Political basics for journalists-to-be

(Copyright: Number10.gov.uk)

You won't hear from me much during the next three months. The school keeps us very busy. From now on we have to do a lot of research and write at least one article a day and answer lots of questions regarding local and national government and later even media law. The plus is you get into writing and have to cope with many different topics and speak with people. The minus is that there isn't any leisure time. The trainers want us to read at least two newspapers per day, magazines and the hand-outs.

Even if I visit a play or an event it's not for the fun anymore. Yesterday I went to see a very dull theatre play and took notes as this will become one of my first reviews. Tomorrow I'll meet the organizer of an event on the canal to produce my first feature. And Sunday evening I might again take notes for a news story.

Doing the research for an essai on central government I found this very interesting virtual tour through 10 Downing Street , the Prime Minister's office. Discover yourself how it looks like behind the "world's most famous front door".

Love it or hate it

There is a lot of work to do for me today as it's our "day off" and we've already received three assignments. The first one consists of three parts. We are asked to submit a personal statement about ourselves, to write a news story for a regional newspaper about two boys that nearly drowned when canoeing on a river, and to suggest some more follow-up stories about this event.

This first exercise is for training purposes only, but all following assignments will be graded and therefore relevant for the diploma.

Just to give you another insight into the campaign for the election on 6 May, I took a picture of all the material that has been thrown into the letterbox of our flat. It's material from all big and some small parties.

The picture of British National Party chairman Nick Griffin and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (see bottom right) caught my eyes today so I did some research on the BNP (no link here as I don't want you all to visit their website and by doing so increasing their traffic). The party uses the image of Churchill and some of his quotes. They ask the voters: "What would our war heroes think? They fought for keeping Britain British!" Family members of Winston Churchill have already complained and are quoted that Churchill wouldn't have supported the BNP's goals.

Doing my research, I came across a legal procedure going on between Unilever and the BNP. Unilever is running an advertisement campaign for Marmite, a (horrid) traditional bread spread in the English speaking world, titled "Love it or hate it." One of the TV ads shows the fictitious Hate Party that speaks out against Marmite and all Marmite lovers. BNP said that the man in the video looks very much the same as Nick Griffin and that the table and the wall with pictures and logos are very simular to the ones in the room where their video for the 2010 election was taken. In answer to the ad of Unilever, the BNP has recently integrated the picture of a glass of Marmite in BNP's election video. They now go to court as Unilever has sued the BNP.

Lots of work and fun ahead

For now, sightseeing in London isn't my preoccupation anymore. Today the serious side of life started with my first day at the London School of Journalism (LSJ). But I do hope it will be a lot of fun too.

The course seems to be a perfect pick. There is pretty much work for us all ahead (see alone the material they gave us to read, and there is more material to follow and assignments to fulfill) and the group, with all in all 13 students, seems to be very nice (see some of them in the nice courtyard of our school having lunch).

The very first day was very promissing. Our teacher Andrew did an excellent job by introducing us all into the (rather strict) rules of the school and how our assigments and exams will be graded in the end. He then dived right into journalism. Always coming back to former students of the LSJ. Some of them did an excellent job during the course and got themselves interesting jobs afterwards.

Today we learned how a propper news has to be written and how stories can be found nearly everywhere. Just look into a map of London or peep over a wall. Keep your eyes and ears open. Don't be shy as nothing worse can happen as that people refuse to speak with you, were just some out of plenty advises he gave us.

New to me was that PR and marketing is refered to as "dark arts." Speaking of dark. Have to go to bed now as there is some work to be done tomorrow morning before school starts again. Treated myself with a (free) preview show of the film Hot Tub Time Machine tonight. Quite fun, but a bit filthy too.

Keep on running - together

The London Marathon with more than 32,000 finishers is one out of five World Marathon Majors and the largest annual fund raising event in the world. It's estimated that more than 500 million Pounds are gathered by the runners and their supporters. This year, the two winners even finished the race in record time. The fastest runner was Tsegay Kebede from Ethiopia (2:05:19), and best female runner was Russian Lilia Schobuchowa (2:22:00).

