British Television

Sure, we've all seen fantastic episodes of Poirot on PBS or the endless Dr. Who marathons on BBC America, but as I talk to more and more British people, I'm being introduced to some truly, truly great TV. And yes Mom, I'm studying. Here are a few you should probably drop everything and watch (note--they're all PG13 and pretty suggestive--they're a lot more lenient about what's allowed on TV over here. If you're easily offended you should pass):

1) The Inbetweeners. I have only seen one episode of this, with some people in the common room of my hall, and I laughed tears for an hour straight. Now I can't get enough. Remember how awkward you were in middle school and high school? Okay, remember how awkward I was in middle school and high school? It's like that, meets The Office.

2) Mock the Week. We had something similar called "Whose Line is it Anyway" years back, but this is a lot funnier than that. My personal favorite is an episode my friend Niall sent me, entitled "Unlikely lines from the final book of Harry Potter." Definitely off color, but definitely hilarious.

3)Posh Nosh. This was sent to me courtesy of Mary, who is American but one of my original British friends. "Posh" means rich, so this upper crust couple teaches you how to cook legitimate food, including fish and chips that begin with an architectural model and end with 40k sturgeon.

We had our first real journalism exercise today, where we had to go explore the area around our new campus. Our lecturer framed it as a quiz, with some pretty random questions. London is obviously a historic place, but it never fails to amaze me how OLD and storied everything is here. In one hour we found a bank that was a property on the original Monopoly board, the origin of the first ever ambulance depot, and a pub called The Three Kings that's been around for 250 years, and has Henry VIII, Elvis, and King Kong on its crest. Pretty clever.

Tonight I went to The Frontline Club with Niall, for a discussion panel on the U.S. midterm elections and what they'll mean for the next two years leading up to the 2012 Presidential election. Panel speakers included the head of Republicans Abroad, the head of Democrats Abroad, an analyst from The Brookings Institute, and a Politics Department Chair from London Metropolitan University. The panel was mediated by an American journalist who has lived in London for 20 years and reports for BBC World Service. While the discussion wasn't that revealing from an American standpoint, the venue was somewhere I think I may up returning over and over again. It's a club for journalists in London, sort of like the journalists' dive bars that speckle New York, but this one hosts lectures, documentaries and discussions throughout the year. Very cool place!

That's all I've got for today. I'm settling in and meeting so many interesting people, but I must admit that today I started to feel twinges of homesickness. If you all weren't so great, this wouldn't be a problem!

Love,
Jess