Since I had spent a
little over a week in London two years ago, my expectations for our trip were
to see many things that I had already seen before without seeing many new
sights. However, I was pleasantly surprised that that was not the case. I was shocked
when I realized that during all of the time that my family and I had spent in
London, we had failed to visit the actual “City of London,” which was something
that I did not know was separate from Westminster and everything on that side
of the Thames before this trip. Also, during our walking tour of the Thames
River, I saw many parts of London that I had not seen before, and learned a lot
about the history of the city that I would have never known.
For example, learning
about the Brunels and their creative way of solving the issue of the congestion
of cargo ships on the Thames River fascinated me. My favorite part about
studying abroad in Europe is being able to learn something in a class and then
go outside to directly see it myself, so the fact that we learned about this
while sitting in the very site used to construct the tunnel was incredible.
This tunnel, which the museum worker described as the eighth wonder of the
world, was the first development that was built under a navigable river.
Ironically, this major architecture development never served its original
purpose of being a passageway for horse-drawn carriages containing cargo. By
the time it was completed, it was only opened for pedestrians because the
constructers ran out of money and did not have the funds to build ramps for the
entrance of cargo. Years later, the East London Railway company purchased the
tunnel, but currently, the tunnel is part of the London Overground.
During the walking tour
of the Thames, I realized how vital the river was to the development of the London
as a major city. The river allowed London to develop into the largest city and commercial
center of the UK because it was the site that all of the ships arrived to in
order to deliver goods to the island. This is a great example of how geography
plays a large role in the development of cities. Were it not for the Thames,
London would probably not be the capital of England and the huge economic
stronghold that it is today.
Relating to Brexit, I
feel like I was able to directly see many of the topics that we have been
talking about in class during this trip. Flying in, I could see how England is
physically isolated from mainland Europe by the sea. However, through my visit
to the country, I could see how England is also culturally isolated from the
rest of Europe. To me, it seemed like London had more similarities to the
United States than to Europe – partially because in London I saw many
restaurants that I did not expect to see outside of America, such as Bubba Gump
Shrimp Company and Five Guys Burgers and Fries, but also because of other
cultural similarities. In both England and America, the primary language is
English and judging off when the restaurants were crowded, the meal times seem
to be similar too. This was a huge difference for me compared to Spain, where
the meal times are much later and the culture seems more relaxed and less
reserved than in England.
On Saturday when we
were walking around the Trafalgar Square area, we saw an enormous protest
against Brexit. In class, we have discussed and read that the majority of
London’s voters wanted to stay in the EU, and that fact was apparent from the
huge turnout at the protest. Personally, I did not understand the point of this
protest since the referendum has already occurred, but nevertheless it still
shows the sentiments that many people in London feel.
Another thing that
surprised me when walking around London was that we saw some buildings that
still had EU flags hanging outside. I interpreted that as resistance against the
UK’s decision to leave the EU. However, the political situation has changed
since we left London; on March 29, Prime Minister May invoked Article 50 –
officially beginning the process of Brexit. For that reason, I wonder if those
flags will be taken down in the near future. Now that the process has
officially started, the UK and the EU have two years to negotiate a withdrawal
agreement. As we read in the UCL Constitution Briefing Paper, one issue that the
EU faces in relation to the withdrawal process is how difficult the
organization should make it. On one hand, the post-Brexit UK is predicted to be
the EU’s largest export market, so for the purpose of fostering good trade
relations, allowing a fast and generous exit would be the best route. However,
if the process is too generous, the EU runs the risk of other “Eurosceptic” countries
deciding to exit. I am interested to see how the negotiations will play out
because no matter what happens, there will be direct consequences.
From the articles that
we have read about Brexit, it seems like the event will not only negatively
impact the UK, but could also have unfortunate consequences on the EU. The UK,
being a country with the fifth largest economy in the world and the second
largest in the EU, is one of the most important members of the organization.
Furthermore, since the UK has the third largest population in all the countries
of the EU, they have a large role in the Council of the European Union and in
the European Parliament. The UK leaving will shift the distribution of power
within the EU, which could potentially shift the direction of the organization.
Stephen Wall, a former UK Permanent Representative to the EU, believes that the
UK has had a significant impact on making the EU more economically liberal,
supporting the enlargement of the EU, and strengthening the global role of Europe
overall. Without the UK, the strength of the protectionist states will
increase, which could result in the EU adopting policies that restrict free
trade.
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