I didn't see them passing by as I was too late at my viewing point at the Thames at mile 24. At that point there were quiet a few participants that needed encouragement, some looked quite weary and walked for a short while. The spectators gave them the support they needed by shouting "Come on, Steve!", "Keep on running, Sarah!" or "Good job, Tom!" Many of the runners had their names printed on their T-shirts so that you could encourage them personally. In revenge they often smiled, started running again when they had had a break, or said thank you.

Quite a few people ran for charity and some of them were dressed up, pretty much like last weekend in Brighton. This time I even saw some couples and groups running together: Sherlock Holmes and Watson, two soldiers with rucksacks on their back, even a couple, she in her wedding dress and her husband in his groom suit, both with a sign on their back saying "Just married".

Another group, calling themselves The Caterpillar, aimed to break the world record for the largest group of runners, running a marathon tied together. All in the name of charity. Amongst other goals, they support two new operating theatres at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Another amazingly brave team were two runners who ran together as a camel. I'm glad I caught them with my lens. Don't know what Linda thought when they later overtook her.

United by our love for England

Today, Renate and Uli, friends of mine living in Hamburg, stopped by on their way home to Germany. During the last seven days they visited more than eight gardens and houses owned by the National Trust in the south of England. Last summer they had already spent three weeks in England, mainly focussing on gardens. The British are very much fond of gardening so it is a delight to visit them - nearly all year round.

Unfortunately nature is approximately four weeks behind so Renate and Uli didn't see as much bluebells as they had hoped to find. In recent years some gardens were full of bluebells in April. However, today all those colourful and beautifully arranged tulips in St. James's and Hyde Park were another highlight on their tour. We closed the day with a nice pint of ale and nice pub food in a Victorian pub in Mayfair - and for all of us our love for England became even bigger.


With a big concert on Trafalgar Square, the Londoners celebrated (yesterday's) St George's Day and their love for England today. I saw an even better performance with St George and the dragon in the star roles. I don't see through the various legends about St George yet but at the end of the play, after he had killed the dragon, the spring climbed out of the beast. There must be something in this legend at least as the sky was cloudless and it was extremely warm in London today. Looking forward to an even nicer Sunday tomorrow.

St George rides on London's streets again

St George is the patron of England and as he died on 23th of April 303 it's St George's Day today in all countries St George is the patron of. In London a great English tradition had it's revival with a parade through the City. St George, riding on a horse, was accompanied by the King and his daughter, a lamb on a little cart and some hundred soldiers. According to the website of the St George's Pageant this hadn't taken place since 1585. The poor horses seemed to be a bit nervous as lots of people stood very close around them when they reached St Paul's Cathedral and stopped there for a while. Let alone the tiny lamb on the cart.

This morning the second part of a ITV Channel 4 television series called Britain's Next Boss was recorded and I was able to be part of the audience. It was quite fun as the TV presenter, the studio manager and the experts were very amicable and acted very professionally. In tonight's show, the three experts concentrate on communication skills and judgement of the three candidates - and were all very much in favour of the Liberal Democrat's candidate, Nick Clegg. Let's see if I can spot me when the show starts in a couple of minutes. Have to stop blogging now (complementary remark a day later, you can see us all from the back only. I'm the third from left in the second row).

An overdosis of Wren's churches

Until well into the 19th century the only official source for corpses for medical research was the public hangman. This gave rise to the "Resurrectionists" (body-snatchers), who made 8 to 14 Pounds on each body. No wonder people sought "Safety for the Dead!" One answer was the iron coffin with clips in the lid. It was patented in London in 1818.

This metal coffin is just one out of many interesting objects in an exhibition in the crypt of St. Bride's Church, one out of more than 50 churches designed by Christopher Wren (1632-1723) in London City. I nearly had an overdosis of Wren churches today. Luckily some of them were already closed when I reached them. Will continue this walk through "The City" soon.

Close to Fleet Street, the church is known as the "journalists' and printers' cathedral." The church boasts Wren's tallest, and most exquisite, spire. It is said that pastry cook William Rich (1755-1811) saw the spine through his window and modelled his wedding cakes on it - and so this sweet stuff got its look.

As the church is so closely linked with Fleet Street, the seats are sponsored by the press. An unusual sight for our eyes but in Britain churches are much more part of the daily life as in Germany. At lunchtime, for example, lots of employees sit in the churchyard eating their lunch. Even I had my lunch in the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow today, which has been transformed in the Café Below.

