* Sorry, my GSU email wasn’t working for me and I didn’t see the email saying that we had to do a blog post.

I hope this is okay that I do mine late

I learned so much in London that I could never have learned in a classroom environment. To be honest, my expectation was that London would be a city with a pretty homogeneous. I was shocked when I found all kind of different people in the city. I ended up speaking more Vietnamese and French then I ever thought I would.

As far as the books are concerned, I loved seeing Brick Lane in real life after reading the novel. The experience of being in Brick Lane and eating some of the curries and sweets that Nazneen described brought the book and all it’s rich descriptions of food a new life. I had greater understanding of all the details in the novel and the roads that Nazneen walked through. On the tour, I also liked some of the history we learned about Brick Lane. I would have never guessed that it was once the home to a Jewish population and all the signs were once written in Yiddish. The history that was given added a three dimensional understanding for me.

What I learned about women writers in Britian is that their writing is complex and can encompass many fields of discipline. For my paper in another one of your classes, I am writing about Feminism and the intersectionality of the field. With Brick Lane, Nazneen’s experience as a woman was different than Margret’s experience because of Nazneen’s race and ethnicity. Margret’s experience was different than Betty’s because of class differences. Seeing all the different parts of London like Brick Lane and the “Darkest Part of London” tour helped me see the different in landscape and better understand the differences in the experiences of these women characters  and the women authors.

How did my experiences in London teach me more about writing by British women? Well, the class discussions definitely taught me more about the women writers we studied, but some of the walking tours gave more facts on the writer’s day to day life that really stuck in my head. The Bloomsbury walking tour was one of my favorites because The guide gave so much detail on how these writers lived and it still shocks me the way in which they lived. All the writers and artist living together like a neighborhood of swinger, but I guess inspiration has to come from somewhere. I enjoyed how the guide mixed in the Bloomsbury writers with prominent figures at the time. The crazy King who was poisoned by everyone close to him and the Queen who never knew what pug really meant. Also the Darkest Victorian tour and the Geffrye museum taught me the conditions in which the people of that time lived. From the poorest of poor to the middle class that appears to be better than ‘middle class’ today. Overall, each day I learned something new about the techniques these women were using to tell stories. The story drove awareness through a love romance to wake up the society like in North and South, or it shined light on a culture not fully understood like Brick Lane. My time in London was once in a life time. And I know that sounds cliché, but learning while experiencing a major city like London truly made me love British women writers more.

I can not believe that our trip is really over; The city of London was the absolute best! I did not know that you could learn so much in one week. This study abroad trip taught me a lot about myself, my writing, and about my history. I tried new cuisines that I would never try in the states. I saw how Londoners were shopping at markets rather than making a publix and walmart run. It was absolutely beautiful! And the fish and chips are to die for!

In London, I was able to step outside of the box and really bring some enlightenment into my life. In like manner, I learned that British women writers often do the same through their writings. Before this trip, I thought that much of what we read would be dull and overtly romantic to be honest; however, the readings were mind blowing….literally! The authors really step outside of the box and make their characters come to life. They reveal just enough information to ground the story, and leave the rest up to the audience like in The Embassy of Cambodia written by the English novelist Zadie Smith. I enjoyed Virginia Woolf the most though. Through her writing, I learned that it is of vital importance to pay close attention to what I read. Very few writers are writing “just for fun.” I believe that Woolf was preparing the world for her own suicide in which she later committed after the publication of her book. Now when I read, I try to get a good sense of the characters in the book and see which one the author could most identify with…it’s fun. As in Woolf’s case, I believe that she disguised her life through the character of Septimus.

I think this is awesome…devastating, but aresome. Her use of her personal life placed into a fiction book was stunning. To allow your personal story to  bleed through the pen as you characterize  stories of hallucination and insanity is great! I do not believe that I could be so creative. This gave me new insight on how to write my book. I was going to make it non-fiction. But Woolf has encouraged me to play with it a little and leave my audience the mysterious thrill.

I also enjoyed being able to see, touch, and feel some of the places that these writers once lived. It was interesting to walk down Brick Lane and see and taste curry. It was great to walk down the steps that Charle’s Dickenson did. The walking tours were a masterpiece.

