The Scarlet & Black, November 11, l917—page s

m

 

 

, bpen Space

By Debbie Wiener and
Rosie Miller .

The difference between the short
hop from Younker to ARI‘I and the
route we traipse each day to the
teaching site of Grinnellrinrbondon
shows a major difference between
going to school in Grinnell and
going to school in bondon.

We descend the three ﬂights of
steps to the sidewalk which runs
alongside the Victorian row of
buildings in our middlerclass
neighborhood, and proceed to
walk past a working-class housing
estate to a bridge that spans the
Regent's Canal, Next, we cross the
bridge and walk through a little
park which ends at a major high
way. A damp, musty pedestrian
subway takes us across, and we
emerge from its depths to a
bustling, commercial, in-
temational area. After making our
way down the crowded main
street, we turn down a quiet side
road and finally reach St. Mat-
thew’s Church, an impressive
Victorian building with a towering
spire and magnificent interior,
next to which, in a small building,
classes are held. 7

THE HALF-hour trip is one of
incredible diversity. In fact, the
whole city of London, through its
diversity, provides a tremendous
and intense atmosphere in which to
live and learn. Unlike Grinnell,
where the peaceful and quiet
Setting with its lack of distractions
is conducive mainly to studying in
a library or classroom, London’s
setting calls for a different ap»
proach. The classroom is only one
small part of an array of learning
sourc .

A vi t to Westminster Abbey, a
walk through the East End
working-class district or London, a
ride on the tube, or even a glance at
one of the evening newspapers can
convey information and provoke
thought. The huge city offers these
adventures and many more.

GETTING through the first week
in [tendon was an adventure in
itself. Suffering from jet lag, we
found ourselves plopped into a
strange country where, as we soon
discovered, they might speak the
language but they certainlv don't
speak our language. (Do you know
what “squiffy” means?) We were
expected to train- the streets,

 

 

Londoners enjoy on-thc-spot lecture coverage.

bewildered and weary, to find a
flat in a huge, crowded, com-
petitive city. Amazingly, most of
us accomplished this rather
quickly.

Sel satisfied and feeling in»
credibly proud of this feat, we were
then free to roam and explore.
Fortunately, London is large
enough that everyone can find
some corner, some personal niche
meaningful only to him Di" herself.
Then there are the shared ex-
periences. and the joy and wonder
that come from talking and
laughing with others about
discoveries.

THERE IS much to do around
Lomion. Although the pubs close at
if p,m. (yes, they really do, and
it's often quite frustrating), there
is a multitude of discos and cutof-
the-way late night “clubs” with
expensive cover charges and

not an easy task. The area around
the teaching site is a cosmopolitan
mixture of Chinese, Arabian,
Greek, West Indian and Indian
people and businesses. Many
different languages greet the ears,
and the delicious aromas of dozens
of little ethnic restaurants assault
the nostrils.

THE conglomeration of

people causes a discernible tension
that is revealed in many ways.
Newspapers and Tv documen-
taries convey accounts of racism,

heavy rock or jazz bands. The ,

amazing and exciting theatre
scene, the wide variety of late-
night cinema, and
what-else keep the West End
humming far into the night.

wherknows- ~

Walking around Soho at night we ,'

notice all types of people In the
streets. Merely to absorb the at-
mosphere and observe the action is
a special kind of learning. Buskers,
usually old men or young long
haired remnants of the sixties,
stand on street corners playing
guitars or harmonicas, inviting us
to throw money into the container
lying beside them.

DCCASIONALLY a group
gathers around a roving per-
former. On Leicester Square one
night, a burly, brash, Cockney»
accented man around 35 years old
attracted an appreciative crowd of
spectators with his distinctive act,
which included standing on his
hands with a long stick clenched
between his teeth \vhile eight
trained birds hopped up and down
on it.

It is impossible to generalize
about or describe the typical
Londoner, for there is no such
thing. The fantastic diversity of
London adds an unexpected
dimension to our stay here and
provides a distinct contrast with
Iowa Those of us who expected to
quickly meet some “veddy
British” people soon realized that
we would first have to find somck

London brings pleasant culture shock

itself moved in 1974 to more
sterile surroundings south of the
Thames. Picadilly Circus is lined
with shops advertising sex aids and
peep shows. Some features of the
city appearto be the same as many
years ago: the beautiful dome of
St. Paul’s Cathedral, pigeonrfilled
Trafalgar Square with lord Nelson
looming high above, and the
Gothic-style expanse of the Houses
of Parliament.

THE SECRET key to London’s
beauty is its , parks. Lovely,

, surroundings, promote a sense of

Gl’inllellians gather on London street.

violence and crime, The National
Front, a fascist organization, is a
main topic of controversy. In
everyday conversation, the term
“New British” is frequently used
politely, albeit often con-
descendingly. We last heard it
when our neighbor, a 45-year old
British woman named Pamela
Mae, complained bitterly tous that
the new landlord, “one of those
New British" who is concerned
“only with making money," is
degrading the character of the
building and changing the com-
position of the residents.

