Saturday, April 9, 2011

Compare.

TEN THINGS I LIKE ABOUT LONDON

1. Everyone on the tube reads. I don't even just mean read newspapers, so many people just read books. Legitimate books.
2. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful, especially compared to home. It was gray for most of the winter, which is horribly depressing, but at least we had no snow. The past few weeks it's been nothing but sunshine.
3. The Tube is ridiculously easy to navigate. I get lost very easily, but as long as I can get my way to a tube station, it's so easy to get yourself home.
4. Fashion. I love the fashion here. It's so much more creative than fashion you see anywhere else. Women wear whatever they want, and not only do people not raise an eyebrow to it, but it looks awesome.
5. Men's fashion. Men are so stylish here. I love seeing men pulled together in a nice outfit.
6. Newspapers are free here. Which makes sense to me... why should people have to pay for the news?
7. The food in the grocery stores is so much better. They don't pack food with preservatives like in America, so it tastes fresher and real. Of course, it doesn't last as long, but with city living you don't need it to. You go food shopping every few days, so food only needs to last a few days.
8. London is such a clean city. It's spotless. I dropped food on the ground and ate it, and thought nothing of it.
9. The buildings are all so architecturally beautiful. It's not like New York where you can count the visually interesting buildings on one hand: every building here has personality, even the unimportant ones.
10. Markets. Borough Market, Portobello Road, Camden Market... markets are awesome.

TEN THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT LONDON

1. Nobody smiles. I know I've said that so many times, but it's so true. Even when Steve and my parents came to visit they noticed it. Everyone is miserable.
2. The weather in the wintertime was so miserable. It would be gray out all day, and not rain but drizzle just enough to ruin your day.
3. The tube in rush hour is awful. If you can get on a train, prepare to be face-first in the smelly armpit of a man coming back from the gym.
4. Not many people are really friendly. I've been keeping a running list of people who have been really outwardly friendly to me, and I can count them on one hand. People may not be evil, horrible people (though some are), but nobody really makes an effort to be friendly.
5. People will run you over. Sure, you may be jaywalking, but in New York or anywhere else they'll angrily stop for you. They will not stop for you here. That's not an exaggeration. THEY WILL NOT STOP. So many people die from getting hit by a bus or car in London. They don't care.
6. The streets are very confusing. It's easy to get lost. The tube is easy, the rest of it is hard.
7. I have to make an effort to see nature. If I want to see something green, I have to go on the tube to get to a park. I don't like having to go to a designated area to see nature.
8. English food. I don't think I need to say anything more about this.
9. They have very negative opinions of Americans, in general. Come on, we're not all obese, nationalist gun-owning cowboys who hate other cultures but love cheeseburgers. I happen to be the opposite in all those areas.
10. It is ridiculously expensive here. I knew it would be, but I severely underestimated how expensive it truly is. I made about $10,000 this summer and it's almost all gone in just a few months, and I don't drink, I wash my clothes by hand, and I don't eat out often. It's crazy. The number amounts for things are the same as in America, but the pound is worth about twice as much. You get a bottle of shampoo for 4 pounds, but it's really almost $8 USD. And drinks? My goodness, if I drank I'd be broke. A mixed drink is about 7 pounds... you get one drink and you're out $14. This city eats bank accounts.

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