Also, British women’s books are loaded with history and messages. however, It is left up to the reader to decode them. That is unlike a lot of the readings that I have read. Usually, the plot is evident, and the story seems to be well thought out and sitting smack in your face for you to understand. Yet, in these readings, you have to sort of dig deep in order to understand the depth of the messages. I guess that’s why I thought British writers (men and women) were boring because I couldn’t understand them. I learned that they aren’t boring at all. I truly enjoyed the readings! I enjoyed the language that was used by the women, through their books, and I like how many of the writers aimed to highlight the underlying oppression of feminism back in their times.  These women writers are the grassroots of active feminism.

I cannot wait to do this again!

Traveling to London for the British Women Writers course was a wonderful experience. Having the opportunity to walk through the city where many great writers lived and set their stories was very interesting and enlightening. The walking tours were informative and helped me to understand the circumstances under which the authors we studied were writing and setting their stories. There is something about being able to experience a place while learning it’s history that makes it, it’s inhabitants, and it’s place in history more vivid and tangible. The two tours that I enjoyed the most were The Darkest Victorian Walking Tour and the Blitz Walking Tour. The tour guides were incredibly knowledgeable, and were able to convey what life was like in Victorian and WWII London. The historical context and interesting stories the guides provided deepened my understanding of the novels and short stories we read for the class, as well as for novels I read previously that were written by British authors.

In addition to the planned activities, being able to explore the city on my own was also a great experience. There are so many fascinating things to see! I particularly liked the V&A Museum, as well as spending an entire morning in some of London’s parks. London is an easy city to navigate using the tube, and would be a great place for those who want to be more independent to begin to venture outside their comfort zones. Additionally, because the trip lasted only one week, it is a great introduction to the study abroad experience. Overall the trip was very enjoyable and interesting. I only wish I could have done and seen more while there!

What an incredible experience it was to travel to London with classmates who have the same passion and desire to gain knowledge as I do. The walking tours were very beneficial because they provided a visual and historical background to go along with the novels and short stories we read. I think Ali’s descriptions of Brick Lane ring true to the actual location. It was plain to see that it was a rougher side of London that is more diverse than the other areas we explored, and the Bengali culture was obviously present, but like Ali said, it’s nothing like real Bengali culture, but more like an imitation of it. However, the food was AMAZING, and I will crave Brick Lane curry until I can return again. It was interesting to see how that side of London is so contained, and what I mean by that, is that there is an obvious color-line going on, and it was interesting to see how little the streets are taken care of on that side of the city in terms of trash disposal and just overall cleanliness.

My favorite walking tour was the darker Victorian tour. I definitely learned the most about the history of London on this tour. I feel to understand the tone in novels set in London by authors who have lived there is impossible to understand until you know how horrible living conditions were. The city was and is entirely overpopulated. I noticed that after a full day of being outside on the walking tours that when I would blow my nose at the end of the day, there was a black substance that came out of my nose. My roommate experienced the same thing, and I definitely think it’s because of the pollution. And I thought Atlanta was bad.. Anyways, I learned that London was at one time the biggest, richest, most populated cities in the world, and that because of this, there were many lessons they had to learn the hard way–like how to maintain clean drinking water, how to prevent and combat disease, and many things about personal hygiene that would keep the people healthy. The darker Victorian tour was great because it helped me understand what type of conditions women had to overcome just to write.

One of my favorite stories we read was “The Mysterious Kor.” I loved the discussion we had about dreams. It was really nice to talk about what different life events (like war and death) can trigger certain types of dreams. Even though it led me to no conclusion as to why my dreams are so insane, I still felt like it could be a possible research paper topic. I would really like to research the dreams of people who have experienced war and suffered from PTSD. I feel like maybe somehow it could lead me to some sort of meaning behind my own dreams. I would say that the amount of trauma I have suffered in my life is very, very minimal, and I am very interested in what kind of dreams a person would have if he/she actually suffered from severe trauma of some kind. Since my own dreams are completely outlandish, I am sure I would be amazed at some of the things I could find about dreams of those who are victims of war.

This trip was more than just a line on my resumé. It was a glimpse into a different way of life. It was an opportunity to walk the same streets that several of my favorite authors have also walked. Getting to sit in a room that was anything like one that Woolf was talking about in A Room of One’s Own was surreal and made me feel inspired to use beauty and solitude to my creative advantage. I am so thankful for the invite for this trip, and I will never forget the daytime strolls and nighttime stumbles back to my hotel. I couldn’t have asked for better instructors or classmates. You are all in my heart.

