London According to Me
L O N D O N 2 0 1 5 – The Journey of Dreams….
This post was really fun to write! My experience in London so far has been a little bit of culture shock and a LOT of amazement. At any given moment I felt like I was on a movie set, akin to the ones we walked through in Disney World, only these are not backdrops or wooden sets down these foggy streets, but in fact they are real buildings! So here we go, for my friends back in Canada, here is London according to me (and for my British friends please note, most of these are just a bit of fun)
Men in London say “pleasure” or “my pleasure” or, if they fancy to make you swoon, they’ll say “entirely my pleasure, seriously” (instead of “you’re welcome”)
People in Britain say “let me have a think” rather than “I’ll think about it”
Mistletoe grows on trees here! This can be a very exciting discovery, until you ask a local about it and they tell you that it’s not mistletoe but “Holly” and that mistletoe is actually an ugly large blob of leaves akin to a tumble weed (but still alive) very high up at the top of a tree where you’ll never see it, thereby shattering your false image of mistletoe from Canadian media.
Cars have the right of way to pedestrians, ALWAYS, no matter what. They’re likely to bump you with their front bumper if you don’t run across the intersection fast enough (I’m exaggerating, slightly). It’s just as hard getting used to cars being in the ‘wrong’ lane as a pedestrian, if not harder, as it is driving in the ‘wrong’ lane. When it says Look Left on the pavement, look EVERYWHERE, including right in front of you, behind your shoulder and basically in every direction possible.
Nobody that lives in London seems to know where any of the Catholic Churches are, even if one is just around the corner.
If you ask someone for directions, get a second opinion, then a third. Keep asking until at least two directions are the same, otherwise you’ll walk in a loop forever.
Early Sunday morning traffic is as busy as Friday night party traffic (akin to Vegas on a busy day), which is the same as 12am, 2am and 6am and basically any time. London never sleeps. The little grocery stores scattered at every street corner, called Tesco, are open 24/7.
It’s always raining in London, but it’s never actually quite raining. Take a hooded coat that you can put on and off your head every 10 min as it is impossible to discern if it’s raining or not, and how that may or may not affect your hair.
Chocolate shops look like fancy jewelry shops, and the selection is amazing. Be prepared to pay lots, but it’s worth it!
“Cheers” has 1000 meanings, some of which include: “No worries” “See you later” “Thanks” “Don’t mention it” “You’re welcome” and whatever the equivalent of a wink in your direction would be, if it were translated to words.
A car trunk is called a ‘boot’