Football, a Saturday, and rain. Yes I am in England! I received a ticket to attend a football match between the Queen’s Park Rangers, a local team, and Cardiff City, from Wales. We were told to keep a close eye on the spectators. It seems that the reserved British throw everything out the window at these games. They have quite a few chants saying not very nice things about the other team’s mothers. The most striking thing was boy behind me who couldn’t have been much older than 10 screaming to the opposing team that they are freaking crap (edited, I’d like to keep my site rated PG!). It certainly was a very interesting time indeed! It was a terrible day for it, it poured nearly the entire game.
I do have a bit of advice for attending such a match, research BOTH team’s colors. Turns out that I showed up wearing the opposing teams colors, GREAT. Noting came out of it but you do get quite a few dirty looks.
This past Friday I finally got to see Quantum of Solace. It was a good movie with an awesome car chase first thing. At the end I had quite a hollow feeling. It was a good movie, not a great one. Still go see it when it comes out!
Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Remembrance Day Parade. Remembrance day is about the equivalent to our Memorial Day. The Queen will be out to lay a wreath on the memorial in London. I hope to catch a glimpse to her! I’ll report back with my findings.
Pictures will be up shortly of the football game.
Today’s Understanding Britain class had a little twist. We had two guest speakers (and their dog) in for class. They are homeless and living in the streets of London. The professor that teaches this class has a high interest in this topic. It is an interesting one indeed and provided a look into a sometimes misunderstood lifestyle. The UK is a welfare state and has provisions to take care of everyone. That is until you fall off the complete bottom as both of these individuals have. They are stuck in an endless loop of being unable to afford and do not have a permanent address for a passport and cannot get a job because of no official ID and no permanent address and no bank account for the previous reasons. It’s an endless loop which neither can get out. They rely on each other for daily survival and their dog brings a little happiness into their lives.
I’ve always thought this subject to be a little bit of a taboo but it was interesting hearing them speak and how they get money (basically begging getting around £7/day between the two of them) and getting food. It truly is quite a sad story and proves that some wrong decisions will lead to bad consequences.
It was another gloomy day here in London. Rather cold and very wet. Tomorrows forecast is looking better though! This Saturday I’ll be going to a football game (soccer for you Americans) for class. Real hard work I know! From what I heard the crowds can get a little rowdy. There’s still a little time until that happens though. Good luck voting tomorrow! Make the right choice!
