Thursday, January 14, 2010

I don't think we're in Chinatown anymore.

Today was my first real day in London. I ran errands and was oriented by university staff (Lame.). Today was also my first real shower experience. I got into my 2 ft. x 2 ft. shower (If the showers of Third North and Gramercy Green had a babies, their baby would be this shower.) and prepared to lather up. The water never got above a dull chill. Oh well, I'm clean at least and tomorrow I may have better luck.

Luckily though, I didn't get lost during my errand running. (I just forced a transition, I know.) Blocks don't exist here. After the Great Fire of London city planners considered rebuilding the city on a grid system, the idea was not accepted. While it is frustrating for me to not know which Cardinal direction I'm facing or heading, I'm content with rambling the streets for now at least. The lack of multi-level buildings that tower over the streets blocking out the sun is nice too. I, however, have not seen the sun in the UK yet, only gray clouds. Perhaps because the clouds add to the feeling of flatness I feel London has. Because the buildings cap at around 16 stories (with my dorm being a 16th floor pop out, my mostly-windowed half of the room perched on top), London seems huge to me. It stretches on and on, rolling forth almost like a plain in the midwest. 2 parts village 1 part metropolis. My perspective, however, is very green seeing that I have not had time to venture beyond my residential area. I'm positive that it, like all things, will change.

I made it around the Angel area to get a cell phone (emergency calls with free UK texting) and other necessary items such as fruit, veggies, pasta, and olive oil. After these next few days, the NYU sponsored meals will wane and I will be forced to undertake an obstacle of insurmountable measure. . . cooking! But it's study abroad. It's a time for experiencing new things. I've tried to be vegetarian multiple times in my life (kinda like keeping a blog), maybe I'll succeed. In reality, though, claiming to be vegetarian is really just an excuse for me to have one less thing to cook, meat.

My cooking situation looks more promising than my shower situation at the moment. I have a communal kitchen on my floor because there is no room for my 8 ft. x 14 ft. shared bedroom to host one. We have adorable cubbies to each of us that hold a dish, a pot, a pan, a strainer, a plate, a fork, a knife, a cup, a mug, a spoon, a cutting board, and a myriad of larger plastic utensils for cooking, some of which I have never seen before. Does any one know what a spatula with a 90 degree angle is supposed to do? I guess I'll find out seeing that I'm not living in New York City anymore.

Regardless, these are the banal thoughts I've had during my activities today. I must confess, however, that I am already hearing words with British accents. The owner of PIE joked for months that I would come back with a British accent, I fear that I may come back with one, at least at the neuro-level.

Cheers for now!

No comments:

Post a Comment