Things British People Say (Part 1)

I am continuously compiling a list of things British people say that we (Americans) do not. Here is what I've got so far!

• Wellies = Rain Boots (I said "I need rain boots" the other day and a British person was like...you need what?!" They had no idea what I was talking about and didn't make the obvious connection until after I explained.)
• Pavement = Sidewalk
• Lorry = Truck (I had to google this one after seeing it in a local paper.)
• Coach = Bus that takes you a longer distance than a city bus
• Underground = Subway (if you say Subway they assume you mean the sandwich place, which apparently does exist here somewhere.)
• Pants = Underwear
• Trousers = Pants
• P&P = S&H (Their version stands for "postage and packaging")
• Jumper = Sweater
• Boot = Trunk of a car
• Fancy Dress = Costumes/themed outfit
• Half Ten/Half Twelve = 10:30/12:30. They don't say it like we do, "ten thirty" or "twelve thirty"
• "In a bad way" = not well, not feeling good, doing badly. Saw it in an article about a cyclist who got hit by a car. Also heard it being used to describe someone's drunken night out when they drank far too much. 
• Parcel = Package
• Post = Mail

Words they just say often:

• Proper
• Brilliant
• Lovely
• Quite
• Have a laugh/it was a laugh 

Music: A change of taste.

It's really interesting to me how my music tastes have shifted since I got here. I still like all the same bands (and some new ones) and music, but what I actually choose to listen to is different.

As you all know, because I repeatedly tell you without mercy, London is very loud. It's also very busy and there are just a metric crap-ton of people everywhere, all the time. The only time I get silence is if I come home from a late night, around 11pm, or 3am, or the like. I love and cherish those quiet, near silent walks home in the dark with just the streetlights to guide my way. Sometimes I see the city foxes running through the slats in the park fences and I say hello, but at those quiet hours in my neighborhood it's like no one else exists but me...and it's so enjoyable.

But that brings me to music. When I was at home in Arizona, up until I left I was enjoying quite a bit of electronic music, dub-step and music with a much more rapid pace to it. Also lots of pop music and catchy things that you might hear on the radio. But now that I am in London, a place so busy and fast and populated, all I want to do is have a peaceful melody with which to drown out all the other sounds.

And thus, I present to you a few songs from a few artists that I have been OBSESSIVELY listening to, on repeat: Ellie Goulding, The Oh Hello's, The Civil Wars, and Birdy. (And no, I have not stopped listening to Paramore, duhhhh).

I suggest is that you play these whilst browsing the internet, or browsing photos of rainy England or something. Or just press play, take a deep breath and close your eyes. Enjoy the quiet and the serenity!

Ellie Goulding - Explosions

The Oh Hello's - The Lament of Eustace Scrubb

The Civil Wars - Devil's Backbone

Birdy - Shelter

Paramore - Future

I'm a work of art. And also a tourist.

"The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist." - Russell Baker

(Disclaimer: Blogger is a very annoying application to try and put pictures into, so I apologize for the weird order in which they are placed on the page...I tried everything!)

It's a very confusing feeling, moving somewhere and then going to do tourist things. You wonder if you're still a tourist...or if there's another name for it? I live here in this city now, but here I am walking around with my camera amidst the throng of people who don't live here but also have cameras.

Anyway, my new friend Erin and I (HEY GIRL!) went on a tourist day to see a few sites and it was really fun. Erin is especially good company and I owe my friend Sarah B. some British treats or something for introducing us. Or maybe a postcard because I'm a poor graduate student.

So Erin and I walked the Waterloo Bridge, where I took some photos of Parliament and the Thames River (remember, it's pronounced like "temmz") and the London Eye (the giant ferris wheel that I still haven't been on, much to my disappointment).





At the end of the bridge we happened upon a weird looking truck, painted to look like an old-school camera. There was a huge line of people so we decided to check it out. It turned out to be something called Inside Out Project, the London edition. It was started by an artist called JR from France, who used portraits as a way to speak to the world about different issues (take a gander at the website, it's really interesting stuff!). The London version was essentially asking "What do you have to say to the world?" through facial expression in your portrait. The photos were printed in HUGE format, and then they glued them to the sidewalk in rows.

Not the type of people to miss such an amazing opportunity, Erin and I decided to stand in line. About 1.5 hours later, we got our turn. So when you finally go into the truck there's like a little photo booth, and then you literally have 6 seconds to think of something, and then it takes your picture. And that's it. So here was mine!

 And there we are, being immortalized on the sidewalk behind the Somerset House...at least until the rain washes us away...or they take it down. Whichever comes first.

