So, I know everyone has been wondering what exactly life has been like in London for two months, well, I'll tell you...
It's overwhelming ... and it's not.
London is huge. It's also extremely diverse, and interestingly enough it works for it. We live in Kensington, which is suppose to be this "posh" area, so it always amazes me when I walk down High Street and hear 5 different languages on the same block. I've also made quite a few life realizations ... or at least I'm attempting to use this joke of a semester to figure my life out. For some reason in my bored state today I decided to creep my facebook wall... all that did was make me miss everyone. My friends, you are the greatest people in the world. <3
On to London life...
Couples here are REALLY affectionate and passionate. I've seen everything from people looking like they're two seconds away from ripping each others clothes off, to an extremely melodramatic teenage couple that broke up on a platform while waiting for the Tube. Let's go into detail on this story because it was insane. So, I'm casually standing on the Westbound Glouster Road platform waiting during rush hour for my train to come. This teenage couple decides to be the entertainment for the croweded platform by breaking up. It all started at the top of the stairs, they were arguing, had tense body language, and after a while the girl storms down the stairs. She makes it about half way down the staircase, then stops, pauses and contemplates her decision, then turns around to look at the boy who is still at the top of the staircase. About this time, I assume she's pissed off because he's not chasing her, and I think he picks up on it because he hesitates, then starts walking down. He gets to her, grabs her, she pushes him off, they argue a bit more, and then she storms down rest of the stairs onto the platform. When she gets to the platform, she begins to bawl her eyes out, slumps onto the wall and sinks down to the floor with her face buried in her hands. She hits the floor and is in a fetal position crying her eyes out. I turned back to look at her [ex]boyfriend, and he stood there, on the stairs, until maybe mid-sink to the ground by his girlfriend before turning around and marching back up the stairs and out of the station. Mind you I witnessed this after a long day of work and class, so I had no sympathy for this reckless display of public emotion. It really was too dramatic, a good laugh, but that girl needs to lay off reality TV.
Despite the teenage love affair drama that I saw unfold before my eyes, and the creeper ass guys that I've literally had to elbow in the face to leave Gaby, Erika, and me alone at clubs, I've learned that chivalry isn't dead. With my Parisian bike episode, I felt so cared for, or looked out for... I mean, I'm sure it would have reflected poorly on my tour guide if I had died, but it was really cool because Derek, who was on the tour with us, and Malcolm, who was tagging along on the tour made it their own little mission to hang around me and make sure I didn't die. Other people on the tour would ask Sarah how I was doing, and it was just nice to feel this general sense of concern for my well-being from people that had absolutely no attachment or investment in my life. I feel like other people I know would have just gotten mad at me for detracting from their bike riding experience, or something like that. It was nice. Also, I've seen one of Isaac's non-SU roommates totally look out for Marlys. We all went out one night, and when we were waiting to catch the bus home a guy came up and started talking to Marlys and trying to hit on her, John went up to him and said Marlys was his sister and got her out of the situation. Maybe it's because SU is so small of a school that we don't get creeped on that I was surprised to see this. I know I'm definitely use to Isaac twirling me out of awkward situations and being able to use him as my scapegoat from everything, but it's nice to see other people go up to help when there's no obligation. The first night we went out in London, one of the guys waited at the back of the line to make sure all of the girls got into the club fine. It's refreshing to see these things .... and even more impressive when it comes from the guys even when they're drunk, haha!
I've also learned how to really stop and smell the roses, which is ironic because in a city this big you think it be hard to do. I'm pretty sure its because we have to walk everywhere, and I have an hour to myself both ways while traveling to work, so you get a lot of time to sit and think. People in London are also to themselves, so it also gives you time to sit and people watch...you can learn a lot. Haha, that's the past psych major in me coming out...Anyways, pub life is fun, working environments are much more relaxed, yet still productive, and it is always a challenge to narrowly escape getting run over when crossing the street.
London is just so big and pretty. Here's a few of the things that have made it amazing:
The People!
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| Bree, Me, Martin, Maddie, John, Isaac, Nick |
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| Nick and Maddie with Nicole and John photo bombing |
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| SU ;) |
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| BFFs |
The Nights Out ;)
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| Klaaaaaassy |
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| Classy |
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| Classy-ish |
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| Happy Classy |
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| Sassy Classy |
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| Crazy Classy |
The "Quintessential" London Things...
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| Professor Fosdal |
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| Double Deckers! |
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| London Eye |
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| It's all only 1 pound... |
The Amazing Trips and Sights...
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| Notre Dame |
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| Stonehenge |
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| Scotland |
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| Arc de Triumph |
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| Paris! |
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| Northern Lights in Iceland |
And the Memories...
The most important thing I've learned in London though.....
One simple statement, so many meanings. Mind the gap. Mind the gap between cultures, languages, beliefs, custms, ideas, social consciousness, people, distance, everything. You have to be open to life and new experiences, and that's definitely something I'm working on. You don't want to alienate people just because they're not on "your level". Bhahaha, it's a nice sentiment.
That's my London life in a few pictures, there's around 7 photo albums worth on my computer so...it was hard to narrow it down. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed me spicing this up by doing a quasi-photo blog...After one amazing first half of my semester in London, I'm excited to see what the next half of it holds! I'll leave you with this:
"What Benjamin Franklin meant, that knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and that even the biggest failure, even the worst, most entrappable mistake beats the hell out of never even trying."
Con Mucho Amor, (or more appropriately...)
Cheers!
Lizette
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