Highlight of today was the Organ Spectacular at St Paul's Cathedral, a battle of three organs with the St Paul's organists. A great concert in a wonderful surrounding. The chief organist even explained some of the Grand Organ's features and demonstrated - with a live video from inside the organ high above - how an organ tuner works. At St Paul's, the organ tuner comes round every other week to tune the thousands of pipes.

Leaving the traffic behind

The parks in London allow their visitors to nearly lose all sights of the city. Unfortunately you can still hear the traffic on the streets running around and through the park and the planes heading for Heathrow airport. There were plenty today after Britain had re-opened its airports again yesterday.

The park is a great place for relaxing, walking, jogging, rowing, skating, riding. I just walked through the park, taking pictures. One is of the Pet Cemetery that isn't open to the public (but you can peep over a wall). In 1880 the first dog, Maltese terrier Cherry, was burried here by its owners Mrs. and Mr. J. Lewis Barnes, the last burial took place in 1967.

I also pictured some of the other sights in the park, amongst them the Peter Pan statue (pictured above), the bombastic Albert Memorial and the new Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

There were quite a lot of grey squirrels around. They have been introduced to Britain from the US and have pushed aside the native red squirrel. That's why British people are so very much fond of the red squirrels, and tourists like the often very tame ones in Hyde Park (Kathrin, this picture is especially for you!)

First times

Yesterday was a day of plenty "firsts" in my life. I walked through Mayfair, a very luxurious area of London with lots of upmarket shops, offices, embassies and hotels for the aristrocats and other riches.

And here are my "firsts": Browsing through a broad spectrum of edible (?) insects like a Toffee Scorpion (4,75 Pounds), Thai Green Curry Crickets (3,00) or even Oven-baked Tarantula (14,95) at Fortnum & Mason. Getting very close to some of the finest Impressionistic and Modern Art paintings that were incredibly well presented at Sotherby's. And visiting my first Burlesque show in the evening.

Fortnum & Mason is THE food emporium in London, established in 1770. I've never seen the staff of a shop dressed up that gorgeously. When one of the shop assistants approached me I thought he just came from a posh reception. He saw me looking at the tarantulas and told me that these insects are perfect to be given as a present to your biggest enemy. He himself has already tried the chocolate-covered ants and liked them. And he told me that a man who recently bought a tarantula immediately returned to the show to buy seven more of them after he had had a bite before even having left the shop.


Unfortunately, the tarantulas on sale expire in May 2010. Hope they can sell them soon or otherwise have to eat them all themselves. I prefered an individually bespoken and freshly made sandwich from the take-away stand of Fortnum & Masons. Just see how nicely it was wrapped up! And it tasted even better.

My guide book says that you can easily walk into Sotheby's. I guess, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. But the staff was so nice (even said "Tschüß" when I left) and didn't care about how I looked (a waterbottle hanging at my side and carrying a paper bag with goodies from Patisserie Valerie) and the pictures were gorgeous and extremly well illuminated. I especially liked Der rote Geiger by Feininger (estimated 7 million US-Dollars). You can't imagine those colours. The highest ranked picture was the picture of a flower vase by Henri Matisse, estimated of up to 25 million Dollars. Will be in an auction on 5th and 6th of May in New York. And will then disappear again in another private villa or safe.

The day ended with another "first," my first Burlesque show I've ever attended. It was the opening of London Burlesque Week 2010. Very entertaining and witty. You wouldn't think so as striptease is the chief attraction in these shows. Lots of women, or I should better say ladies, in the audience. On the stage were actresses from the UK, the USA and even Australia. There was an actor too. He started off as a magician and ended up naked with a sign covering the most interesting parts saying CENSORED...

Passing through a frame into a painting

In the house of the Huguenot silk-weavers named Jervis you can step into the world of the 18th century. Funnily enough, this family has never existed. It has been made up by the American artist Dennis Severs, who lived in "their" house in the middle of Spitalfields in the East End until his death 1999. His canvas was the imagination of the visitors who should "pass though a frame into a painting."

"Either you see it or you don't", that's the motto of the house. When you stroll through the house you gain the impression that the owners of the house have just left it. The house is entirely candle-lit and log-fired. You can wander around the whole house, from the kitchen in the cellar to the top floor tenants' flat. You can smell the food and in some rooms the mold, you can hear noises from Georgian times and the black cat of the house strolls around you legs.

