Learning Journal #5

It's taking everything I have not to ignore the mountain of things I have to do and just read Watching the English. Yes, part of it is the fact that I have a mountain of things to do and would rather do just about anything besides any of them, and reading is one of those things. But the other part is that Fox's introduction to the book has been oddly fascinating to me (and besides, I am really enjoying her quirky writing style). The participant part of being a participant-observer is still so foreign to me—I'm an observer by nature, so much so that I've been known fairly frequently to not participate in my own culture, much less one that I don't actually belong to. You know, this whole field study thing is beginning to smell like a big huge learning experience... (insert sarcastic smirk here). In all reality, though, I hope that my own awareness of the true extent of my observational tendencies will be at least somewhat helpful in trying to be a full participant in London life.

Although playing the participant-observer is obviously applicable to the mere fact that I'll be living in London, it's been somewhat difficult trying to mesh it into my project. As I've been musing over the past several posts (and as other London FS-ers like myself who are afflicted with a mild sort of literary necrophilia have been discussing) it's difficult trying to figure out how to involve modern London when your project centers around dead things. However, I think that this perhaps offers us a reason to try even harder to do London like Londoners, since the bulk of our projects essentially isolate us in the observer's corner.

In reflecting on the activity from last class, I've also been wondering about what sorts of things the English value. The first thing that came to my mind?:

Let's hope Watching the English enlightens my clearly under-informed mind. In all seriousness though, I have a difficult time imagining what the English would value that would be immensely different from the US. I'm interested to discover what those differences will be!