Масленников Александр
Aspect College London, сентябрь-октябрь 2006 года

TRAVEL
It appears that the British authorities are more concerned about what is carried out of their country than what is brought in. After landing at Heathrow airport, the contents of my luggage were nothing but sniffed by a customs dog and remained intact. By contrast, two weeks later, going through the security check before boarding the plane for Moscow, I had to drink up my water on the spot, surrender my half-finished tube of toothpaste to the customs officer, and get rid of my cigarette lighter to boot.

GETTING ABOUT
Londoners complain of their public transport being expensive and inefficient. Expensive as it may be (it cost me £4.00 to get from Heathrow to Tooting Broadway by the underground), buying an Oyster card makes a world of difference. The passenger in London does have to put up with certain inconveniences, e.g. the stifling heat of the London tube and its getting packed in rush hours. But these are outweighed by the positive things: the tube is clean and bright and the trains run frequently; you don’t have to elbow your way into the bus for the double-deckers have ample passenger capacity; then, there are buses running at night so you needn’t worry about getting home if you stay too long at a nightclub.

PEOPLE
On my very first day in London, I was somewhat puzzled at what I thought was excessive politeness. You hear “sorry” and “excuse me” time and again, wherever you go. One may have scarcely brushed against you passing by, and “sorry” is sure to follow. However, it was a matter of a couple of days before I was taking it for granted and throwing sorry’s and excuse-me’s about. It should come as no surprise that London is swarming with foreign tourists. Nevertheless, the throng of foreign tongues in the City streets as well as in the tube was for me just about annoying at times. Also, there is a lot of what my landlady referred to as “broken English”, especially in the areas inhabited by immigrants.

SCHOOL
I liked the college in many ways. The teachers were nice, friendly and thoughtful. The lessons were fun. The study on the whole was no strain at all leaving students enough time to spend for sightseeing and entertainment. But what enraptured me most in the college was the language spoken by the teachers. Given today’s dominance of American English in so many spheres, having speakers of purely British English, even though for only two weeks, was a blessing. The college has a code of its own, a set of internal rules. For example, you can only smoke in a dedicated smoking area in the backyard garden. You must not be over 15 minutes late for a lesson or you simply will not be allowed in the classroom. Another one prescribes that only English be spoken on the school premises. Alas, this latter commandment is unscrupulously violated by the students whenever “the cat is away”.

HOMESTAY
I was lucky to have been welcomed by a considerate, solicitous and open-minded landlady who I could turn to any time. She made me feel free to bother her with both problems and trivia. One thing I’ll never forget about her is how she schooled me to courtesy: whenever I let slip the awkward ‘what?’ after failing to understand a word or phrase, she would stare at me with a roguish smile on her lips thus eliciting my ‘pardon?’ There’s a strange rule concerning the washing. You can have a load of laundry per week washed for free, but you have to pay £5.00 for each additional load of laundry. To avoid extra payment, I washed my socks and pants by hand in the washbasin – with consent of my landlady of course.

SHOPPING
There are plenty of places to shop and there are some where shopping may be quite enjoyable and satisfying. Well, markets should be counted out for they are much the same in London as anywhere else. I would recommend chain stores like Lidl (food and hardware) and Primart (clothing) where you can get quality goods for a very attractive price. ‘Pound shops’ are another amazing phenomenon featuring a variety of products (from hair ribbons to windscreen wipers) – each at a price of £1.00. On the last day of school the topic of our English lesson was traditional English food. It was then that I realised that I hadn’t tried a single genuinely English dish over my entire stay in London. I then set myself a simple goal – to taste the Toad-in-the-Hole before I left. After school, I spent at least two hours roaming the streets of central London and stopping at every menu board – all in vain. Funnily enough, later that day, as I was walking past a second-rate cafeteria in Streatham (South-West London), I saw “Toad-in-the-Hole” on their menu. Alas, I had spent almost all my money by then.

SIGHTSEEING
I wish we learnt to respect and preserve our cultural heritage in this country just as the English do. London’s museums are a magic world you will never forget. And you don’t have to spend a lot on visiting museums. Someone whose opinion I respect told me that all the museums in London that are worth seeing are free. If you have money to spare, the college offers an exciting social programme including a range of diverse activities.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that I am greatly impressed by London's cosmopolitanism. Such a melting pot for representatives of different nations and cultures from all over the world...

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