Much Love,

Chelsey

I like Zadie Smiths writing a lot and that’s probably because she is so modern and I can understand the flow of her words. I’m confused as to who is speaking, but after research the narrator becomes clearer in the whole short story book. It reminds me of Brick Lane in the way she is inspired by swimming like Nazneen was to ice skating. Living in a foreign city and having to adapt to a world that has a completely different culture can tear ones spirituality but Fatou finds herself when swimming.

The main craft element that really struck me was the constant smushing together of opposites in the same paragraph: rich and poor, the red Ford Focus (kind of lavish for a nun’s vehicle) in front of the nunnery, the idea of the old person and new person, talking about the Holocaust over pastries, trying to sound playful and not disgusted when telling Andrew to hush his mouth. All of these things and a few others carry on a theme of division throughout the piece, which I find brilliant since a Fatou struggles to decide whether or not she is a slave and also because she seems to be experiencing what is often termed as. “double-consciousness.” She is living and working in London, but as Andrew states and from what we can tell, she is not like other girls who live in London. Because of this lack of identity and confusion as to her place in the world, Fatou reminds me a little of Nazneen and Hasina. Like Hasina, she is struggling to make ends meet and keeps getting knocked down. Like Nazneen, she has trouble with being spiritual, so life is a little more bleak than it would be and this loss of spirituality from living in London instead of Cambodia makes her identity fade a little. All in all, Smith was very clever in how she gave meaning to things in the story, and this was overall a great read.

Last post and last night in London. I’m going to miss this place, but I will definitely take pieces of it with me. :’)

I can’t believe I’m writing my final blog post. It is so bittersweet.

The Embassy of Cambodia left a very loose ending which  disappointed a lot of readers; however, I enjoyed Zadie’s Smith’s style, and I feel as if it was designed to make the readers think. I could not determine who was actually telling the story, but I assumed that it had to be someone that had been paying close attention to Fatou as she journeyed through the neighborhood. This character brought the Embassy of Cambodia to life. I had no idea what this was, or what the people on the other side were doing, but it sure made me want to climb inside and see for myself. I think the story shows how we can be on the outside of someone’s life and looking in, imagining what we want about someone. Fatou imagined the lives of those who were on the other side of the wall just as the people who watched her on the side of the streets formed their opinions of her sitting on the sidewalk. They could only imagine “a violent conclusion or a hopeful return” for her.  I think this implies that people should take a moment to just check on someone! I see this all the time in Atlanta especially! People are so focused on their own lives, where they have to be, what they have to do, and they won’t stop to see how someone else is doing. But it only takes a few seconds to ask someone, “how are you?”

I try to make someone’s day even when I can’t brighten my own. I believe if any one of those people would have stopped and talked to Fatou, the story would have ended differently. But now we don’t know what happened with Fatou, or how life turned out for her. And we never will!

Zadie Smith made the characters seem so real and she raised some very intense points in this short story. I could relate to Fatou’s battle with her faith and religion. I feel that this story was short and complete and it served it’s purpose of making the reader’s think.

I noticed some of the characters in this story are in ways similar to those in Brick Lane. When Andrew was introduced, I remember thinking he was similar to Chanu. He’s interested in education, likes to explain things to Fatou, has a (probably smaller) belly that Fatou sees fold over on itself, and is characterized as a dreamer. Fatou also thinks he is a good man, even though he has flaws. Fatou’s relationship with his is different than Nazneen’s with Chanu because she chose to continue the relationship, however, Andrew is the person who initiated the relationship. Like Nazneen, Fatou has limited resources and opportunities in the new country she is in. Fatou is in some ways more more independent that Nazneen was initially because she worked and went out into the world, yet the circumstances she was living under really left her just as poorly off as Nazneed would have been. Nazneen had no way of supporting herself, and had no significant about of money to fall back on if the need arose, and Fatou didn’t really either, because even though she was working, she had no money, and probably would have had no references to get another job. I wonder how Fatou will get through after having been fired, and if she will end up marrying Andrew. If she does marry Andrew, I wonder how much of a factor necessity will be for her.