Our plane touched down at Heathrow London Airport, the second busiest airport in the world; no where near as busy as Pittsburgh International Airport, which I saw for the first time.
Straight off of the plane, we loaded onto a tour bus, and it was weird to be on the “wrong” side of the road and to see drivers seats on the right instead of the left. I’ve seen cars that you don’t see in the US, that you can’t buy in the US.
The introductory tour of London gave us views of some of the most recognized places in the world, including Buckingham Palace. I was disappointed that Big Ben (which is known as Big Ben because of the building and not the clock,) was covered in scaffolding and not as picturesque as one would expect it to look.
Along with the House of Parliament, some of the Thames River, and many historical statues, I noticed something else in London. The thing most related to my academics, even though it isn’t my major, was the advertising.
I saw a billboard for the new Pokemon movie, but it was nothing like the billboards you see in the United States. This one was not far off the ground at all, covered a city wall that ran along the street, separated only by the sidewalk between it and the wall itself. It was also multi-paneled. There wasn’t just one sign that included the title and director, the release date, and the main characters. It broke those aspects up into four.
Another method of advertising I noticed was the movie advertisements on the side of busses. The public transportation at home does have some small advertisements throughout them, but those efforts almost seem futile compared to the larger-than-life-sized Iron Man that was plastered on a double decker bus.
What does relate to my Journalism major the most on this day would have to be the Beefeaters that guided tours of the Tower of London. The Beefeaters showed fine-tuned skills of narration and creative and interesting storytelling. They could be considered reporters, informing the public of factual information, reporting on the history and activity of what took place in the towers centuries ago. They engaged the reader from beginning to end. I hope to be as successful in my own storytelling.