"It's not a museum, it's an experience," the man on duty tells you before you enter. During your visit, little notes remind you of how to receive your impression. "What! You're still looking at 'things' instead of what 'things' are doing?

Another highlight of today was my first pub quiz. The Warrington is just around the corner of our flat and the quiz was organized by Let's get started. And you know what? I scored as the fifth table (out of five tables, I have to confess). First became the Maidavalables.

Amongst the few questions I was able to answer were "What is the most expensive spice?", "Who was Hitler's chief architect?", and "Which city is said to be founded by Romulus and Remus?" But you can't expect from a non-Brit to know which actor first played Dr. Who, to recognize the theme of a cult-series, or to answer the question which club reached the soccer finals in the UK, can you?

For my colleagues at work, here is another proof how small the world is. Just look at the third picture in the Quiz team galery and see who a member of The Flask is ...

Gemma and Polly have done it!

This year, it's 2,500 years ago that the first marathon was finished in Athens with the words "Rejoice, we have won!" - and then the messanger collapsed. In Brighton, my friends Polly and Gemma came through the finishing line of the Brighton Marathon looking perfectly fit (although they didn't allow me to publish their pictures on the Internet). They did the 26 miles in less than four hours. Congratulations to them both. I'm very much impressed by your performance!

In Britain, charity is very common. So many runners ran for a good cause. And they dressed up to be a perfect eye catcher. Some just wore t-shirts with the respective NGO printed on them, some even wore costumes - dressed up as Spongebob, a penguin, a man sitting on a rocking horse, or even as a toilet (see below; these runners ran for Wateraid, an NGO that works in 26 countries providing water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people). Gemma ran for her new project, in which she directs the open-air play Lovers Walk at the Brighton Fringe Festival in May.

London's most popular market

Notting Hill is just around the corner of Maida Vale. Here Julia Roberts fell in love with Hugh Grant, owner of a small bookshop, in the film named after this area. But today's main attractions are the Notting Hill Carnival which will take place later this year and the Portobello Road market. It's said to be the biggest antique (and vintage) market, added up by clothes, fruit, vegetables and fish stands. One could stroll there forever. After entering some of the shops you realize that you in fact have entered a conglomerate of shops.

I spent some time browsing through historic prints (and found a nice one for my grandmother's birthday designed by Beatrix Potter). I especially liked the clothes section too. Quite a few young designers present their collections on the northern end of Portobello Road. The trend seams to be "vintage", that is either second-hand, made from old materials or looking as if old.

For a moment I was tempted to try Mash and Pie, a typical London dish, but then decided to go for an extremely nice Palestinian breakfast accopanied by a tea flavoured with sage (maramia). And I treated myself with a silver ring and a new necklace. Couldn't resist in the face of so many nice things.

A house full of antiquities

Today I met Hans Sloane who celebrates his 350th birthday today in The British Museum. The museum's origins lie in Sloane's collection. I pictured him beside his bust in the Enlightenment gallery. Here you can find the museums earliest exhibits, amongst them some curiosities like the mummy of a mermaid. It actually is a dried monkey sewn onto a fish tail. Sloane told me that he chose to present such items to teach people that one can easily be fooled and how important science is. From all over the world he brought home some medicine, too. He treated his patients with chocolate, grounded mummie fingers or human skull.

After I took his picture, I visited the highlights of the collection of today. It's full of riches like the Rosetta Stone which helped to decode hieroglyphs, sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens (the so called "Elgin Marbles"), a very fine selection of Egyptian mummies, the Royal Game of Ur (one of the earliest known board games), a 1.2 million years old handaxe from Tanzania, and the oldest known sculpture of a couple in love (11,000 years old; found in Judea), just to mention a few. I left the museum at 8.29 pm in the very last minute before closing time.

Since 2000 the museum offers another superlative. The glas-and-steel curved roof designed by Norman Foster covers the Great Court which is the biggest covered square in Europe.

