Two 16-year-olds Return to London, Part I
By Karishma and Kashmira Patel, 11th grade, February 26, 2004

When you think of New York, the Statue of Liberty often comes to mind. Likewise, the Eiffel Tower with Paris, and the Taj Mahal with India. However, when you think of London, multiple sites are associated with the historical British city: Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theatre, Westminster Abbey or Big Ben. The River Thames (pronounced Tems) is crucial to London because the city was built around it. The world's fifth largest city, London contains 32 boroughs, as opposed to New York City's five. So what do two 16-year-olds native to London see when returning for the first time in nine years?

England's transportation is definitely something we can all be jealous of. There, you don't have to rely on anyone to take you around. Just hop on the convenient buses. For out-of-town rides, simply catch the train. Both are available all day long, and if you get an annual pass, it's just pennies per trip! One guy or "chap" as the British say, gave us a family discount for the two of us and our cousin, so it was like a quarter to ride the train!

The currency in England is quite different from America’s. One pound (a rather heavy coin that is like our dollar) is equal to about $1.80 here. About ten years ago, a pound was worth $1.60.
Driving in England, or anywhere else in the world, is quite different from driving here in America. The driver's seat is on the right side, and you drive on the left side of the road. Also, the English have roundabouts, which are round circles of concrete or asphalt at the center point that different roads lead to. At an intersection where there is no light, you drive around the roundabout to get onto another road or just continue.

We found shopping to be one of our favorite things to do while overseas. The styles are so different and unique as compared to America’s. People dress up just to go grocery shopping! A lot of the clothing styles we saw in England are just becoming the latest fashions here, so the British are a lot more trendy.

Covent Garden is a popular outdoor market where vendors sell fruits, vegetables, flowers, crafts, gifts, and antiques. Each time we went, there were different street performers, from musicians, to artists, to still-life actors.

Oxford Street is a shopaholic's dream come true. It's a street lined on both sides with many stores.
The movies there were quite behind ours. Movies we saw weeks before in the USA were just coming out there. When our cousins wanted to go to the movies or "cinemas," it was very complicated since we had already seen most of them. There is also the option of seeing a broadway play or a play on a smaller scale. Shakespeare’s plays were first performed at the Globe Theatre in London. We didn't have time to go inside, but the reconstructed Globe Theatre is still open and running.

One of the weirdest experiences during our trip to London were the smokers. One day, we were at a theme park called Thorpe Park with our cousins. Two teenagers walked by, who both looked about 13, and they were smoking. We were making a big deal of that fact, until our cousins told us the legal age to smoke is 16. On top of that, teens drink when they're only 18! The driving age is 18, but it's no setback with the trains and buses! Another weird experience was stopping at a red light and having people run up to the car and try to clean the windows for money. Besides hanging out at a theme park, there are plenty of other things to do, for much cheaper. Popular hang-outs are the mall (shopping center), movies, bowling alley, skating rinks, coffee shops and concerts, similar to Americans’.

England's sports are somewhat different from ours. London is known as the sports capital of the world. There's cricket, which is the closest thing the English play to baseball. It's really different, and they take it very seriously. Then there's football, our soccer, which London is well known for. Wimbledon is the home of tennis, another sport Londoners love to watch.

For tourists, the hang-outs are always a little less casual. The London Eye is an enormous ferris wheel, and each capsule seats 25 people. You can see many landmarks during the continuous rotation of the 30-minute ride. A picture is taken right when you are at the top, and no one in our group was ready, so the picture was of our backs! On the walk to the wheel, there were street performers, two "statues" and one magician. Our three-year old cousin didn't know the "statues" were performers, so he started tickling a man's foot. Our cousin got quite a scare when the man began to move. We didn't get a chance to visit it, but Notting Hill (as in the movie) is where a West Indian festival takes place, which is the second largest street carnival in the world.

Hampton Court Palace is the place where many royals lived, but it is most famous for its hedge maze. After spending unsuccessful hours in the maze without ever finding the middle, we had to leave because the palace was closing up.

The Tower of London houses the royal crown jewels now, but it was once a tower of terror, where slaves and criminals were captured and tortured.

Westminster is where the government buildings, including the Houses of Parliament, are located. Buckingham Palace, with 50 acres of gardens and around 600 rooms, is the home of the royal family. Outside the palace gates is the Victoria Memorial Fountain, where people sit and relax near the tranquil waters.