Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Oh London, how i love you at times and how i hate you at others. But that's the way everything works in life right? Today was a big lesson in how to queue. Minutes tick by slower than ever, every person in front of you feels like ten. It's seeming more and more that standing in line (i'm just not going to succumb to the british way of saying it) is the norm. Everywhere. And they aren't just normal lines, that are slightly annoying, they're massive. Almost so massive that you can't be upset about it because it just seems so absurd. Waiting, waiting, waiting for everything, there's no option to ever be in a rush. Stand in line to get in the underground car. Stand in line on the escalator to get above ground. Stand in line to get out of the turnstiles. Stand in line at the library with the one old man who is making endless library IDs for newcomers who ask questions that could be answered elsewhere. Stand in line to buy some stamps. Stand in line some more at a different library, because you can't just belong to one, you must belong to two (more on this in a bit). Stand in line at the grocery store. Stand in line to buy a printer in a store so tiny it shouldn't be legal. Stand in line for dinner. Stand in line. Always waiting, tested patience, i guess this is how it's done here.

Life.

Things I'm Learning...

Some things i've learned in london thusfar:

+ it's absolutely impossible to find hangers anywhere (??!!!?)

+ the mice are tiny that run along the tracks of the underground

+ there are no outlets in bathrooms

+ bagel is spelled beigel

+ the city is surprisingly walkable

+ good coffee does exist here, you just have to search harder

+ the clouds always look ominous

Music for Falling Leaves.

Sometimes i forget how amazing bon iver is, and then it comes on, and i listen, and i remember all over again why i fell in love with bon iver in the first place. I feel like it should be reserved for listening to when the leaves are falling, or have fallen, and it's crisp out, and you can get cozy, and let the music act like the fireplace you don't have.

This makes me smile. ( The artist )

New Surroundings.

The Blur.

I can't even remember at this point how many days i've been in london so far because it all seems like such a big blur. Except not the kind of blur that happens because you're rushing around like a mad person, but the kind that happens when your mind is in a haze and the days come in and out without any gigantic happenings. I guess the big happening was coming to london itself, and now that i'm here it's been a mixture of babies, and underground tunnels with their assembly line escalators, and cabbies who chat to you the whole ride, and keeping left. Always keep left.

Hello London.

I've now been in London for a week, and my how it's been a whirlwind. I have a new school ID, a new apartment, and i'm slowly getting used to the new underground system (very slowly). In being here for a week i've already noticed so many tiny things that differ from london to the united states and i started keeping track of them. Here's what i have so far:

Eggs aren't refrigerated at the grocery store. Defense is spelled defence. Enrolment only has one l. Trash is rubbish and trash cans are waste bins. Sandwiches come in triangular boxes. Gas is called petrol. There are billboards for books and bands you've never heard of everywhere. Cell phones are mobiles, pronounced mo-BI-les. Everything seems to come in tins. There are about 15 BBC channels on my tv instead of just bbc america. Subways are underground walkways, undergrounds are subways. You're instructed on the pavement where to look when you're crossing the street. When you're walking down the street you keep to the left, not the right. Apartments are flats. Regular water is still water. ATMs are called Hole In the Walls. Zero is zed. Pound keys are hash symbols. You have to stop and ask the cabbies if they'll take you where you want to go before you get into the car. To try something is 'to have a go'. You alight from a train, you don't exit. Exits are 'way outs'. The first floor is the ground floor, floor one is the second floor. Police officers are bobbies and they don't have guns.

There will be many more i can assure you.

Bye Bye United States.

To London i go. Wine in hand, computer still on, i'm headed to the airport in 15 minutes. I'll see you in three months USA.

Life, Pt. II.

Life.