Cheers from London

Me and Big Ben

Next Tuesday it will be four weeks since I pondhopped to this rainy island. Before any more time passes I thought I would start this blog. Now you can all have a good laugh at my hapless adventures (and my mother will stop bugging me about starting this.) But more than that, in this blog I also plan to discuss some of the differences between America and the UK, two ally nations that share a mother tongue and yet, as far as I can tell, are spectacularly different.

I am in London to earn a postgraduate degree in journalism from the London College of Communication. [Yes, for those of you keeping track, this will be my second postgraduate degree in the same subject. My logic is: In the very likely incident that I lose or misplace my first degree, I will have a second as backup.]

First, I'll explain my blog title.  A "Hack" is the British term for "Journalist." According to Wikipedia, which our professor directed us to for an explanation of hack, the term hack was adopted by UK journalists as a form of humours self-deprecating self-description. Also, expect lots of changes to the blog site. I'll make it prettier, I promise!

 To catch you up on my happenings during the past few weeks, I will begin at the beginning.  I left the US on Sept. 12 (it didn't feel right to leave the US on Sept. 11) for a three-day orientation put on by the Fulbright Commission to welcome the 50+ US-UK Fulbright scholars to the UK. During our orientation, held in London, we learned very important things such as pants are underwear and trousers are pants, that queuing (waiting in line) is a British national pastime, and that the Brits are innately self-deprecating. [Self-aggrandisement reeks of eau de Americaine, and is not well received.]

More seriously, during the orientation we had a wonderful schedule. The first night we received tickets to attend the lecture "Adapt or Die: The Future of News and Newspapers in the Digital Revolution" by Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, at the British Library. In an eloquent speech, Mr Barber summarised for a general audience of non-journos the most salient points in the ongoing "future of media" debate. He, like everyone who leads a similar discussion, ended his speech with a question mark, admitting that he doesn't know how journalism will sustain itself but that he is confident it will persist in spite of the economic impossibilities the industry faces. Nonetheless, it was entertaining to listen to his observations into the journalism world, (a feat, considering I was still extremely jetlagged) and I enjoyed hearing how the FT evolved to meet the industry's demands. Who would have thought making the paper wider and salmon-coloured would boost sales?

The beautiful Parliament building

The following day we, the US-UK 2011/12 Fulbrighters, attended a panel discussion in the House of Parliament with Lord Andrew Phillips, a Liberal Democrat appointed to the House of Lords in 1988, and Roger Graef, an American-born criminologist and acclaimed documentary filmmaker in Britain. The discussion was on UK Politics. This was fun. A Lord, being appointed for life, has no reason not to speak his mind. Lord Phillips scoffed at the ridiculousness of his title, and told us how he's embarrassed to travel because on his passport his official name and title are nearly 10 words long. He said that his country pays "ludicrous attention to status and money" and the country has allowed greed to permeate every aspect of British life.

Mr Graef spoke of the recent riots and of the political underpinnings that led to the riots. He said the riots were evidence that corruption among Britain's political elite had shattered the country's moral compass and that the riots were a result of a lower class emulating the behaviour of the rich and powerful. However, Mr Graef thinks things will not change politically because "deference is built into the DNA of this country." Unlike America, Britons don't believe they can do anything and be anything, he told us. And, he added, the media perpetuates the Brits' deference.

That afternoon we attended two more panel discussions at University of Notre Dame in London. The first was with Sir Ian Kennedy who lectured on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which he chairs. His job, he said, is the worst job in all of the UK because he determines the politicians pay and is therefore hated by all.

The next discussion looked at the UK's educational system and its media. One panelist, a researcher who has spent years studying the disparities in higher education in the UK, explained to us the hierarchical system of education.  He said that the universities are designed to allow only the best of the best in and the rest are kept out. He said that less than 50 percent of English citizens go on to higher education.

Also on the panel was Archie Bland, a foreign desk reporter from The Independent, to discuss the UK's media. He said that, same as in the states, the UK media is suffering from a series of job and pay cuts and it's becoming increasingly harder to secure a job in journalism. Just what I wanted to hear! He also pointed out that most British readers find themselves bored to tears by American print journalism, which is far too unsensational and long-winded for a British audience. And of course, US papers don't have Page Three. (The Sun tabloid paper features photographs of topless women on Page 3.)

Larry the Cat

On our final day, Fulbright took us on an exclusive tour of Number 10, or 10 Downing Street, which is our equivalent of the White House. Although I did not meet Prime Minister David Cameron, I did get to pet his cat, Larry, who we are told got along quite well with President Obama on his most recent visit to London. We also got to see the Cabinet Room (our version of the Oval Office) where the PM makes all of his big decisions. Our tour guide, a Number 10 admin who had likely been handed a stack of Wikipedia articles and told to take us around the residence five minutes before we arrived, pointed out where Obama sat when he was there, then said that maybe we weren't supposed to be in this room and shuffled us out.

Greta and I in Finland

After orientation I successfully launched a mad flathunt, which landed me an adorable shoebox just south of the Thames River in the Southbank area. I have three very nice roommates, all female students like myself, who I share this flat with.

A lovely Sunday in Tallinn, Estonia

Before I was able to move in, I took an impromptu trip to Scandinavia to visit my former Tempe Sister Cities' exchange partner, Greta, who is studying in Kuopio, Finland. Finland was an adventure! I went from the remote town of Kuopio to Helsinki, spent a day in Helsinki and then went by ferry to Tallinn, Estonia. Surprisingly, and only because I couldn't even place Tallinn on a map before I decided to visit Finland, this city is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. It was named the European Capital of Culture 2011. Go figure!

I arrived home (to London) just in time to begin uni (university) and move in to my new flat, all in the same day. Although my London adventure got off to quite hectic start, and I'm sorry to those on the receiving end of my frantic calls, I can now say that I'm truly enjoying myself.

Also, sorry this was such a long first post. I promise a lot less of my ramblings and a lot more pictures in the following posts! Hope all is well in the States. Cheers!