London Study Abroad

Culture Gram Reading through the culture gram, I learned that a lot of the UK traditions are similar to the United State’s, especially in the younger generation, but there are some differences as well.  It says the British get embarrassed by loud or boisterous behaviour and are more reserved in public, while in the United States people are very loud. Families are also smaller there, and less people are getting married, or if they do get married, they wait until later to have children.  I knew about flats, but I didn’t know how prevalent they were in cities, taking up whole streets. There is also bedsits, which has a communal kitchen. Housing is getting so expensive that people just need a place to stay.  I liked that the ideal is to have a house and garden. In the United States, I don’t hear a lot of people talking about how they want a garden, and I think garden’s are cute.  It seems like weddings are a pretty big deal over there. It says they are usually as lavish as one

My most favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. She grew up in this home with her father, two sisters, and brother. Her father was from Ireland, and shortly after their family moved to this home, their mother passed away. Charlotte had two older sisters, but they passed away when they were very young, age 10 and 11. It is interesting that it is a modest home and the Brontë sisters were such good writers. They would walk around the dining room table and discuss their writing and characters.  The moors surrounding the house inspired Emily and she included them in her classic novel Wuthering Heights.   The Brontë sisters worked as governesses for some time (like Jane!) because that was the only accepted thing a lady could do at that time when she was poor. Their brother tried a series of different things but ended up passing away at age 31 from tuberculosis.  Charlotte lived longer than her sisters, who died around age 30 from illness.  The sisters originally pu

The Regency Era is most famous because of Jane Austen novels like Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice . These books take place in the Regency Era of England, a time for art and architecture. The Regency Period is technically from 1811-1820, which King George III was found mentally incapable of reigning, and his son, Prince George IV, started to reign as a regent , or like a fill in.  George III died in 1820, and George IV officially took up reign, ending the regency period, but the regency era extends until the time Queen Victoria took the throne.  George IV was an extravagant spender, and he started many new architectural projects. He also loved art and literature.  The population grew during this time, which created more seedy places in the less affluent parts of England.  War was also happening with Napoleon during the Regency Era.  This was before the Industrial Revolution, which was in the Victorian Era, and this era is mainly known for its cultural and a

I liked learning about Queen Victoria. She liked to paint and draw and kept a diary, things I could relate to. Something I found interesting was that there were 7 attempts made on her life, and apparently she was really courageous about it. She was also made queen when she was really young- only 18 years old. She married her husband Albert, who she loved a lot, and who become someone she heavily relied on. He died when he was 42 and she wore black for the rest of her reign , which seems a little dramatic, but I respect it. She's a symbol for the British Empire, which greatly expanded during her reign. The number of people in Britain doubled, and to accommodate all the new people, there will new buildings and factories being built, which changed the British landscape. She was also the first reigning monarch to use trains, and the railway changed from being just for transporting things to transporting people as well. She also moved direct political power away from the sovereign.