Course Reflections, Tea Parties, and Gandhi

Today we met as a class outdoors at Tavistock Square Gardens and discussed our favorite parts of London, what we are most excited about when arriving home, and things we will miss the most. A majority of the students said they are excited about seeing their families and furry friends! London highlights that classmates shared included the close proximity of stores, the use of quick public transportation like “the tube,” enjoying the many different gardens, and a personal favorite, eating at Slim Chickens! 

After our class meeting, I walked to Regent’s Park to enjoy the scenery and nature’s beauty. There were many different fauna and flora I encountered including Greylag Geese, Mallard ducks, herons, and many more birds. 

This afternoon a small group of us had a tea party in Culpepper Community Gardens. We enjoyed our tea and cake together in our beautiful “secret garden.” The gardens had an array of many different flowers. An exciting game we played with Peter and Leah’s kids was to count the number of land snails we could find! 

This evening we watched the 1982 film Gandhi. This explores Mahatma Gandhi’s journey to freedom from British rule. There is a statue of Gandhi in our nearby park at Tavistock Square Gardens, which demonstrates his great legacy of peace for mankind. Gandhi is an important historical figure for the past, present, and future we all should follow. An important quote that resonates with me from the movie is, “Be the change that you wish to see the world.”

Blog post provided by Emily Brandeberry, a senior environmental and marine science major.