Britain before the election

Gordon Brown (Labour Party), David Cameron (Conservative Party), and Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) are just giving their closing statement in Britain's first ever live TV debate. They have answered the questions by the studio audience in the first of three sessions broadcasted by ITV, Sky and BBC. It seems to me that all statements are fine but after they will have been elected they won't care about what they had said beforehand. The British are quite proud about their "historical" TV debate. The leading parties had debated a lot about this debate - and finally stepped in front of the camera. Let's see who will be the winner on May, 6. Cregg seams to be the favourite after this first debate, followed by Cameron and Brown.



In contrast stand my photos of todays walk through Soho, Fitzrovia and Marylebone. I got out of Piccadilly Circus tube station and stood eye in eye with Eros. Wasn't hit by his arrow as he must have shot it already (and I've already been hit ten years ago anyway). It's one of the top tourist attractions. When it was unveiled in 1893, it was so unpopular that the sculptor, Alfred Gilbert, lived in self-imposed exile for the next thrirty years. How taste can change!

Walking home through Regent's Park, I passed this beautiful tree in full blossom. The admiration for nature rarely changes, I guess.

Day- and nightlife in Soho

Soho is named after the cry that resounded through the area when it was a popular place for rabbit hunting. In the seventeenth century the aristrocrats came - and made room for immigrants at the end of the eighteenth century. By the way, Soho's most famous Jewish immigrant was Karl Marx.

Today, Soho still is famous for its nightlife. I started to explore the district at noon and didn't even see everything that is mentioned in my guide book. It began with the handprints of Sir Sean Connery. And it ended with a visit of a great Westend show.

Having asked for the cheapest ticket available as I hadn't equipped myself with enough cash for the day, I received a ticket in the very first row. "It's quite loud on every seat," the man at the theater box office told me. The show was great and the view onto the stage superb (had to close my ears at some points though). Eight performers use everything from Zippo lighters, plastic bags, bin lids and even kitchen sinks to hammer out their rhythms. It was impressive to see how exact their timing was. They must have trained a long time for reaching this level.

Peeking into the Grand Temple

Today I joined a guided tour through the Freemason's Hall (auf Deutsch: Freimaurer-Loge). It's an impressive Art deco building close to Covent Garden and the tour was excellent.

Our guide told us that some buildings you see in films that are supposed to be the Kremlin, the MI5 headquarters or even Sadam Hussein's palace are in fact the Freemason's Hall in London. So you might see a lot of marble and blue and golden decorations whenever you watch a James Bond, a Johnny English or a Sherlock Holmes film. According to our guide the Germans didn't bomb the building in World War II because Hitler planned to use it after occupying England.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos inside the Great Hall so I bought a postcard and took a (very bad) picture of it for your eyes only. We have had a lively discussion tonight in our living room and as I'm not very good at doing things in parallel, this is the output.


There were plenty of other sights I visited today. Cleopatra's Needle, historic baths, the Twinnings tea shop, three churches, the Royal Courts of Justice - just to mention the most important of them. But it would be too much to write about all of them here. Have to go to bed now. By the way, had the best possible sushi for lunch today - see the mouthwatering picture below - and my first beer in a pub since I arrived. Many more good beers to come, I hope.

There is nothing you can't buy in London

I didn't buy anything today, honesty. But the surrounding conditions are perfect for shopping. Today I strolled around Covent Garden. There is nothing you can't buy in this city. Just look into two of the plenty shop windows with me, even if I'm neither sure the kilt makes dogs happy nor the ceramic hot/cold equipment women (more about this shop under www.coco-de-mer.com just in case you want to order the later online).



Around Covent Garden there are plenty of performing artists and you could stand and watch them forever. No wonder it's one of the major tourist attractions.

All of you who now might think I'm just about to forget my cultural claim should relax. Before strolling through the shops I had spent some hours in The Courtauld Gallery, a magnificent collection of mainly medieval and impressionistic art.

A little bit of Arabia in London

As a multi-cultural city, London also has a huge mosque. You can see its shiny copper dome and minaret from Regent's park. The Prince Regent must have loved it. However, my guide book says it seems half-hearted and curiously unspiritual. At todays Souk & Family Fun event I had the chance to proof if this was true - and it is. By the way, the mosques in Brunei we saw in December are much prettier.

The event was disappointing as well. Mostly goods Muslim families favour, like colourful clothes, juwellery, cosmetics, books etc. Even saw rumper suits with "Mini Muslim" printed on them. Much more to my taste were the three samosas I got myself for lunch.

