England: Liana Lima (Interact)

Interact

During this past month, a few of my flatmates and I signed up for an FIE excursion to a local rugby game. I’ve never been much into sports but since rugby is extremely popular in the UK I thought it would be cool to see what the atmosphere was like as well as explore a new part of London. The experience opened my eyes to class differences, and the liveliness of British sporting events, and opened my eyes to a new sport.

The first few weeks after I arrived in London, I mainly stayed in Kensington and only traveled to the most popular and touristy places. These places shaped my first impression of London to be an extremely fancy and historical area filled to the brim with classy business people in trench coats. The rugby game took place in Twickenham Stoop Stadium, which is in Zone Five, making the game my first visit out of Zones One and Two. The first thing my friends and I noticed as we rode the bus closer to Twickenham was its residential simplicity which contrasted with the luxurious flats we were used to seeing every day. While I love Kensington, I feel it can be disconnecting and provide a skewed perception of the average experience of a Londoner. This being said it was really cool to be able to experience a different side of London and be able to experience its different sub-cultures.

When we arrived, the game had already started and the stadium was bustling. Much like America, people were indulging in food and drinks and sporting their team’s merchandise. Many of the people there were chatty and seemed friendly with one another. There were many families and groups of friends who we assumed may have season passes, as the games provide a fun weekend outing. Since the game took place in the home of the Harlequins, most people were wearing Harlequin merch. My personal favorite was a little boy sporting a jester hat with real bells. I was surprised to see the lack of support for the London Scottish, and even more surprised that the stadium was half empty since most popular sports in America tend to have fuller stadiums. The audience there was extremely into it, cheering, booing, and even singing.

As I mentioned before, I’m not usually too into sports, but it was so interesting to watch the rugby game because it was a completely new experience. It reminded me a lot of American football but with a lot more contact and a lot less padding. My favorite part was watching the players throw another into the air to catch a ball, which I completely wasn’t expecting. I thought it was odd that America has such an emphasis on football while the UK has more of one on rugby and soccer. The experience made me wonder why the popularity of sports differs worldwide.

Overall, it was an eye-opening experience, that allowed me to peer into UK sporting culture, and I had a fantastic time. I hope to go to more games in the future and go Harlequins!

Liana Lima

Major: Psychology or Communications

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin