During my semester in London, a most significant local news story was happened. I discovered it on the newspaper “metro”, when I arrived in London. David Bowie has died at 69, on 10^th January 2016 after 18 months’ battle with cancer. He was born in London, in Brixton Borough in 1947. He was a musician, singer and British actor.

His career was marked by frequent style changes, constant reinvention of his character and his musical approaches. It is one of the most original musical artists, the most important and innovative of pop and rock music. He is the author of numerous hits like “Fame” and “Let's dance”. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed 39th in its Top 100 "Best artist of all time", and 23rd on its list of "Best Singers of All Time."

David bowie was an icon, an inspiration for many musicians like Kanye West. He sold 150 million albums on his lifetime in the world.One week before his death he released his album Blackstar, his 26^th album. Furthermore, only three days before this event Bowie’s final music video was released, opening with “look up, I m in heaven”. For his fans, it was his goodbye.

I went in Brixton to see where David Bowie was born and to discover another borough of London. I saw a wall painted for David Bowie: 

This borough is very different than the center of London. There is a big market where we can find everything we need ! 

The department store Harrods is a luxury retailer in the entire world. Its motto is « anything is possible ». Harrods has only one store in Knightsbridge, London. It is a British Institution famous for its innovation, sensation and service. Harrods is the biggest department store in Europe, with 330 departments in 7 floors. Around 300,000 customers per day come to Harrods. This department store was founded by Charles Henry Harrods in 1849. This band uses social media to communicate.

Firstly, Harrods uses Public Relation. This is a marketing strategy which permit to communicate directly across social media. Thanks to this element, there are a positive publicity about the business, build image and enhance reputation of products and services. The audience is very important for Harrods because it is a retailer. In fact, retailers offer same products, so they need to make a difference to be competitive.

Secondly, the department store uses externals communications to reach its intended audience. Social media put forwards Harrods as something more than a famous store. These instruments enable to transform new customers as loyal supporters, and diversify the audience. Harrods uses social media in partnership with others companies and uses a retweeting.

Then, Harrods uses internals communications. It enables to share and to communicate with employees, and to inform them. The department store invests in a lot of internals channels. A platform to share, an internal magazine, a breakfast event which permitted to employees to talk with the CEO, a satisfaction forum in which employee elected representatives speak to managers, and an intranet site are created. Thanks to social media, the flow of information increased a lot.

The government of the United Kingdom is a monarchy. It is Her Majesty’s Government with Queen Elizabeth II. David Cameron, the Prime Minister is at the head of the government. He is  in charge of the policy and decision of the government. He led a Conservative government.

During my semester in London, I notice that the United Kingdom is thinking to leave Europe.

According to a survey in January, 43% of Britons want the Great Britain leaving the European Union. 40% British prefer to stay in Europe and the remaining 17% British are undecided. This event is due to the economic crisis in the Eurozone. The UK no longer wants Europe to encroach on its sovereignty without the British aren’t consulted beforehand.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron wants the UK to stay a member of the Europe even if it doesn’t get its European partners some concessions in advance. A referendum will be happening in June. David Cameron wants more integration, benefits and sovereignty in the EU. Indeed, he asks a red card which allows his Parliament to reject a European law and he wants an emergency brake to stop the immigration.

The wording of the referendum has changed. Rather than asking voters to answer yes or no whether the UK should remain a member of the EU, the new formulation will submit them choose a sentence as an answer: "Remain a Member of the European Union" or "Quit the European Union".

After the visit of the British finance minister in Berlin, negotiations between UK and EU started. London offered its reforms to Europe. On the 19^th February, the European Union and the United Kingdom made an agreement. Since this day, David Cameron makes his campaign to his country stay in Europe.

Furthermore, as we can see on the newspaper "le parisien" (6th of February) the big question “if they leave the Europe, what will become of all English living in France?” still without answer. It is worrying situation for the British expatriates en Europe.

During this month, I took care of Londoners’ life. Firstly, it’s not the same money as in France. People uses pounds. At the beginning, it was very difficult for me to give back money to customers at the charity shop where I work. In United Kingdom, they drive on the left. I must be careful before crossing a street! Buses are red and have two floors. Taxis are also different than in France and children wear uniform.

Secondly, meal times aren’t the same. In fact, breakfast is very important, they don’t eat a lot at midday and they dinner at 6 pm. Furthermore, their working day begins at 9 am and finishes at 5 pm. They have a lot of time to practise sports or other leisure. They also spend around three hours per days in transports (tube, bus, car, DLR).    

Thirdly, life is very expensive in London. The charity shops have a big importance here. Londoners are used to give their clothes, rather than throwing them. Moreover, references are compulsory when we write an essay.

Finally, Londoners are welcoming. There are people with different origins. It is a good point because I can hear accents from many countries in the world.

The university of Greenwich is located at Greenwich on the south east of London, in United Kingdom. It was created in 1890. It is composed of three campuses: Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway. There is 25 OOO students among 4800 students in business.

The Greenwich Campus is in the Old Royal Naval College since 1990. Business, architecture, computing and humanities are learnt. It is also specialist of maritime management with the Greenwich Maritime Institute. The University of Greenwich has 5 halls of residence: Cutty Sark hall, Daniel Defoe hall, Devonport house, Mc Millan Student Village and Avery Hill student village.

The first week of welcoming and integration permit me to meet people of different cultures (Italia, Spain, Finland, Croatia, Belgium…). I learnt a lot of things about life in Greenwich and London. I noticed that Londoners give a great importance to activities like sports or associations… I find that everyone is very welcoming at this university. There is always someone who help you even if you don’t ask him.