London Baby!

So far I have been in London one weekend. I haven’t seen much of the city yet, so all I can comment on are my first impressions.

Friday Night: We arrived in London late. I met my roommate and was driven by taxi to my new home-stay house. The taxi driver was lively and animated. He had the most interesting Cockney accent. He said the funniest things like “Crikey!” He also explained what the word “Bullocks” actually means. If you tell someone they are speaking bullocks or that what they said was bullocks, then you are saying that they are lying, exaggerating or being blasphemous. So now I can use that phrase correctly. I asked our driver what he thought of American accents, because a lot of Americans really like the British accents. He said, “Well, ac-challay I fand yore accents quaht sexay!” It was so funny. So if any Americans want to know if they like our accents, I guess they do J

We arrived at our home-stay and met our home-stay parents. The house was beautiful! It’s small in length and width but 3 stories tall. That’s because land in England costs so much more than in the U.S. since it is a very populated island. My home-stay mom was very sweet. Her accent sounds just like Julie Andrew’s. She gave us a lot of info about proper use of heating and water and how to use the washing machine. Her husband used to be in the British Navy and is now a nurse. He was very interesting to talk to. I liked hearing his stories.

Our room is amazing! It’s the warmest room in the house and also the highest—the attic. It’s big enough to share comfortably with my roommate. I have secretly always wanted to live in an attic, so I’m fulfilling a childhood dream now lol. I am very happy with the family and roommate I was paired with. I love my neighbourhood too. It’s all old Victorian houses that are tall and gorgeous. I unpacked and went to sleep in a cosy bed.

Saturday & Sunday: These 2 days went by in such a blur. We had to meet at 9:45 both days at our school building, which is all the way across town. It takes me about 45 minutes to get there. That includes: walking to the bus stop, taking the bus to the tube station, riding the tube to the correct stop, walking from the tube to my school. Public transport wasn’t difficult to figure out. But it takes preparation and planning. All day Saturday they drilled information into our heads. Information about safety in the city, cultural differences, culture shock we might face and home-stay rules. It was almost too much to absorb. But I did learn that having MACE in London is an offense... And to combat student strikes & demonstrations, the Police force surrounds the students and bores them by keeping them there for a whole 24 hours until they are cold, hungry and have to use the bathroom. Needless to say, I will not be going on strike while I’m here!

Sunday I went on a guided tour of the city with a Scottish tour guide. His accent was fun to listen to. I can’t wait until I visit Scotland and hear more of that accent. We saw the major sights of London, including: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye and the Tower Bridge. It was an informative tour. I was surprised by the many modern structures built in London. There are some new buildings that have been constructed out of metal and glass that are shaped like rocket ships and domes and fish tails. A rocket ship building would surprise most anyone I would think.

Later, I went shopping with my roommate. We walked from our house to the store, bought groceries and walked back. I think the whole trip took about an hour. Food is very expensive here. The most expensive thing is meat. I will probably be vegetarian will I’m here!

I have noticed that the flavor of food products here is stronger. That is not a bad thing at all. In fact, I feel sorry for everyone at home who eats the watered-down versions. You all are not eating REAL cheese (unless it’s imported). There are so many fabulous types and qualities of cheese here that I have never tasted. And England seems to be on this organic health kick. Every food store is organic. You can’t go out and buy unhealthy chemical-rich food. I haven’t found any anywhere! I suppose this might affect the better quality of groceries they have here. Just a pre-packaged sandwich is delicious!