LONDON Study Tour

London Study Tour of Population and Devt class, 20-25 October 2001. Nakisali ra ko!

We got to London by bus (Eurolines). We passed by the Channel Tunnel, Calais to Folkestone on the way there and Dover to Oostende on the way back. Immigration as usual was strict. We got delayed in Calais as they detained some of our co-passengers whom they suspected of bringing drugs as they came from A'dam. Anyway, the trip across the channel was at 3:15 a.m. anyway, we had an hour to wait.

London is of course the biggest metropolis in the world and it lives up to its expectations. We got to know the Tube, as how they call the London Underground. You wouldn't miss the "Mind the Gap" announcement blaring over the entire subway system. And that's where I learned that you have to stay on your right when taking the escalators. Because if you don't, they're gonna bump you from behind as they're very busy hurrying away.

Londoners and the Brits in general have a very amusing (read: funny) accent. I overheard one lady say, "It is lovely to read" on the Tube. Then a child who we got on the double-decked red bus w/ that is ssooo London, blurted abt her companion, "He's convinced he's got more moles than freckles" Hehe...that's London for you.

Of course me and my companions made the most of the trip. We went around London. I just missed a trip to the British Museum. My fellow travelers (P&D participants) were required to sit for that lecture at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine w/c was really just a stone's throw away from the museum. I was not. Still I sat through the entire lecture. That was where I heard the phrase 'Coca-Cola marketing' :-)

Overall, this London trip was memorable. Because after I came back from this trip, I had to go home for two weeks for my father's wake and burial. I may not have the chance to go back there again. But I loved my time there alrdy, it's enough.