A Royally Good Time

Today I took 7.5 hours of Political Journalism in the UK. One of the things I found most fascinating was the exclusion of social issues, such as abortion, from the general election (yes, I am actually learning despite the pint of beer in each of my Facebook photos). I couldn't help but think about how different America would be if we did the same. Then I opened my laptop and saw the DOMA and Prop 8 rulings. In the midst of learning the ins and outs of politics in the UK, great things were happening with American politics. One more state down, many to go. I can't wait to hear my children laugh when they learn that same sex marriage was once illegal. 

In other news, we finally got word that our Ducks will be eligible to play in bowl games and that Chip is temporarily banned from coaching within the NCAA. Hmmm... No wonder he went to the Eagles.

Okay, I am going to rewind now. Yesterday was quite possibly one of the longest days of my life. We began class at 9:30. Our agenda for the day was Broadcast Journalism in the UK, Print Journalism in the UK, and Business Journalism in the UK. Needless to say, I preferred the first two sections. It was extremely interesting and eye opening learning about the history of the BBC and how different the media is in general in the UK. If you own a television set (whether it is plugged in or not), you are required to pay a 145.50 pound tax each year, equivalent to about 233 American dollars. This provides you with Freeview - the BBC channels, ITN, C4, and Channel 5. The competitor, BSkyB, is also available for a large fee on top of the tax. So why would you want BSkyB? Football. Until this year, football was only available on BSkyB.

We had a break for lunch where I enjoyed my first plate of fish and chips of the trip! 

Then it was back to class until 6:30PM. There was one quote from class that I couldn't forget, not only because it was funny, but it made me wonder why we have so many damn television channels. I have spent day after day watching House Hunters International for longer than I care to admit. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it's just there. Christopher Cook said, "The presence of many options does not mean that they are quality options - unless you enjoy watching coke heads take their clothes off." In this case, House Hunters is my porn. BBC's mission is to inform, to educate, and to entertain. That's why they don't have 27 pornographic channels like we do in the US.

After the long day, we were all itching to go out. We took the tube into Piccadilly Circus where we were instantly greeted with a street performance in which my friend Liz tried to push me in to join. It didn't take long until we were lost in the city trying to find O'Neills, the pub the rest of the group was at. After thirty minutes of wandering, we finally made it. O'Neills was a three story pub with casual Top 40 music on the first and second floors with live entertainment on the top floor. It was packed. Tucked into China Town, it seemed to be a favorite among the locals. We found the rest of the group...who had found a group of attractive Aussies. The rest of the night consisted of drinking beer, meeting new friends, and dancing to the live rock music upstairs.

I woke up too early this morning, not looking forward to spending the entire day learning about politics. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The locals keep telling us that Brits aren't as obsessed with the Royal Family as Americans are, but I met a man today that proved that false - Richard Fitzwilliams, royal commentator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fitzwilliams). You might recognize him from CNN! The minute he walked in the room I knew I would love the guy. Once he started speaking, my thoughts were confirmed. When he spoke, he spoke with passion and love. You could tell that the Royal Family was his baby and he its father. Hearing detailed accounts about everything from the death of Princess Diana, the Royal Wedding, and Harry's scandals, to the Queen's relationship with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from a man who is an expert on the matters was something that I not only never expected to hear in my life, but something I never thought I would have enjoyed so much. I hung on to every word Fitzwilliams said. He converted me into one of those obsessed Americans. Thank goodness Kate didn't have her baby today or we wouldn't have been graced with these amazing stories, for he would have been at the hospital instead.

A quote from Sheila Gunn (another one of our tutors) referring to the death of Princess Di:
"People were absolutely hysterical! It was very un-British." 

After hearing from our guest speaker, we had a break for lunch where I had a delicious mozzarella,   olive tapenade, and artichoke sandwich from the cutest cafe down the street, La Gourmandina.

After lunch, we headed to City University London to hear from Professor Ivor Gaber. He told us all about his career in journalism and his journey getting there. One great takeaway I had from him was, "Good stories aren't everywhere just waiting around for you find them. You have to go out and discover them. It's up to you to fill in the spaces."