Somerset House:

Anyway, then we were off to Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, as well as Big Ben:

There's a statue of good ol' Abraham Lincoln near the Abbey:

And then there's this giant blue cock in Trafalgar Square. I have no idea why. I shall have to investigate further:

I swear I'm still a blogger!

I know, I know. I haven't been blogging. Partially because I've been busy, partially because I've been lazy, and partially because I had written some things up that, after a recent death in the family, just seemed so unimportant in the current moment that I deleted them and then had to start all over.

Honestly, they still seem unimportant. My beautiful and wonderful and sweet cousin Andrew passed away over the weekend from cancer (can I get a loud "FUCK CANCER!" yell from my readers, please?) and since then everything has seemed...diluted. And so trivial. But I know that I cannot, and he would not want me to, feel that way forever. So I am bucking up and dealing with the days as they come and the sad moments as they come as well. It is hard, VERY hard, to be away from my family right now. And not just a state or two, but oceans away from them at a time when we all need each other the most. Crying to my mother over Skype about this great loss that we are all suffering is just not the same as crawling into her lap for motherly hugs and embraces. But what can I do? Keep living, I guess.

Anyway, enough of that. I GOT AN INTERNSHIP! AND A JOB! Yes, both.

The internship is with a company called Ki'pe'peo Designs, run by a wonderful woman named Rachel. The company is focused on women's empowerment and business skills in the Nairobi (Kenya) slums. They teach the women to make greeting cards out of recycled materials, which are then sent to the UK and sold here. There have been tragedies and successes with the business, but at the moment it is doing fairly well. Hopefully I can help make it even better. I start on Tuesday, and will be doing all sorts of operational goodness, which is exactly what I want. Hands on, NGO experience where I can make a difference. Plus maybe I can even head to Kenya next summer to really get involved. I bet you didn't think I was planning on going back, DID YA?! HA!

As for the job, I am working with AIESEC again, but this time I am on the National Support Team (NST) for AIESEC United Kingdom, doing local committee development. Basically, I will be helping newly formed committees and demoted committees be the best that they can be. Which is going to be pretty darn excellent if I have anything to say about it (which I do, as I'm sure you know)!

My AIESEC work actually brought me to Southampton over the weekend, which was rainy but nice and quiet, which I liked, as you all know by now how terribly loud London is. Here's a few pictures I took of the beautifully empty streets in Southampton (located Southwest of London, if you didn't know). Also a photo of a cute table sign featuring British slang.

 

A matter of INTERNATIONAL CRISIS!

There is a CRISIS going on here in England that MUST be talked about. 

It has come to my attention that Chicken Noodle Soup (of the Campbell's variety or otherwise) is not a "thing" here in England. And by not a "thing" I mean I can't find it anywhere and it doesn't exist. CRISIS. 

This is a problem for me because every once in a while a girl wants some chicken noodle soup. Preferably Campbell's, because we all know it's the best, but I would probably take some off-brand as well. And of course, since I can't even get regular chicken noodle soup there is DEFINITELY n

o chance of getting the oh-so-coveted and so-very-delicious "Double Noodle" variety.

Thus I am packing my bags and coming home to America to eat my weight in Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.

Just kidding. But really. Can someone send me some soup or what?!

Dumbledore's Office AKA My Library

So unbeknownst to me until about a week ago, the inspiration and filming location of Dumbledore's Office in Harry Potter is at my schools fabulous, giant library.

Here's a picture from the movie set to give you an idea:

So yeah, they apparently filmed it in the library until they decided to build a set of their own. Here's what the room looks like in real life:

It's pretty amazing! AND you can study in there. It's nice and quiet and very cool. Here's some photos of the rest of the library. It's the most massive library I've ever been in and I nearly got lost multiple times. The doors are soooo old and cool and the stairs are gorgeous, as are the windows. Also the basement is cool because it has moving bookshelves. Plus it's a library basement so it's just cool in general...reminded me a bit of Neverending Story (I know, he was in an attic).

And now for something completely different.

So I went to Whole Foods. It was disappointing. I just thought you guys should know that. STEP IT UP, Whole Foods UK! I mean really. At least they had coconut oil but that was about all I found that I even went there for. Maybe I should drop out of grad school and become a buyer for Whole Foods UK. YEAH?! No? Okay.

In other news, and as you probably saw from my last post, I love my neighborhood. LOVE IT. Some people who think they are better than other people don't like my neighborhood. Seriously. I told this girl where I lived and said I loved it and she was like "Isn't it like...kind of dingy?" I wanted to be like "UM YOU'RE DINGY. RUDE." But I didn't. Don't burn bridges if you don't have to. Some people just can't handle it I guess? It really isn't dingy. It's inexpensive and multi-cultural (mostly Africans and Arabs...there's LOTS of Halal eateries and lots of like...African food restaurants. Also a Thai place with weird rice), and if someone can't handle that it's really not my problem. *snap* *snap*

....I think it's akin to living in Oakland of the Bay Area. North of the River Thames (pronounced Tems) is like San Francisco and south of the river, where I live, is like Oakland. Minus the police brutality, ya herd?


