¡Listo!

This is because a lot of their countries have subscribed to something called the Schengen agreement.  This agreement puts in writing the fact that if you are a citizen of one country (and, it goes without saying, of the EU as a whole) that has signed the agreement, you can travel to any of the other countries that have signed it without going through border control.

Well, guess which country hasn't signed the Schengen agreement?  The United Kingdom.

I don't mind waiting in lines, even 1 hour long lines, but I do mind waiting in lines at 11:00 at night, when I have an 11:30 bus to catch (that will take 1 hour as well), and when I have people waiting for me where the bus lets off.  So the 1-hr. wait at the UK passport control made me a little testy.

It also got me thinking about why the United Kingdom hasn't signed this important agreement.  It's not that they're the only ones: as I would find out later, in my class about the EU, countries like Denmark and the Czech Republic also haven't signed the agreement.  (Curiously, the UK and the Czech Republic also aren't on the Euro.)  Perhaps we could say that they just like to keep track of who comes in and who goes out.  But that's too simple.

I, personally, think the real reason is that the UK doesn't like being considered European.  While we were visiting, we met several Londoners who preferred to think of themselves as English rather than European.  I said that they weren't mutually exclusive.  But they insisted they were, arguing that they were close, but they were an island: separate, self-sufficient, and strong.  (And I can see that argument, but not from someone who has joined The European Union.  Maybe Iceland doesn't consider themselves as being part of Europe, which is fine, considering they're not calling themselves European.)

So then if you don't want to be identified as being part of Europe, the question then becomes why are you a part of the European Union?  Well, it can't hurt to be a part of it, that's for sure.  The European Union now has one of, if not the singularly strongest open, free market in the world.  No one can deny the sheer power of their economic system.  So even though the UK was hesitant to join at first and altogether prefer to keep their distance from Europe, joining presented an economic benefit for both them and the rest of the EU.

So they joined.  Then what?  Well, there are two modes of thought throughout the EU: in Spanish they're called, europeistas and federalistas ("Europists" and Federalists).  "Europists" seek to create a United States of Europe (Eurasia?  Because Turkey wants to join as well.), essentially, where there is free movement within states while still maintaining sovereignty for each member state.  The Federalists are radically opposed to this, seeking to move as far away as possible from a huge conglomeration of states to retain as much national sovereignty as possible.  Well, The UK is one of these such Federalists.  Here are examples: they're not on the euro (and certainly not suffering for it), they haven't signed the Schengen agreement, they're one of two countries not on the European Union standard time system, and they drive on the left-hand side of the road.  Nowhere else in (the) Europe(an Union) does that last one happen (although you may think it does).

I pondered this throughout the course of my trip there and couldn't really come up with an answer, except that either the UK is using their economic security and position of power to take advantage of the benefits of the European Union without giving much in return (and no, English as the universal, "official" language of the EU does not count as a return gift, though it would be extremely hypocritical if it was), or they're just in denial.  Or they recognize the issue but pretend it's not there.

And all of this still doesn't change that every time you go to the UK, you'll have to wait in a line for an hour before they check your passport.