Saturday, May 23, 2015

The Shocks About Expanding My Culture View

     Within a few hours we will be boarding a plane that will be taking us back to America! It is honestly a bittersweet moment. London has been an amazing place and more importantly a fantastic learning experience. Throughout the entire trip there has been a few culture shocks that have widen my view of the world. The list of what has personally shocked me along the journey could go on and on. So I will enlighten everyone with a top ten list. The list includes the following culture shocks: 
  1.   There are so many people everywhere in London at all hours of the day. We always say that Las Vegas and New York are cities that never sleep in my opinion London is a city that never sleeps. I am a small town girl and the city of London has shocked my culture view to see a city that is crowded.
  2.     Homeless people are everywhere in the world and can easily be considered a global problem. I personally have seen my share of homeless people but London is different in this sense as well. There are so many homeless people in London that will have dogs with them. I understand that people will more likely to give money to homeless people because of the dog but to me why does the dog have to live like that? It was just a new view of the world in financial trouble that is sad for the people and animals involved.
  3.      The people here are not like American people I am use to back home. People here are very quiet and keep to themselves. When I first got to London I just thought that they were rude but as the days carried on I came to an understanding of their culture. It might even be weird to go back to America and deal with the loud people we have for awhile.
  4.      The fashion here is something that I have not seen a lot in America. Something I noticed within hours of being in London is that everyone male or female wears skinny jeans all the time! I have not seen so many men in skinny jeans in one place before. Americans really stand out because we where regular Buckle jeans.
  5.      So I am not going to lie because traveling and being single I could look at the guys in London. Let me tell you, I did not like what I was seeing. I am use to guys that are cowboys and in rancher clothing. Well the guys here might be a little more feminine then what I am. Our group talked about it and we decided that it was because most men in London have to do labor work. Therefore they are into more fashion and self presents.
  6.      No matter where you go in America you will always be able to see a street sign on every corner. In London a person will be lucky to ever find a street sign on a corner of a street. To find out what street someone is on is to look up on a building that’s on the corner because it will have the name of the street on the side of the building. To me it was a eye opener because I was never taught to look on the side of the building.
  7.      The police around London are like celebrities to tourists. As a group there were many events where we were with police officers and tourists would stop them for directions or just for pictures. I have to admit I am guilty of doing the exact same thing. It just blows my mind because people do not do that in America. We see a police officer and think negatively about them.   
  8.     Coming into this trip we all knew ahead of time that it is expensive in London. Holy cow is stuff expensive in London; it makes me appreciate prices in America. The shock to me was just how easy it was to spend money here just on the simple things like food and drinks. Even getting use to what their money looks like such as their coins was a culture change within itself. 
  9.      So I made a promise to myself before coming to London and that was to not pay to use a public toilet. In London most public toilets like in the train stations, a person has to pay to be able to use them. Well the last day in London I broke down and spent thirty pence to use the public toilets. It is a culture shock to have to pay to use a public bathroom because it is not like that in America. It kind of blew my mind.    
  10.      This last culture shock that has widen my view of the world not everyone will understand. The beauty in London is not like I have ever seen before. Every building is just gorgeously built to perfection. The landscaping in every park is kept up to enjoy. I now look at London and see a city of history and art; instead of a dirt city like we have in America. I will miss having the views of London.

        Well I hope that in a few years from now I can come back to London and experience what it has to offer. I will honestly miss London but I have the memories of this place forever. It is now time to take what I learned here and use it towards my criminal justice career. I am lucky enough to see how a different culture can help me widen my personal view of the world. Peace out London, for now at least!


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