Chivalry and Solsbury Hill

I find it interesting that one of the stereotypes Americans seem to have towards the British is that they seem to have a cold persona about them, rude almost. On the contrary, anyone who I've spoken to who’s visited or lived in the UK has said quite the opposite of this very wrong stereotype. I can attest to this as well just from my short time here in London.

It never ceases to amaze me that in this big, fast pace city everyone is willing to lend a helping hand.

On our first weekend here my friend from the program and I went to go locate our internship sites since both of ours are in the same area of town. We wanted to make sure we knew exactly where they were for our “interviews” the following day. I put interview in quotations because it was more of tea time and cake than an interview. I’m not really complaining, it’s just the way they were describing how the process was going to be during orientation was a lot more formal and nerve racking than it actually was.

Anyways, when we were looking for her internship site we ended up getting a little lost. We eventually asked someone at a crosswalk if they knew where this particular street was. When he said he wasn't sure, I was surprised when he took out his iPhone, and began looking up where it was and showed us on a map. Not only did this man take time out of his day to help us, he was extremely nice about it.

The other night at a local bar, it was pretty packed since it was a Saturday night. I had to stop and take a moment when I realized one guy after the other (I think it was three that I counted), stopped and moved over to the side and gestured for me so I could walk by comfortably. And I don’t mean this in a flirty way or any sort of sexual context, just out of pure politeness.       

The fact that these types of actions genuinely surprise me makes me sad. And I don’t know if it’s because the British use words like “darling” or “love” when they speak to you, but I really think us Americans could learn a lesson in general manners from the British. Maybe we’re the cold ones.

Now I’m not trying to totally bash my own culture, and I'm not saying these types of things would never happen in America. I just think in the age of technology we have become increasingly more standoff-ish. I ask you my friends, instead of looking down at your phones and tablets when you’re walking look up. Look around you, smile at someone. Say good morning, hi, or hello. And that is a challenge.       

On a different note, this weekend we went to Stonehenge and Bath. After having a typical London morning of finding out that the tube was closed and scrambling to find an alternative bus route, my housemate and I were running through the streets of London to get to our meeting point for the couch. Thankfully the driver was late as well, and we made it with minutes to spare.

Stonehenge was both impressive and unimpressive, if that makes any sense. The history behind it is really impressive. The fact that these people spent most of their lives doing back breaking labor, pulling upwards of 5 tons for literally years, and the fact that some of it still stands is really impressive. But the act of getting there, going through the metal rails and walking along a rope pathway was quite unimpressive. And it might sound strange, but what really took a lot away from the scenery were the fucking black birds sitting on the very top of the stones. They ruined everything.

Note the birds. 

Then we rode over to Bath through the rolling hills of Solsbury Hill. I could see why Peter Gabriel would want to write a song about it, they really are beautiful. And Bath is situated right in the middle of them, taking on the rolling like structure of the hills.

We walked around the town and then went to the Roman Baths, and at the very end tasted some of the natural spring water that was semi-warm. Overall I really enjoyed Bath, and I wish we had a bit more time there.

The bath in Bath 

Until next time, and remember: look up.