showed us around the newsroom, told us the company employs over 2,500 correspondents and editors around the world in 197 bureaus, and took questions as we munched on cookies and drank water from nice bottles. After we left, David sent a Facebook message to our class moderator saying we conducted a very good interview session. That’s right, we’re journalists!2) Visited Westminster Abbey on Friday afternoon. Sadly, they didn’t allow any photography inside the church, but I guarantee you it’s beautiful. Frustratingly awesome, even, because there’s so much to take in and enjoy. Outside the gift shop, I followed around a pigeon and made it fly off right when I pressed the shutter on my camera.
3) Took photos of and talked to protesters at Parliament Square. You might have heard about the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and their 25-year civil war with the majority Sinhalese. Apparently, lots of Tamil supporters live in London, and they descended on Trafalgar Square outside the Houses of Parliament on April 6 protesting the British government’s lack of aid to the minority group. (The British pulled out of the island colony after granting independence in 1948.)
Interestingly enough, the Sri Lankan government hasn’t been calling the group a minority ethnicity, which is what the Tamils that Sarah
Brubeck and I talked to wished to call themselves. The Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan government prefer to call them terrorists. Later on in the weekend, that government declared victory over the Tamils after closing them off from any escape by water. Now, the Sri Lankan government has refused access to the war zone to journalists, so no one can decisively say that the government is telling the truth, but the Tamils did call for a cease-fire, especially after their leader was reportedly killed. I plan to follow this much more, if only because I feel a small bit involved, having reported on the protest through photos for the Indiana Daily Student.4) Visited Stonehenge and Bath on Saturday. As I’m more of a visual person than a verbal one, I provide you with photos from the trip. Check them out.
5) Ate dinner at an Indian restaurant on Brick Lane. This was not the London everyone knows; in my opinion, it was livelier and more interesting, while more run-down, than the rest of London. The narrow one-lane street was full of vendors selling random knick-knacks on blankets, graffiti (but high quality graffiti! Some of it was golden!), vinyl stores, small clubs, and high walls. And everyone was Indian. There’s a statistic saying that England is 91% white, which is even less diverse that I had first thought, and I think the other nine percent lived on Brick Lane.
At first, our group couldn’t decide which Indian restaurant we wanted to go to. Fortunately, we had people helping us with our decision: the owners. They stood outside their restaurants saying, “Hey, come in here, best Indian food in London,” and, “Please, come in, we have great service,” and, “Hello, you want to come here, right?” After walking past ten or so restaurants and hearing a dozen sales pitches, we went to the one that offered us a free round of drinks. (I got white wine.) After everyone had finished their fish masala and lamb curry and nan, we felt full, satisfied, and tastyfied. (i.e. The food tasted great, and we weren’t stuffed to the brim.)
6) Indulged the American in me and watched Taken. Liam Neeson is a badass.
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