~Henry Boye

Once upon a time there was a woman from the US, the most powerful country today, and a woman from China, a country that is going to be powerful in this century.  The woman from China, Sophia, began her journey in London last summer by beginning to learn to speak English by taking an English as a Second Language course.  Then, the woman from the US, I, arrived in the fall, during the rainy weather, in London.

One day, these two very confused girls went to the office of their department to sort out their schedules and they so happened to be in the same space at the same moment.  Shortly after trying to put together some puzzle pieces regarding their school issues, they introduced themselves to each other.  “Where are you from?” I asked the slender woman with beautiful long black hair.

“China,” said Sophia, “Where are you from?”

“The States,” I said.

We exchanged each other’s phone numbers and the rest became history.

She has been my cooking partner, study partner, travel partner and partner-in-crime.  While studying for our masters in anthropology, we exchanged our stories and knowledge of our own culture and home life.

We spent the year in London enjoying all the joys of baking in our kitchens.  Introducing Sophia to western cuisine, particularly desserts, such as brownies, rainbow cake, and banana bread, was truly an eye opener for her as many of them do not exist in China or are very rare.  I’ll never forget watching her eating the chocolate chip cookies and while I was talking, she said, “Sorry to interrupt, but these cookies are DELICIOUS!”  I laughed.

Sophia and I made Valentine’s Day Cookies

Til this day, I am still stunned by the fact that ovens are rarely found in homes in China.  I remember when Sophia first told me about this situation, I said “WTF?!”  This was a shocking moment because I wondered how can she get to enjoy the scrumptious bites of banana bread, pumpkin cookies, blondies, Valentine’s cookies, pizza, bread, lasagna and all the dishes that are baked in an oven.  In my home in America, I normally use the oven several times throughout the week, and so it’s really an integral appliance in our family life.  However, having seen how she cooks as a Chinese without the oven, I realize that we can still enjoy wonderful food, but with just a different taste palate like stir fried vegetables and meat and hot pot, a traditional Chinese dish I newly discovered.

Friends and I gather for a hot pot.

For those who do not know what a hot pot is, it is a pot that boils water and we put all kinds of food, including meat, vegetables and fish in it and cook it.  The pot cooks the food unbelievably fast.  We also add spices to add rich taste to the food. According to Sophia, the hot pot is a core material to social gatherings among friends in China.  A hot pot is typically placed in middle of a table and friends gather around the table and take food out of the pot with chopsticks and transfer it to the plates.  While nibbling on the food from the hot pot, people chat.

“I think I should open a bakery,” Sophia giggled.

“Maybe you should?” I said.

“I’m kidding,” said Sophia.

Months passed by.  “You know what, Rachel?,” Sophia said one day at the British Library, while we were taking bites of a very delicious blueberry cheesecake, “I thought I was joking about opening up a bakery, but I am now really serious about it.”  In the past several months, Sophia and I have been discussing her visions to open a bakery in China with a goal of opening up the Chinese to different cultures and broadening their horizons without leaving their homeland.  We will see where she will proceed next…

Then aside from learning about our day to day life of eating in our homeland, we also discussed political and economic situations and stereotypes.  This topic will follow in the next post.

Part One:

Part Two:

I didn’t go to London just to earn a masters in anthropology.  I went there to ‘reinvent’ myself, broaden my knowledge of the world, gain a greater appreciation of the world surrounding me, and most importantly, meet new people who are now my closest friends and will be my travel companions in the future.  In my courses, I studied how people interact with mass media, technology, photography, products, and companies.  The courses and activities in which I was involved this past year gave me lots of food for thought – Do I want to pursue a PhD to be more involved in research?  Do I want to continue photography or reconsider filmmaking?  Do I want to work with people with hearing loss?  Do I want to be a journalist?  Do I want to work in the travel industry?

While studying and writing papers for school, I ventured throughout London and the UK.  Oxford, Cambridge, Dover, Brighton, Worcester, and Southampton are all little trips I made by simply taking trains and buses.  Taking these trips gave me the realization of the ease of traveling within the country and led me to think about the logistics of traveling in the US.  One day, I wrote on Facebook, “The UK’s public transportation put New England’s public transportation to shame.”  My country does have a network of trains and buses, and New England is one of the areas in the country with the best system.  However, it is not the best in the world.

