It has been a whirlwind month. I've seen a lot, but I still have a long list of things to do and see.
I'm going to Dublin, Ireland in two weeks to see Andrew and Annie. We'll be spending our Halloween partying it up Irish style.
Annie and Andrew are coming to visit us in London in November. Three words: Harry. Potter. Premiere.
Then I am flying to Amsterdam on Thanksgiving to spend some time with a very dear family who I have known for many, many years. I'm glad I'll be spending my first major holiday away from home with people I consider family.
Now that I've been here for one month, I feel entitled to do some sharing. Here are some neat lists that I made...
THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT LONDON
-Tube strikes. This happened a couple of weeks ago. It was terrible. The streets were jam packed. It was like the apocalypse had happened.
-Nothing is open 24 hours. Grocery stores close fairly early, which is a problem when I realize at 9:00pm that I have no food for dinner.
-The complete absence of Mexican food. I've made up for this by cooking my own.
-It costs me 5 pounds to do laundry. That's $7.50.
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT LONDON
-Public transportation. It's great. You always have a way home, no matter what time of day it is.
-The weather. It's been very cool this week, with temperatures in the 50s during the day, which I am more than happy about. The rain hasn't been too terrible either.
-The amount of culture that has been packed into one city.
-THEATRE. ALL THE TIME. And free theatre, because the English government wants younger people to be cultured. Woot!
-The drinking age is 18. I really don't go out to pubs a lot, because I'm trying to save as much money as I can, but it's still cool to be able to do it. Along this line, England has cider, which is like beer, but tastier. It's girlie beer.
-People here say, "Cheers" instead of, "Thank you." Awesome.
-There is always something to do.
-I only have each of my classes once a week. I have a lot of free time.
-It's beautiful. The architecture is astounding.
FUNNY ENGLISH WORDS OR PHRASES
"Cheers"....Thank you
"Trousers"....pants ("Pants" is underwear. Don't get them mixed up.)
"Quid"....pounds (English dollar)
"Lift".....elevator (I've picked up on this one, for some reason.)
"Queue".....line (It's both a noun and a verb. While Americans say they are "standing in line," English say they are "queuing.")
"Bin"....trash can
"The States".....USA
"Chips"....thick french fries
"Fries".....skinny french fries
"Crisps"....chips
"Biscuits".....cookies
OTHER INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT LONDON
-Some cafes (like Starbucks or a sandwich place called Pret a Manger) will charge you extra if you want to "eat in," rather than "take away." I just always tell them I want things to go and then eat there anyway. No one has ever told me not to.
-Instead of popcorn, theatres sell ice cream at intermission.
-People think that it's strange not to add milk to tea.
-Fresh food expires rather quickly here. For instance, if you buy a loaf of bread, the expiration date on it is usually only a few days away. We either have to eat our food fast or freeze it all.
-There are no sales taxes. Well, technically I think there is, but they just go ahead and include it in the price of whatever item you're buying. So when something is priced at 12.00, you pay 12.00.
-If you don't hustle in the tube stations, you will get run over, pushed out of the way, or scolded. I have become one of those people who will not abide slow walkers. Actually, I've always been like that.
Barbara Billingsley died today. RIP, June Cleaver.
Interesting list. I didn't realize that the British drink milk with their tea.
ReplyDeleteI think the tax is built in there, like you said. It's called a VAT or value added tax. Tax gets added along each stage of the making a product. Very stealthy tax so it's harder to complain about.
I saw that about Barbara Billingsley yesterday. June Cleaver was an inspiration to many! Emily and I watched a couple of "Leave it to Beaver" episodes on DVD just a couple of weeks ago.