Greetings from London, United Kingdom! It is a beautiful city, with rich World War II history. I have never been overseas before; it is an honor to be on this trip. It is great to see the places that we discussed in class. This makes the war more real for me. I am from a small town, and we are not close to any well-known historical monuments. It has always been a dream to travel to London and experience World War II through new and different perspectives.
The first stop for this trip was the Churchill War Museum, and I learned more about his life, especially his early life. I enjoyed how the museum set-up. There were many visuals in the museum, including a touch screen that had different events that a student could pick and get a brief history of Churchill in one place. I was most interested in his early life, because it showed how political views changed over the years. Churchill had many domestic programs that ran against his own political party. Americans usually see only his role in World War II.
We also went to the HMS Belfast, which was a British war ship. This ship played an important role in the Battle of the Atlantic. HMS Belfast’s technology used in the 1940s affected the allies victory and made the difference between Germany and the United Kingdom. The men on this ship had to deal with many different weather patterns, which made traveling even more difficult.
My ability to come over to Europe has opened up my eyes to different culture and this is the first country out of three. I like that we visit the United Kingdom first because their language is English. I am excited about learning about France and German cultures, too. I am excited about writing the French and German blogs.