In June 2005 many “Leistungskurs- English” students and two “Grundkursians” set out for one of Europe’s most stunning metropolis – LONDON! It was an exciting, entertaining and educating trip for all of us. London is not at all a homogenous chunk of Great Britain but it is its centre and a melting pot for diverse cultures from all over the world at the same time. Therefore our time in London was not just a sole English experience but a multicultural one. Everybody - no matter what he or she preferred to enjoy, explore or discover could indulge in his personal interests in this one-of-a-kind place.
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London is a real paradise for people who adore artwork and culture in general. First of all public museums do not charge their visitors any entrance fee, even many of the temporary exhibitions are for free. Therefore we met a lot of people who spent their lunch break looking at the world’s most beautiful paintings. (of course the museums are air-conditioned and London experienced an enormously hot summer that year-that might be another reason) One of the most exciting galleries is definitely the Tate gallery. The collection consists of paintings by famous and celebrated Pre-Raphaelites, a 19th century British art school. But it also displays many of William Turner’s extraordinary works.
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London’s theatre scene is broad and multifarious. We enjoyed one of Shakespeare’s plays in the world-famous Globe Theatre. This was absolutely impressive as we experienced a theatre visit like people did in the 16th century. But London also offers numerable musicals and alternative theatres to its visitors and inhabitants. One should be careful though with his or her choice of evening entertainment as not every performance satisfies high expectations - Mrs Eshkoff and Mrs Gansekow, who were our “chaperones” during that time, could tell you stories about that..
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I guess some of us (mainly girls) must have spent last year’s allowance judging the treasures they purchased. And - let me tell you - there were many convincing places to spend one’s money at…London has many shopping lanes like our “Kudamm” . Various famous - and expensive designers are located there but also more or less affordable shops like H&M. London’s numerous flea markets also add to a satisfying shopping experience. They are very quaint and one could spend whole weekends there. |
| Well…this is the part where I am going to talk about our hotel (at least they were not impudent enough to name themselves hotel, but “hostel” is the appropriate term they used) Our rooms were filled with 3 bunk beds and one sink (notice: for 6 girls…) and one chair. (notice: no wardrobe) I still believe that those beds were dangerous and that we were lucky as nothing happened to us. Our cots were very rickety and for that reason had good qualities as rocking chairs and alarm clocks. The hostel offered 3 or 4 showers for every hallway with about 15 rooms. But some of them were always closed as the toilets tended to be flooded… Anyways, the hostel was a fun-experience, too because people from all over the world lived there. And do we really need all that luxury that we are used to after all? |
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As London is such a great place, many celebrities decide to spend their lives or at least some of it there all the time. And we even saw one of them! Unfortunately it was not David Beckham, whom we looked for intensively in Hyde Park as he was supposed to jog there…but we encountered Jamiroquai. And if you do not believe us - we have real evidence because we were wise enough to take pictures of his exceptionally cool vehicle. |
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