A long walk all around Regent's park and its neighbouring streets, terraces and crescents of elegant town houses and villas all designed by John Nash followed. Have I already told you that the weather has been sunny since my arrival? Just passed the Sherlock Holmes museum and Madame Toussauds. I'm glad I don't have to do the typical tourist program and that I have so much time ahead. Soon time will fly, I'm sure though.

The day ends with us three sitting on the sofa, each of us having our laptops on our knees - working, facebooking and blogging, at the same time talking about all the world and his wife and watching Sex and the City. A sabbatical is a wonderful thing. You can do lots of things you wouldn't dream of doing at home.

Everything channelised

Equipped with a London map, a Rough Guide to London and the book London Walks. 30 Walks by London Writers, I strolled along Regent's Canal today. According to my guide book, architect John Nash originally had intended to have the canal running through the middle of Regent's park but was then persuaded that the bad language of the Navvies would offend the refined residents of the area so altered his plans. I hope to understand at least every other sentence of the real Londoners. On my way and during my lunch break eating a box full of sea food paella on Primrose Hill I tried hard to make myself accustomed to the London accent of the young people around me. Doing so, I nearly forgot to appreciate the view over London's breathtaking skyline.

Another good news is that I'm supplied with all the British goodies I favour, that is, e.g. cereal and Weetabix, English cheese like Leicester, houmous, couscous and watercress, salt and vinegar flavoured crisps and pear cider. The cider is already gone by now as I'm zapping through British television. Our flat is equipped with Sky and Justine told me I would like it. And I must confess I do - even if watching telly on Saturday nights normally is such a depressing thing to do.

Nothing special?

"London? Nichts Besonderes (meaning: "London? Nothing special")," my cab driver told me this morning on my way to the airport. I tried to convince him that he was wrong but he insisted on his opinion. He once stood on Tower Bridge in the middle of the night in the mist and didn't know the way. After three hours, a police car stopped and helped him to find his way.

My arrival in London today was completely different. The sun shone brightly, and my bus driver knew his way perfectly. He dropped me off at Baker Street and I continued my trip to Maida Vale under ground. London Underground is just perfect. And there are lots of customer service people around if you need help.

Maida Vale is extremely beautiful and so is my room. I even have my own bathroom. After having occupied my wardrobe I'm now off to get all the stuff I need. Maybe I already find one of my new favourite places to eat.

Ostern in Deutschland

Mein Abflug nach London rückt näher. Günter und ich genießen die letzten gemeinsamen Tage vor meinem Sabbatical rund um Bad Staffelstein und in den Haßbergen. Deutschland, oder besser gesagt: Franken, zeigt sich wieder einmal von seiner schönsten Seite: So richtig nass ist nur das gute fränkische Kellerbier, im Burggasthof gibt es riesige Burgspieße und tolle Torten für 1,80, eine Burg reiht sich an die nächste und die wiederum steht auf einer Anhöhe, von der man bis in die Rhön und nach Thüringen schauen kann.

Deutschland, ich werde Dich vermissen. Doch: "London calling" und I am then mal away...

Abschied von den Kollegen

31. März. An meinem letzten Tag im Büro vor meinem Sabbatical bereiten mir meine Kollegen einen wunderschönen Abschied. Kathrin hat mir eine CD mit London-Liedern gebrannt. Und ein kleines Schweinchen soll ich mit den Beefeatern bekanntmachen. Ungefährlich für das potenzielle Stück Bacon, aber riskant für mich, die vermutlich unter Verdacht der versuchten Majestätsbeleidigung gerät.

Sogar eine Sonderausgabe der icare wird mir zuteil. Mit vielen Tipps für meinen Aufenthalt in London ("road traffic is on the left side"), Berichten über meine Aktivitäten ("BBB - Bettinas Brodwurschd Budn" oder auch "Crown Juwels have been found in the rucksack of Bettina S.") und darüber, was sie während meiner Abwesenheit treiben ("Ab 1. April erscheint die icare wieder im Magazinformat - und halbjährlich"). Schaun wir mal, was sich davon bewahrheitet. Freut Euch aber bloß nicht zu früh: Ich komme zu Euch zurück!