I Suck Less Now!

Some things! About London! Whoo-hoo!

1. People here drive on the wrong side of the road. Not the “other” side of the road… the wrong side of the road. This means that when looking both ways before crossing the street I either feel like I’m going to get run over (right, left, right), or am going to get run over (left, right, left). Also, sometimes I see cars behind me and for a split second think they’re being driven by ghosts. No joke.

2. British servers are awkward. For the first few days, I thought that I might be making them awkward with my awful accent and general Americanness. I was incorrect. Example: I was out to lunch and the server reached under my menu to move my silverware, then decided not to. Then he decided he had to do something, so he moved it an inch to the right. Then he looked at me and shrugged. Weird, insignificant stuff like this happens all the time. Why? No idea.

3. Every time I’ve ordered a coke, I’ve been given a diet coke. This happens to me in LA as well. Hooray for cross-cultural mis-ordering! BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN???

4. Here, makeup sits atop a woman’s natural face. Like, you can see her face, and see that she’s put some makeup on it. In LA, makeup tends to blend into the face, like a mask, leaving you unclear as to what the actual face looks like. No judgement, here. Just different.

5. The tube is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Everybody rides it all the time. Trains come every two seconds. And they go everywhere! Everywhere! Even if a line is down, you can get where you need to go by taking a different line! Who came up with this stuff? They should be given an award. For excellence.

6. So, I spent the day vomiting up Indian food. Delicious! Ewgross, TMI. (I’M SORRY I JUST HAD TO TELL SOMEONE.)

7. My shower has a frosted window that looks out over the street, and when cars drive by it kind of looks like someone is walking outside of it. Because of this, I took my first four showers in the dark, afraid that some pervy Brit (or, more likely, that drunk French guy who tried to make me “smell his hat” on the underground) was trying to look in on me. Another fun fact about my shower… no cold water. At all. Yes, you’re reading that right. There is No Cold Water. There’s an overabundance of hot water, mind you… but nothing remotely resembling cold. To shower comfortably I turn the showerhead so that it’s going straight down, and then use my hands to sort of splash water on myself while trying not to wince. It’s really quite entertaining… or would be, to someone standing outside my frosted window. (Frenchy, I know you’re out there.)

8. I don’t know why all of these read like complaints. London is sort of the best ever, and I never want to come home.

I MIIIIISSSSSSSSSS YOUUUUUUUUU ALLLLLLLLL. Hope everyone’s having fun in sunny LA! (HA! ALANIS-SYLE IRONY!)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

-Meghan