I decided not to immediately post on my blog when I first arrived for a number of reasons. But I feel I now have a sufficient number of things to report on. London is a lot different than I thought it was going to be. A shared language is by no means a shared culture. It seems as if everything is just a small hop to the left. I knew there would be the big things: accents, driving on the left, a more stoic society more adamant on good manners. But here are a few things that I did not expect:
- different key boards- the shift key is half of the size, so every time I want to capitalize a letter on someone else's computer, I end up pressing a different key.
- the doors open the opposite way- in the US, by law, doors must open out in order to prevent a pile-up during a fire/emergency evacuation. Here, I just look like I've never used a door before.
- the zip codes have letters in them- I still don't know how that works
- metric system (completely forgot about that one)
- 24 hour time- or military time, it's really easy to calculate but it is different having to do some quick subtractions in your head every time you look at your schedule.
- the money- I knew this would be different of course, but its just always more math
- the phrase: "are you okay?"- in the US, that generally means that the questioner has noticed something is wrong and are asking what it is. Here, it is the same thing as a casual "what's up?"
The cultural differences have been pretty big. British people are polite but that was over-hyped just a bit. Americans can be loud and raucous but we actually have a stereotype of saying sorry and thank you too much. All of the self-depricating humor about being too polite that I've heard out of British mouths maybe does not apply to Londoners as much. British people are more reserved though, and quiet. I can appreciate that myself.
Another thing I've noticed is that I am treated like an adult. America doesn't really see people as adults until they are mid-20's. Yes, the law recognizes me as an adult, but society does not. At college, we all seem to be living under the expectation that these are our "wild years" and people often act immature to fill a perceived role. Stealing, destruction of property, committing acts harmful to yourself or others, and overall reckless, careless, and selfish behavior is seen as quaint. Not here. People here are fun, don't get me wrong. But it is a different kind of fun, a more genuine fun.
The weather is going as expected. It rains every single day but usually for only a few minutes at a time and it is very light. However, it is not like the pacific north west of the US, where they live under constant cloud cover. It is often sunny most of the day and then just clouds over to rain. It has also been in the 50s the entire time I've been here. It's nice to be avoiding winter.
I've done a boat cruise on the river Thames, a bus tour of London, a self-guided walking tour around the London Eye and Trafalgar Square, seen the Sherlock Holmes museum, and visited several pubs. This weekend I am going to visit one of London's many free museums, check out the Flower Market, and take a train out to the Harry Potter Studios.
Classes are going well. I am taking two European history classes, one british politics, and one on art in London. So basically I have minimal knowledge of all of this compared to my European classmates. Regardless, I do enjoy learning new things so I am having fun.
I have a lot of other stuff planned for the future (possible trips to Berlin, the Hague, and Italy). So I know I have an exciting semester ahead of me!
If you have read this far it is probably because you are my Grandma or really bored, either way, thanks! Also, if you were wondering why I titled my blog post "my first step", I was referring to the saying "a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step."
More to come,
Katie
"I am not running away from anything, I'm running to things… before they flare and fade forever." -the Doctor
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