Blog Posts in Category: London
I love almost everything about London, but what I don’t love is their lack of recycling. It is impossible to find a recycling bin at Regent’s College, where I currently study. Quite frankly it breaks my heart. Throughout the city you can find them, but they are not nearly as common as they are in Durham or even Boston for that matter. There is really only a bin for bottles and it looks exactly like the “rubbish” bin next to it. I had to swat my friend’s trash out of her hand once when she... Read More
Fairtrade products are all over the UK. In the States, you may only hear about these products when you are looking for them or in health food stores. They are not mainstream yet, but in the UK, Fairtrade is growing bigger and bigger by the year. This came as a surprise to me because the English do not seem to care about the quality of their food or where it comes from. Evidently, I was quite wrong. The Fairtrade Foundation, for those that are not aware is a nonprofit foundation that encourages... Read More
I spend last weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. If your geography skills are subpar, Scotland is north of England. Scotland, though still part of Britain and consequently the United Kingdom, Scotland is quite different from England. It is sort of like England’s Canada, in my opinion; cold, less people, but better food. The food is better; however the food in England is pretty bad, so better is still not good. Before I go into detail about one of my meals it is interesting to note that I went to a... Read More
Each day I think I lose a few hours of my life due to the amount of smokers here in London. It is not like in the United Sates, where if you walk past a smoker you can just hold your breath and happily breathe fresh air after you pass them. If you tried to do this on the streets of London you would pass out. According to the ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) foundation , one in five British adults smoke, compared to less than a sixth of Americans. Also, unlike the US, the UK packages of... Read More
Prawn is something I had not seen before arriving here in London. I came across it in places you would expect such as on pasta or in a stir fry or fried, but I also came across it in unexpected places such as in a salad on a sandwich and as a flavoring on crackers and chips. I wanted to see what the hullabaloo was about. Prawn is basically jumbo shrimp. Often times in the US prawn are incorrectly labeled as such. They are nutritionally the same as shrimp, however the English use prawn in ways... Read More
Regent’s College has a variety of meals each day and I thought it was because they are trying to cater to the different cultures here at the school, but this is not the case. English cuisine is similar to American cuisine in that it is a mix of different cultures. In the morning, there is a combination of a full English breakfast, French croissants and pain au chocolat (a chocolate-filled croissant), and some granola and yogurt. A full English breakfast is an old tradition that used to be a... Read More
On Tuesday, the 22nd I went to the Soho NHS Walk-In Clinic of London and was able to experience the difference between the US healthcare and that of London first-hand. Since my arrival in London I have had this cold that I just could not kick. It seemed to be getting worse and I feared a sinus infection, so I eventually went to the Soho NHS Walk-in Medical Clinic. First, let me note that Soho is a fantastic part of the city; my favorite part thus far. I like to think of it as a combination of... Read More