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.

Why you gotta be so complicated?

Cue that one Avril Lavigne song. (That one's for you, Kevin).

Seriously though. England is SO. COMPLICATED. Nothing is easy or simple here.

For example, I move into my new place tomorrow (YAY!) and have signed up for internet, but in order to get internet you have to pay for a phone line, and they can't come set any of that up until the 19th. That's over a week from now. Another company told me the 23rd.

So, I won't have internet for a week. Okay. But I also don't have a phone with 3G/4G right now. I have been told by some that I can't get a long-term contract without UK credit history of 4 months. Which means I'll have to pay more for a phone and then pay more overall. Hopefully I can get around that. But still, it's yet another complication.

For the bank, you have to have tons of paperwork to get an account. I lucked out on getting mine so early, and the guy is still waiting for paperwork from me and my school. But at least I have one My friend was unable to get one without official documents from the school. Then to log into your account online, or to get account help over the phone, you have an 8-digit passcode number that they ask you for random numbers from ("Please enter the 2nd to last digit of your 8-digit code. Please enter the 3rd digit..., etc). Then online there are multiple secret questions AND a random-number-generating key fob. So you can't check your bank online unless you have the stupid fob. I have no idea what happens if you lose it!

Getting a house has proved to be equally, if not more, complicated. Many landlords do not want transfers from foreign bank accounts, so you have to have a local one (which is a hassle, as I noted). Then if you're foreign you have to pay a larger deposit (2 months in advance sometimes, plus first months rent. Or in my cause, termly rent). Then that goes into a deposit scheme which you have an account for. Aside from that, finding a place is hard and expensive and many places are practically run-down crack-houses going for the price of a Park Avenue apartment. My friend even got a dorm in a fairly nice place (way over priced, if I do say), and their internet only works sometimes and the stove randomly turns off and her shower gets water EVERYWHERE. So really, even if you're paying out-the-bum for a place, there's no guarantee it'll even really be any good.

Also I have a cold and apparently Nyquil isn't easy to come by here. And this woman told me if I have a cold I'm supposed to go get a shot or it will come back? I have no idea what she meant. Maybe colds are some superbug in England and I just don't know. I can just hear the English cold virus talking..."OI MATE, I'M COMIN BACK FOR YA HAHAHA." Jerk.

Anyway I move tomorrow, so once I get internet I will post pics of the new place and maybe of the roommates or something. Which by the way, are not my original roommates. I will now be living with 3 undergrad film students from Kings, all girls, form France, Bulgaria (I think) and Italy. Things never really work out how you plan them in England...but oh well. Better to not be homeless!

L is for London. And also LOUD.

Right now I am at the temporary apartment sitting in bed, trying to relax and perhaps finish my Netflix movie entitled Tower Block (featuring that Estate/Council housing I was talking about in my last post, coincidentally). But I can't, because two very obnoxious people are singing crap renditions of The Bangals and Avril Lavigne. I mean they are pretty much singing [screaming] this at the top of their lungs. I put earplugs in but I can still hear them. 

Which brings me to my point. London is LOUD. My goodness. It is so loud all the time everywhere you go. There's sirens constantly. One just literally went off while I was typing this. My guess is that it's tourists getting hit by cars because (oh, there goes a helicopter flying by, which I can hear inside my house) they keep forgetting you have to look the opposite way before you cross the street (oh and now a dog is barking). Anyway, there's construction everywhere and noisy people and music and it's just crazy and loud. If I'm outside I can never hear anyone on the phone and have to yell for them to hear me. I went with my dad to a pub today to meet some of his colleagues and it was very enjoyable until the 5pm rush of people came in, mixed with the pub music, and they're all talking so loud and I stopped being able to hear most of the conversation despite the fact that I was right next to them. 

Or maybe I was hearing this 130 car pile-up that happened today (it's the big news in Britain, in case you haven't heard). Apparently Brits drive super fast in the fog even when they can't see. I haven't a clue as to why.

 

Along with it being loud and people being hard to hear (especially certain accents)(hey, there goes another siren) Londoners also don't pronounce things the way that they are spelled. For example, these locations are spelled completely different from how you actually say them:

Southwark is pronounced Suthuck.

Leicester is pronounced Lester.

I'm sure American English has that too, but it's kind of complicated when need directions from someone and can't find the place on the map because you're pronouncing it all wrong from how it's written. But alas, I am a modern day Columbus, so I always find my way. 

Speaking of Columbus and finding my way, a London transit pass is £116 a month. Which is $258.79. A MONTH. Students get a small discount but still, what the heck, London. 

"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means."

Estate.

So we went house hunting for about a billion hours yesterday. All of the places were either estate housing or used to be estate housing. I know, you're like "Okay, what does that even mean though?"

Well, let me tell you. In America, if you're looking for a home and you hear the word "estate, " it usually gives you the idea that it's some big nice house on a nice plot of land, possibly somewhat old but well kept and classic. Like a big old Southern mansion. Right? Or a big California home with a big long driveway, lined with palm trees and a little dog running up to meet you.

That is not the case here in London. Oh no, it is most definitely not the case. Estate housing in London is akin to "The Projects" or "Section 8" housing in America. You know, government owned, run-down properties for people who can't afford to actually live here. Like this:

This is pretty much where we ended up yesterday. It was not a happy experience. And you know how we got there (after we got lost)? Some nice London policemen. We asked directions and they literally PARKED THEIR CAR IN THE STREET, got out, and walked around with us until we found it. So, while we may have been lost in the shady ghetto of London, at least we had some nice cops to keep us safe. Also one of them said New York City is safer than London. I didn't know whether to laugh or be worried. Or maybe they've just never been to New York.


Today we look at 4 more places, a little more expensive but hopefully better. Wish us luck!