Ok. First of all. I went to see a ballet of Dorian Gray and it was amazing. Gay sex in general is cool, but gay ballet sex...way awesome. After the ballet I went with my flatmates and another girl on the trip to a pub and we each had a pint (expect Mackenzie). Since I'm a total lame American who doesn't really drink, I ended up having an original Budweiser, that comes from the Czech Republic. Not...wherever the fuck they make Budweiser in the U.S. I went after my roommate in my flat had been sort of pestering me to go out with her for a while so I thought I should be a little social and go have a drink. To be honest with you. It wasn't that exciting. I have drunk beer before. I know that I just turned 20 and I'm not legal in the U.S. and that the drinking age in the U.K. is 18 so I am legal here. But that doesn't mean I all of the sudden have this deep urge to go out to pubs or clubs or whatevs. That's just not my scene. I'm kind of sick of everyone saying that I or Mackenzie should go out and have fun in pubs or clubs just because we are in London.
Guess what! There are bars in the U.S.
Guess what! They sell Guiness right in the heart of Illinois.
Guess what! In Chicago they don't have the museum of London, boat tours on the River Thames, old Roman walls to see, the tower of London, the Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the University of London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Observeratory, Kensal Green Cemetery, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Dickens' House, the London Aquarium, Albert Hall, Cabinet war rooms, the Florence Nightingale Museum, and the National Gallery and a ton of other places completely unique to London and Great Britain as a whole.
Oh and do you want to know how much that pint cost me. Over £3. Yes, that's right almost $6. I'm not saying that's a horrible deal, considering there was no cover charge. But I am saying that £3 can also help me get into museums, go on walking tours, go on the Tower of London experience, take another double decker bus tour, EAT for Christ's sake. I'm not going to feel bad about going out for a drink, having one pint, and coming home. Because I shouldn't feel bad about doing that.
I know I am 20. I know I'm young. But that doesn't mean I have to fall into some categorical stereotype that involves drinking or going out and hooking up with random people just because I am in a new city. If anything, that should discourage me from taking part in potentially risky or dangerous situations such as drinking too much and walking home after dark. I might sound like a prude or I might sound totally lame, but that's ok with me. When I go home to Henry IL (pop. 2600) I won't remember not going to a pub and getting wasted. I will remember not going to a museum or seeing a statue or just sitting in the park for the afternoon. I only have three months here and it's going to go by fast. I'm not judging people for going out and having fun, if that is their idea of fun. It's just not for me right now. I'm not saying I won't ever go out. I'm just saying... My friends in the U.S. were telling me I should go out and have a good time, meaning going to pubs and drinking. But I have fun in a lot of different ways besides that. I don't want to sound like a D.A.R.E. officer or some PSA, but seriously crack is whack.
London is such an amazing city for history. Not only because of all the museums, etc. but because history is all around. It's different from the U.S. in that the visible history goes back to the Roman times and the different stages of development can be seen through architecture, language, literature and so much more.
But the United States has a rich history too. And the United States has a HUGE impact on the world that can not be ignored. I don't understand it. It seems like there are so many undergrads studying humanities yet the people coming up the ranks of secondary education are so ignorant about the basic social sciences and humanities. I don't know if it is the result of lack of resources, good teachers, or just a lack of interest. But, as a U.S. History/American studies major, it's unsettling.
When we were taking a walking tour of London today, I heard some people behind me talking about U.S. History. They were basically saying that U.S. history sucks because we don't have all of the "cool" historical things that Great Britain, and really, the rest of the world has to offer. They were also saying that history was "boring" in the United States. I'm assuming because our nation is less than 250 years old. Obviously, it made me sad to hear citizens of the U.S. say things about our country, but it also offended me as a U.S. history major. I did not say anything to them then, but I wish that I would have asked them specifically what they thought was boring about U.S. history. It is because the U.S. does not have Roman artifacts lying throughout U.S. cities? It is because we don't have all the written records of history that Great Britian has to offer, therefore making it harder to piece together an idea of life in another time? I really could not understand it. Yes, I know the U.S. is young. But it's not fair to judge the United States history with that of another country that has been inhabited for thousands of years. A comparison just can not be made.
Though a comparison can not be made, it is a fact that the United States has a rich cultural history before Europeans even set foot on the continent. Only recently has Native American studies become a valid and respected academic field. And perhaps, if it weren't for the U.S. government's systematic, deliberate, and often times violent destruction of Native American life, we would know more about these awesome tribal people. Though it does set us back that the Native American people left no written records and it majorly sucks that their cultural traditions and ways of life were nearly wiped out by missionaries and other kinds of cultural terrorists, the Native American tribes and federations still hold infinite possiblities for further culture studies into the origins of the United States as they not only built socities around certain spiritual and societal beliefs, but they also used the landscape of an unblemished North America as well as the bountiful resources the earth provided for them to create working harmonious societies that people have been trying to replicate for years.
But beyond the Native Americans, the United States has contributed so much to the world. I'm not going to turn this into a history lesson, but especially within the last century, the United Staets has proved to be a driving force behind many economic and political happenings on an international scale as well as building up a capitalist society. And whether or not you agree with U.S. politics or capitalism, the U.S. is an impressive country, not matter what its age in years.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, as far as history goes the United States should not have to compete with any country and lose for not being old enough, or interesting enough, or historical enough. Every place, every country has something to offer. London is new and exciting and all we can really do at this point is to compare it to our reference point which is the United States. But it is very disheartening to hear that young Americans feel like our country's history is worthless because it does not touch them on the same scale that another country's history does. History doesn't just come to you, sometimes you have to go looking for it. You could be in London for years and never see a museum or see an ancient Roman wall or do anything of that sort. Just like people can live their entire lives in the United States and never know it's rich history. It's all in perspective. I was disappointed to hear people say disparaging things about the U.S., especially as Americans representing our country overseas. But if I got heated over every ignorant comment I heard by an American, Sarah Palin would probably make me explode.
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