My friends and I in Brighton

When organizing trips with friends to other cities in the UK, booking a bus or a train was as simple as clicking the button of a mouse.  You can find a number of buses and trains taking you directly from one destination to another without a lot of hassle.  I’d be in Oxford within an hour by train from London or in Brighton within two hours by bus from London.  This is not the case in the US.  If you want to travel to Savannah from Atlanta by train, you have to go all the way up to DC and then come back down.  Greyhound has a bus service, but it takes nearly five hours and there are only five time slots.  Not to mention, the price is not cheap compared to the price of taking a National Express, UK’s major bus coach service.  At one point, I looked into taking a bus from Boston to North Adams, MA, and while there was a way to get there, there was only one time slot and not to mention, the bus stop is inconveniently located far from the town center, so far that I’d have to take cab.  Experiencing the differences of public transportation gave me thoughts of wanting to advocate for a better system in the US.  This is a difference that traveling can make in one person’s life – understanding the issues that our own country has and learning how we can solve the problems.

Aside from gaining a greater appreciation of the UK’s public transportation system, I continued to appreciate the charms of old architecture as I did during my travels to Italy and France.  It was more than just about gaining appreciation of the designs of Tudors and building with brick facades, but also gaining an understanding of where the designs in New England exactly came from.  I found architecture in New England, in particular in Boston, and in the UK to be very similar.  It is obvious that the settlers from the UK from hundreds of years ago brought their culture to New England.

On top of traveling to various destinations, I considered myself to be part of many destinations in the world everyday as I was represented an international student in London.  Believe or not, London is an empire for international students to study there.  Not one of my flatmates was from the UK.  They were from Poland, Germany, China, Australia, and the Netherlands.  Many of my classmates were from other parts of the world, including Sweden, China, Korea, Canada, and Jamaica.  I was immersed in learning about everyone’s home life, cultures and values.  I learned that most homes in China do not have an oven.  Universities in Sweden only have pass and fail grades.  Germans and Netherlanders value common goods.  I was also enriched in learning to cook different cuisines – Swedish cinnamon rolls, dumplings, and Russian soup.

My flatmates and friends learning to make dumplings on Chinese New Year!

Aside from being surrounded by students from all parts of the world, I was also part of a cosmopolitan life.  Everywhere I walked, there were Japanese restaurants with luscious Sushi, Chinese restaurants serving hot pots, Belgian restaurants serving mussels, American chain stores including Apple Store, GAP, and Urban Outfitters, and a Chinatown nestled in middle of the city adorned with beautiful lanterns and Chinese decorations.  One stranger walking by me could be from Saudi Arabi while another could be from Australia.  While standing on the subway and looking at everyone’s physical appearance, it was evident that London is rich in diversity.  As much as I wanted to escape my culture, seeing McDonalds and Starbucks on every corner gave me a sense of appreciation that many people around the world treasure my own culture.  I also gained an understanding of why people adored my culture – It is the creativity and ideas that we develop and innovate that many people admire.

Everywhere I walked, there were many cultural activities ranging from museums to theaters.  I am not going to deny that I saw ten Broadway shows, including Mamma Mia, Priscilla Queen of Dessert, Dirty Dancing and Legally Blonde.

In the past year, I formed a very close friendship with a particular woman from China, Sophia.  She was my classmate, study partner, chef partner, and partner-in-crime.  I will be heading to her home in China in a few weeks.  I will be writing a separate post about how our friendship came to be where it is today.

I could go on and write many more posts about the lessons and morals that I’ve learned in the past year, but I am going to end here for now, and perhaps write more in the next few weeks.  I just need to finish writing my dissertation and hunt for jobs as my masters program ends next month.

London has many parks spread throughout the city, giving people opportunities not only to soak in the sun, but also to play games and sports, have picnics and socialize with friends. It’s a place where people can escape the bustling life without leaving the city.

Taxi roaming in London!

Russel Square Underground Station