Now Presenting....

Today I gave my first presentation here in London, to the Hammersmith Rotary club (my host club). They were so welcoming--as I've found all Rotarians are--and I really enjoyed getting to know them and their guests over a lovely dinner.

Just before the meeting, I stopped in at a coffee shop, where the cashier asked me if I was American. This happens a lot over here, and it's hard to tell when that question is a gateway to a whole conversation or just simple curiosity. In this case, it was the former.

The cashier, who was Italian, said he didn't want to offend me but he had some questions about America. Mainly he wanted to know if we still see ourselves as the leading world power, and whether many of us really pay attention to what's going on in the rest of the world. He was concerned with some of the crazy stories he hears about our country, especially with the midterm elections and some of the radical rallies taking place.

I told him that I can't vouch for the entirety of America, but I do think most Americans try to pay attention to what's going on beyond our borders. However, I explained that in today's climate, if you've lost your job or your house is being foreclosed or your kids are sick, worrying about yourself can be all you can really handle. I said people are just frustrated, and they often need their own personal security before they can start worrying about others. I wish that wasn't the case, but it's true.

He asked me about the soaring rhetoric that we hear in our campaigns (and not just from Obama), and whether Americans really believe that we really still are the "last best hope" or the great global leader. He said he feels Americans are somewhat naive about losing status to countries like China and India.

I told him that some Americans feel our country still bears the brunt of global responsibility, but you hear speeches talking about America's greatness because that's what people vote for. They want to believe America is still great and that we will continue to be great, because that signals security and stability, which goes back to feeding your kids and keeping your job.

No matter how long I stay here or how comfortable I become, it's encounters like these that remind me that I am still a foreigner here. And that's okay. I hope that by the time I left the coffee shop, the cashier understood where I was coming from, and maybe his ideas about America have changed a bit. Then again, maybe he found me to be fairly naive :)

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In other news, my tiger came today! Not the actual tiger I adopted--my room is far too small for that--but a little stuffed tiger and a postcard of the one I adopted. Her name is Kamrita, she's a Bengal Tiger from Nepal, and she has two cubs!

I guess that makes me a grandmother :)

I adopted a tiger and was attacked by a swan

Today was a zoo. Well, sort of. First off, the title of this post is true, I adopted a tiger.

After four and a half years of student journalism, I have been asked to accost random people on the street more times than I can remember. So when the poor downtrodden girl from World Wildlife Federation, who (I imagine) had been standing for hours in the pouring rain, asked me for a few minutes of my time last week, I stopped to listen.

She told me that there are only 3,000 tigers left in the wild, and that there are actually more tigers in captivity in America than there are roaming free on the whole planet! Can you imagine?!?!?! Neither could I, but I still wasn't prepared to give her my money, so instead I gave her my number and told her they could contact me later.

Today, the WWF came calling, and I started thinking about those poor tigers and how little it costs for me to adopt one, and how cool it would be to say that I am the foster parent of a tiger, and I just went for it. After I got the details about how much of the money goes to overhead costs and how much goes to the tigers, I became a parent. Pictures of my new tiger are being sent to me as we speak, and though I don't get to name him/her, I'm still going to give my tiger a sweet nickname like Bowser or Muriel.

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It was another lovely day today, so a few of us decided to head to Regents Park. But by the time class was over, daylight was dwindling, so instead we grabbed a bottle of wine and sat on the banks of the canal next to my hall. Isn't it pretty?



We thought so too, and then we were magically approached by the most serene-looking swan you've ever seen. Then it began to attack. Here's sassy swan trying to nibble at Katie's feet:



I know, it looks vicious, doesn't it? Lucky for us, killer swan had a friend that swam up and distracted us, then someone threw a loaf of bread into the canal so we were old news.



It was a pretty low-key Monday, all in all, but it's not every day you adopt a tiger and are attacked by a swan. In fact, seems like it should be the other way around.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Love,
Jess