The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

03 June was the day of the big Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant—a massive flotilla made up of 670 boats, travelling along the River Thames in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebration! Around one million people—including yours truly—braved the frigid rain in order to see what Guinness World Records has since proclaimed “the pageant [that] set a new world record for the largest parade of boats, surpassing the previous record of 327 in Bremerhaven, Germany, [in 2011].”

However, before the flotilla began its journey with the Queen, I took some time to wander amongst the people. I took the tube to the Victoria Station, near Buckingham Palace, and wandered slowly from there toward my ultimate viewing spot, just shy of Tower Bridge.

Along the way I got to hear Sir Tom Jones rehearsing live, and I watched as Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, departed their Clarence House residence in order to meet up with the Queen and Prince Phillip.

After waving off the Prince of Wales and Sir Lobster Tan, I continued on my walk, passing the Horse Guards Parade, 10 Downing Street, and Westminster Palace. And people. Thousands and thousands of people. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many people in one area in my entire life.

And they were all seemingly having fun, despite the rain and the cold. And what’s more, they genuinely seemed to be demonstrating feelings of affection for the (highly problematic) institution of the monarchy, as personified by the grandmotherly Queen Elizabeth II. It was an extraordinary thing to watch!

Finally, I reached my viewing area, with help from an uber-friendly female police officer who allowed me to sneak into an area that had already been cordoned off because it was at-capacity. Shortly thereafter, a long boat carrying “eight specially-cast Jubilee bells [went by], with churches along the river bank returning the peal as it passed” (ibid) and the maritime march began…

The boat with a specially-built tower to hold the Jubilee bells.

About halfway through, just as the rain was beginning to pelt significantly harder, the Spirit of Chartwell meandered by, carrying the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry.

Hard to see here, but from left to right are Prince William (blue), Kate (Red) Harry (black top and white hat), the Queen (white) and Prince Phillip standing between the poles. Prince Charles and Camilla are blocked by the lamp in the foreground.

After passing us, it stopped just short of Tower Bridge a bit farther downriver, mooring at the Tower of London itself, where the Royal Family watched as the rest of the procession happily.


As for me, I ran-sloshed to the opposite side of the Tower in order to snag some photos of Tower Bridge raised, which I was very pleased to see for the first time.

Waterlogged

The pageant over, I started making my way back to KG and MM’s but it took forever because of all the people trying to cram their way onto the trains. I distinctly recall thinking to myself in those moments: THANK GOD I WON’T BE HERE FOR THE OLYMPICS!!!

And so, another day in London was done—after being out in the cold and rain for so long, I didn’t do much that night other than starting to pack for the return journey home.

UEL Orientation (Day 3 of 3)

So, today was the third day of orientation, and, by far, the best, because it included the induction ceremony for my school...

 

 PLEASE STANDBY FOR AN EMERGENCY BULLETIN: 

Before I go too much further, I should provide some quick notes on differences between American and British English when it comes to discussing academics. For one thing, “college” is called “university” over here (apparently, “college” is a term used for posh high schools). Next, “courses” are referred to as “modules,” and your program of study (e.g., Cultural Studies) is called your “course.”

THIS CONCLUDES THE EMERGENCY BULLETIN… 

Okay, got that? So, the induction was for my program of study (Cultural Studies) and things related to it.

It kicked off with a two-on-one meeting with the head of the program, Debbie Shaw. She’s seems to be a really cool person, and she even remembered me from her brief visit to Columbia for last year’s Cultural Studies Association conference. She gave us the ins-and-outs of the program, and instilled a bit of the fear of God into us regarding assessments (the primary method of evaluation our progress—there are two of them per semester, and one is worth approximately 45% of our final grade and the other is worth about 35% of our final grade). I wasn’t able to meet my second teacher because he won’t be back from his sabbatical until next week (I'm excited to talk more with him because most of his CS work centers on sex and pornography!), and my third teacher wasn’t there either. Ah, well.

After meeting with Debbie, I had some downtime. Starving, I grabbed a full English breakfast from The Edge (one of our on-campus restaurants)—eggs, friend bread, bacon (ham), hash browns, and beans; and, no, I did not eat any of the mushrooms or black pudding. Yummy yummy yummy—I’ve been waiting for a FEB since about two minutes after I left London the last time!

I ate my meats, but didn't want any puddin'!

Having stuffed myself, I meandered around the main hall of East Building. I glossed over most of the groups advertising their things because they were all sports-related, and anyone who has known me for more than a few minutes knows that I’m not sports-inclined. But then…

Wait... what? Did I just see what I thought I saw?

Why… yes… it’s…

UEL HAS A TRIATHLON CLUB!

It’s £30 for the semester, and I’ll have access to swim-training on one night and biking/running on another. Coaches will also be available, and, when I asked about my lack of a bike in the UK, I was told that I could just rent it if I wanted. Even better, the team currently consists of some staff members and two students (neither of whom has actually done a tri before)—meaning, despite my lackluster physicality, I’m still the most experienced one of the lot! AMAZING! So, yeah, I think I’m gonna sign up for that bad-boy—but I am NOT swimming in the Thames!

After chatting it up with the students advertising the triathlon group, I headed on to my next session: a meeting with Hugh Bowman, the Cultural Studies program’s personal librarian. He’s a 64 year old Scotsman—at least I hope he’s a Scotsman—with a really long, gray, shaggy beard. From the start, he reminded me of Dooley from “Santa Claus: The Movie.” And he was also very pleasant and quite humorous, rounding out the comparison. (He also has the distinction of being the first actual UK citizen I’ve heard use the phrase “Bob’s your uncle!”)

Best. Librarian. Ever. (Next to Barbara Worley.)

After Hugh, two other speakers inundated us with information on everything from the campus bookstore, to emergency phone numbers, to equipment rentals (e.g., cameras, sound equipment, laptops, etc.), and more. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, the leader then played a 13 minute video about all of the accommodations UEL offers for students who need them (e.g., dyslexia services, childcare, etc.)—in all, about 9 people were interviewed during the course of the video, and at the end of each segment they would repeat the URL where viewers could find out more: “double-u, double-u, dot; you-eee-el; dot-co-dot-u-kay; forward-slash ______” By about the third time I could no longer hold my giggles, because I just kept hearing the Georgie character (from “The Catherine Tate Show”) plugging one of her charity websites!

Obviously, I do not own any of the material seen in this video.

It is an excerpt from an episode of "The Catherine Tate Show."

I am merely borrowing it for the purposes of demonstration.

Orientation ended with a lovely reception in the Art and Design gallery, where the Dean served us wine and sandwiches. She was a lovely woman from Dublin, with short salt-and-pepper hair and striking eyes. Both the Dean and the Vice-Chancellor offered us their words of welcome, and then we were able to mingle with staff for a bit. Very nice.

Don’t worry, I’m almost done…

Below you’ll find a few snapshots form my continued exploration of London at night. Tonight I took the DLR all the way to the Tower Hill stop, where I hopped out and walked around the Tower of London and Tower Bridge (and City Hall). I love this freakin’ city!

Until next time, remember: Bob’s your uncle!

PS: Today was a two-coffee day (awwww); but, I got to watch another episode of "Come Dine with Me" on TV (yay)!

Tower Bridge

Brett at Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

The White Tower at the Tower of London

Brett at the White Tower at the Tower of London