Inauguration day in London

I have been awful about posting regularly--I suppose I should have thought that would happen at some point, with all the books I need to read for my master's program. I thought I would start again by telling how I spent yesterday, inauguration day, in London.

Oddly enough, Madame Tussaud's offered free admission to all Americans yesterday in honor of President Obama's inauguration--they were unveiling their new Obama wax figure. I went with Jen, a friend of mine from university. Normally, tickets are £25 per person. Does that seem like a fair price for a few rooms of wax figures, a tiny haunted house, and a short animated film about aliens obsessed with celebrities? One would think that with all the money they make from selling over-priced pictures, candy and souvenirs, the admission price at least could be under 10 pounds. I was glad to get in for free!

Some highlights:

Audrey and I have breakfast at Tiffany's.

One of my favorite Shakespearean actors.

Having a chat with Steven Spielberg.

Being spooky with Alfred Hitchcock.

Practicing my regal pose with Henry VIII.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Albert.

The Bard himself, back from the dead.

Speaking of back from the dead...

And, finally, the man of the hour himself.

After all this excitement, I went home and sat in bed to watch the inauguration over the internet. But yesterday wasn't just inauguration day, it was also a friend's birthday, so as soon as the ceremonies were over and I had watched George W. officially leave Washington, I left too, to head to Covent Garden. We went to a restaurant called Belgo, a Belgian restaurant and bar. It was down in a basement, and the waiters were all dressed like monks. I tried both Belgian beer (raspberry beer? who knew?) and mussels for the first time (so good) and, of course, had a waffle for dessert. What a night.

A picture of the inside of Belgo. The man in the middle wearing all black is one of the waiters, dressed as a monk.

Remembrance Sunday in the UK

Today was Remembrance Sunday in the UK, a celebration that goes along with Remembrance Day on Tuesday (Veteran's Day in the US). I've been struck, the past few weeks, by the difference in attitude toward this national holiday here as compared to America.

I started seeing people wearing red paper poppies a few weeks ago and at first couldn't figure out why. In the States, it seemed like we might buy a poppy at a supermarket to support a veteran's group, but no one would wear them around. Here, you see them everywhere: a constant reminder of both the World Wars and the wars happening now. It's almost required that you wear one: I was told that if TV personae don't have them on by the week leading up to Remembrance Day, their station will get hundreds of angry phone calls. The celebration on Remembrance Sunday is also a big deal: there is a parade in Whitehall, with the Royal Family and members of all the Armed Forces coming to lay wreaths at The Cenotaph, a stone tomb erected after WW1 in memory of those soldiers whose remains are elsewhere.

It does make sense that people in the UK would be more conscious of the effects of war: London was completely destroyed by bombs in The Blitz during WW2, as was much of the rest of the country. Compared to that, regular US citizens didn't see much during the war. It's become a part of the public consciousness over here in a way I'm only beginning to fathom.

In America, I've heard it said that there is a public forgetfulness over what has happened in our past--that's why 9/11 was widely termed a "wakeup call." But I think it goes further than that. We aren't even very aware of the war we're in now. On Sundays, George Stephanopoulos on his show This Week lists American soldiers who have died in Iraq that week. But the media are not allowed to cover the repatriation ceremonies of soldiers' bodies, a policy that George W. Bush created so that Americans' sensibilities wouldn't be upset--or to prevent too large of a public outcry against the war, depending on how you look at it. In the UK, live coverage of every repatriation ceremony is shown on multiple television networks. The bodies are given full military honors, with attendance often including bands, high-ranking government officials, and members of the royal family. Citizens line the streets to see the coffins pass, holding minutes of silence in respect.

If I could ask one small favor of the president-elect, it would do would be to change Bush's policy. Men and woman who are willing to fight and to die for our country ought to be afforded every honor possible in gratitude for their service and sacrifice. It's the least they deserve.

Catch-22s for Immigrants

I am frustrated this morning. It's easy not to think about this in today's world of the online global community, but effectively, when you move to a new country, you become almost a non-person. No contacts, no renting history, no credit history. You don't exist until you start paying utility or credit card bills.

One would think that it ought to be easy for someone with a legitimate reason (say, a student) to move to another country. But if often seems that things have been designed to throw obstacles in an immigrant's way.

Your experience as an immigrant to the UK might be something like this: you cannot get a visa without first having a job. But you are unlikely to get hired without a visa. Even if (like me) you have been accepted to a UK university, your visa application might still be rejected. The universities don't seem to have any power to tell the immigration office who to admit to the country.

Once you make it here, of course, you will need somewhere to live. But you may find this hard as well: most likely, without a renting history, you will be required to provide a guarantor who must be a land-owning UK citizen. Arrived in the country with no contacts? You might be out of luck. If you have a guarantor, or if you don't need one, you will still need a UK bank account. Problem there? You're often required to have lived in the UK for 12 months before you can open a bank account, and you will need first to have a permanent address (which you don't have yet, remember, because you're looking...)

And then, perhaps, after you're settled, and you wait until you have a bank statement or utility bill and a debit card so that you can finally get yourself a mobile phone with a monthly plan (by far the most cost-effective option). So you take your documents and go to the phone store, only to be denied on a credit check (yes, they check your credit to sell you a phone).

Such was my luck today. I wasn't trying to buy a house or a car, just a phone, but because I've only been in the country for a little over a month, I have no credit history. Now, worst of all, since I've been denied a mobile phone, I'm starting out with bad credit history.

I'm trying not to sound bitter. I understand, of course, why it is that I am almost a non-person in the UK at this moment, and why in many cases it must be that way, although I have to wonder if there's a reason why a credit check company can't exist across national borders. But really--should my lack of credit history prevent me from buying such a small item as a mobile phone? And should the fact that I tried to get a phone soon after I moved here because I need phone hurt my credit score?

I was a bit bewildered while applying for my Visa when I had to travel into downtown Houston to have my fingerprints taken. My father thinks this is because George W. started a policy that all immigrants to the U.S. must have their fingerprints taken, and so other countries created that policy for Americans as retribution. That was bizarre, but I think this beats it. In the United States, someone who walked into a phone store with a bank statement to prove their ability to pay--who would even be willing to pay a few months worth of statements ahead of time--would have no problem getting a phone. They might beg her to do so.

I'm hoping this will be the end of the seeming catch-22s I encounter, but I fear that's wishful thinking. I've never had to worry about my credit history before, but apparently now I will need to consciously build it up.