Speaking of police, we had a funny but cool police officer come talk to us at orientation about all sorts of laws. Apparently I can't have pepper spray here which is completely ridiculous, but whatever. Anyway, cops here don't carry guns except a very few of them who work closer in to the Capitol, like near the really important government buildings. The rest carry batons that I guess they just whack people with. Which is fine with me. Guns aren't really a thing here anyway. I went out to some clubs the other night and when the security woman checked my purse she informed me she was looking for knives. Apparently people knife each other here instead. Stabby stab. Though not very often. Mostly they just lift (aka steal) your phone from your pocket and sell it. It's like their biggest crime problem, which is really not so bad if you think about it.

You know what else is great about London? Or maybe it's the UK in general? My campus has a bar. None of this "dry campus" nonsense. IN FACT, I have a drink mixer with my department in like 2 weeks, IN OUR CLASSROOM. I will be having a pint with my professors and fellow students, how cool is that? Cheers to that, mate.

Speaking of...cider is really popular here and it makes me happy because they have pear cider almost EVERYWHERE you go. Including my campus bar. Check out this selection at the local supermarket. I was amazed:

And now...FUNNY/AWKWARD AMERICAN CUSTOM STORY TIME. 

Okay so in Arizona, whenever I see a neighbor whom I don't know or some random person on the street or at the store, and I make eye contact with them, I give a small smile and go on my way. Usually they smile back. If it's in my condo complex, we probably say hello and maybe even ask how they are.

So I've been doing that here. Smiling at the passerby in my neighborhood or at the dude or girl whom I make eye contact with on the tube. Well APPARENTLY you are absolutely not supposed to do this. APPARENTLY British people are very into privacy and their own private worlds/space bubbles and when I smile at them they think I am a total fricking weirdo. Or they think I'm trying to hit on them. I have been told to not even make eye contact. When I'm on the tube I'm supposed to look at the ground or look at someone's shoulder but not their face. NEVER THE FACE. DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!

But now I feel bad!!! Because I accidentally make eye contact and then look away which is so awkward and rude! I just want to smile and be friendly but apparently I am not allowed. :( 

The good thing about that though is there's never some jerk-off who looks at me and tells me to "smile!" I hate that, and I definitely don't have to worry about a British person ever doing that to me. So at least there's a silver lining to this whole thing. 

And now I shall close this very long post with some weird British words and slang:

• Gas = Petrol
• Cart or Stroller = Trolley
• Liquor Store = Off-License
• Pickle = Gherkin 
• Elevator = Lift
• Garbage/Trash Can = Rubbish Bin
• How are you? = Alright, love? (Or just Alright? to which I wonder if I really AM alright, or perhaps I look pale or sickly or perhaps I have something on my face?)

Stand in the place where you live...dooooododododo (picture heavy post)

HEY Y'ALL. Yes I'm still alive. I'm sorry it's been so long, things have been hectic and I've been a bit depressed due to the stress of it all, and thus haven't really felt like blogging. More on that in another post, maybe, but it's pretty boring and I'm fine now so why drudge it up, eh?

ANYWAY. So I have been doing this blog, and posting my gripes on Facebook, and people keep jokingly (or not so?!) saying "You are making me never want to come to London." Which I laugh at and agree with but then I was thinking...that is totally not my intention. Moving to London is frustrating and complicated and hard and a pain in the royal behind, but it's also pretty great and I am enjoying myself so far. So I have decided to do a few positive posts, starting with this one about MY HOUSE AND MY HOOD (by which I mean neighborhood, not the hood of my car or sweatshirt. Obviously.)!

So for this I just took a bunch of pictures with my iPhone (4s, still. No new iPhone yet. *sigh*) on my walk home from various directions on various days. So they are not very impressive but you should still BE impressed or at least pretend to be impressed so that I feel accomplished. Because people reading and liking and commenting positively on my blog feeds my ego and I need that to survive. NOM NOM.

So anyway, here's my walk from the tube station, and my neighborhood. The tube is called Kennington but the street signs and zip code are technically Southwark but I have been told by locals that I actually live in Camberwell. So who the hell really knows.

Community Garden:

Park (I seriously live by like, 10 parks. 4 within 2 minutes walking):

The closed-down pub that lets me know I'm ALMOST HOME!

My 3-story flat:

My kitchen!

View from my window (it was sunny!)

And my room. It's very colorful.