. Most of its other college choirs are just as good, if not as renowned. Some of the most incredible experiences I’ve had here have involved the Magdalen choir singing Eucharist on Sunday mornings and Evensong weekday evenings, all by candlelight. The best part? It’s all free.

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Sports

Weekend sports

William Hardy

12 Aug 2009

United Kingdom

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Saturday morning football games on the local park pitch are usually pick-up, and walk-ons are welcome! Just don't forget to bring your cleats, or "boots" as they are known. Sundays tend to be reserved for a more refined game. Cricket anyone?

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TV

Get your TV for nothing, your kicks for free

Marshall Worsham

16 Mar 2010

United Kingdom

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British law requires all privately owned televisions to be licensed. It’s pricey – £145.50 after 1 April of this year. The revenues go to support the BBC (notice how there aren’t any commercials on BBC stations) and telecom infrastructure projects. If you don’t want to fork over the money, don’t lose hope. You can catch the last seven days of your favorite British shows on the totally free and totally awesome BBC iPlayer. If you’re in the mood to get addicted to something, I highly recommend X-Factor, an American Idol-style competitive singing program, and Only Connect, a quiz program self-described as “the show that makes you feel like an idiot.”

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Fashion

Wrap up!

Marshall Worsham

16 Mar 2010

United Kingdom

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I thought I was into scarves before I moved to the UK. I was wrong. People here don’t just wear scarves; they wear scarves for their scarves. But in all seriousness, those cozy bits of neckwear are just as in vogue in the UK today as they were when Victoria and Albert were still around. Fancy shops such as Drakes of London carry extensive collections – nine styles and compositions in more than fifty different patterns – but you can pay up to £250 pounds for them. If that’s not your style, there are hundreds of street vendors and smaller shops that sell scarves that are just as trendy and possibly just as well made. In Oxford and Cambridge, consider picking up a college scarf – surprisingly enough, it’ll help you fit in.

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Dating

You might find someone, you might not

Marshall Worsham

09 Nov 2009

United Kingdom

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“England’s is a post-Christian society,” explained one of my college administrators before term began. “You’ll have no trouble finding whatever you’re looking for as far as dating goes.” I suppose that’s the case, but I wouldn’t say men and women just throw themselves at one another either. There are friendships to be had, hook-ups to regret, relationships to leap into, hearts to be broken. In Oxford, like in most places in the United States, there’s a spectrum, which requires the same exercise of judgment (or lack thereof). But unlike in most U.S. college towns, there are precious few people studying here to find a spouse. Except perhaps the royalty. But unless you’re royalty yourself, you probably won’t meet them.

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Health

Forget the bill, it's free!

Ann Clark

06 Feb 2009

United Kingdom

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Because health care is publicly-funded in London, trips to the emergency room are free--as my friends & I so bittersweetly discovered the night we got caught up in a bar fight. Not as exciting as it sounds: two guys were brawling & one threw a glass that hit my friend in the head....lots of blood and a taxi later, she got stitched up in the E.R. To our surprise, the visit was completely free.

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Slang

In Scotland, "band-aids" are called "plasters"

Julie Ardelean

23 Sep 2009

United Kingdom

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Me: "Do you happen to have any band-aids? I have a huge blister on the back of my heel." Hazel, my flatmate: "A what?" Me: "A band-aid." Hazel: "I'm sorry a what?" Me:"A band-aid? Like what you put on cuts or blisters." Hazel: "Oh, plasters!" (Hazel then pulls out a box with "plasters" plastered on the front.)

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Nightlife

London's no Río, but...

Marshall Worsham

06 Jan 2010

United Kingdom

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Most pubs are required by law to close down at midnight or earlier, and good clubs (which stay open later) are hard to come by. Unless you get invited along on a weekend of ultra-cool underground house parties of the camp-burlesque variety, expect early nights. One notable exception, however, is the gay district in Central London, primarily around Soho. Word on the street is that a handful of clubs, including G-A-Y and the Green Carnation, consistently have the best music and most interesting late-night parties anywhere in London. Those two in particular are known to be quite straight-friendly too.

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Being an American

Beware of taller bathtubs

Samantha Collins

22 Jan 2010

United Kingdom

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Perhaps it was only in the few bathrooms that I saw, but it seems the bathtubs in Edinburgh (or generally in the UK?) are at least a foot higher than those in America. I didn't realize how high up they were until I shamefully fell out of one and hit my ear on the door. The edge is high and the bottom is shallow, so be wary of possible crashing incidents. Neighbors don't like when you keep falling on their ceiling.

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