The changing face of London
extends to its physical makeup as
well. The famous buildings we‘ve
all heard about are still here to
gape at, but they share the
crowded city with new council
housing estates and commercial
developments. The famous Covent
Garden market place, where
Henry Higgins met Eliza Doolittle,
is new empty and scheduled for re-
development, while the market

gigantic open spaces in the midst
of a roaring city, they can be
described as selfrcontained
communities. The parks have
many purposes, but most im-
portantly. they provide a sanc-
tuary, a peaceful opportunity for
escape and respite. Grinnellians
have even been known to sit calmly
in the park, eyes closed, imagining
themselves transported back to the
cornfields of Iowa.

Local pubs also provide an ex-
cellent form of escape. The are
numerous and as accessibe as

' Grinnell's Pub (we have one right

around the corner), although the
hours are somewhat erratic. The
pubs are excellent places for
breaking down the traditional
British reserve, which usually
seems to evaporate after one pint!

ONE TYPE of education missing
in Grinnell dorms is learning how
to cope With the Necessities of Life.
In London, we get this with a
vengeance. We do the marketing in
half a dozen little shops (the

'cooperation which build on our

grocers, the fruiterer's, the but
cher's, the wine merchant's) and
cook with a jumbled assortment of
utensils i various states of
disrepair. We deal with the land-
lord, rent,l gas and electricity
bills, and handle cranky neighbors
like Pamela Mae (who pounds on
her ceilingwur floor—when we
disturb her). We coordinate a
household with three or four other
roommates—this type of education
is strenuous, timerconsuming,
often hilarious, and always
Valuable,

These “trials and tribulations.”
occurring in unfamiliar
discovery and a need for
previous experiences at Grinnell.
Not only do roommatiﬁ tend to
become very close, but all of the
ueople on the program are drawn
ogether through various shared
experiences such as overnight
rips and discoveries in and out of
class.

OF COURSE, this being Grin-
mellrin-London, classroom
education is far from neglected,
The “classroom" has expanded,
however. from ARI‘I to a whole
city. Fieldwork takes much .time
and energla and the combination of
field work and traditional class
Work is invaluable, The study of
the text of “Romeo and Juliet” is
greatly enhanced by actually
seeing ”Romeo and Juliet." A walk
through the East End supplements
the study of community
relationships among working-class
people quite nicely. Observing
slides of Victorian paintings can be
informative, but viewing the
original at the National Gallery is
infinitely more helpiul, Reading
Wordsworth in the library might be
pleasant, but reading Wordsworth
high atop Greenhead Ghyll in
G asmere can be positively in-
spiring.

Thousands of miles from
Grinnell, we get a new and cer-
tainly different perspective on the
school itself. son's, trickle in every
so often and to read about that
Small, isolated, but vitally im.
portant community gives one an
eerie feeling. The curfew, Kent
State and Affirmative Action
seem distant and rather foreign.
Although Grinnell is a major topic
of conversation here, returning
Will certainly involve another dose
of cultural shock. not unlike the one
we experienced soon after landing
at Heathrow Airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Kowals/ej . .
Phono h1story ver1f1ed

The story behind the origin and
development of the phonograph
has long been without verification.
Every seven years or so some old
\vidow from Newton,
Massachusetts, finds a battered
document claiming to be the
original “Treatise 0’ Phone," the
long lost true record of the history
of the talking machine. Well, not
since Gator McKlusky produced
his nearrperfect imitation (which
was later dismissed as the back of
a Life cereal box amid cries of
“It's in code!” from McKluskey),
has there been any reason to place
belief in any newly found treatise
as authentic. Until now.

AN OFF-DUTY proofreader in
Aak, Ohio, discovered what most
experts believe to be the original
“Treatise 0’ Phono,” Bzrozlav
“Jose” Zyprowski. practicing footr
stomping in his backyard, looked
down to find what at first looked
like the Treatise 0’ Phono, but on
second glance, was. Zyprowski
reported the find to the Aak, Ohio,

chapter of “Treatise o‘ Phono
Verification Committee" who
verified the document as genuine.
Printed below. is the Treatise as it

PHONO: An
Historical Look at the Phonograph

I401: ’Many people desire
something to listen to on Sunday
afternoons and Thursdays off.
Montpelier Ventroeniian Italian
egotist~invents the “Lago Fan-
tini," a wet noodle which is held in
one hand and hit with a Cat held in
the other. He does not live to enjoy
his success, as he is killed only
days later when the mule he is

now stands:
TREATISE 0’

riding explodes.

1626: THE first

foreclosed,‘
1791:

actual
phonograph record. A woman in
Long Island goes to a beach and
finds a flat, plastic disc. Mistaking
it for her husband, she brings it
home. It mysteriously disappears
when the mortgage on the house is

Benjamln Franklin

records his rendition of “Brick
House" on a wax cylinder.
Although it is a big hit in
Philadelphia, it gets very little air~
play nationwide, and finishes only
43rd on Billboard‘s year-end
countdown. -

1857: The birth of William Taft,
our fattest president.

1900: KING Frank of Nebraska
creates stereophonic sound by
surgically attaching the Meyer
twins to a record player. The King
is almost successful, but Margaret
short-circuits and destroys the
entire system.

min; with the introduction of
Big Band Jazz and the tubelcss tire
come the inevitable creation of the
cassette tape. So overjoyed is the
populace with the new invention
that it fails to realize until three
years later that a tape deck is
needed to play the cassette.

1977: The Rubin “Hurricane?
Vye Band (with the “Rublnettes"l
records Common Knowledge.

 

