Things I have noticed about London

This is an old one I never posted.

1. Having "tea" does not necessarily imply drinking brown liquid at 4 in the afternoon. Depending upon one's socioeconomic class, tea time can even indicate supper with the family. The affluent tend to engage in the traditional, tea with scones and crumpets deal, while the middle class use "tea" as a synonym for dinner.



2. London is a caricature of itself. its clean streets, short brick buildings, and grey skies seem to be figments of my own imagination (driven by films like Notting Hill and Love Actually).



3. In the cafeteria at Heythrop College, instead of pricing the salad per pound, there is a set price for a "level" plate and a set price for a "heaped plate."



4. I see more people Indian people in the heart of the fallen empire than I see in Parsippany, NJ.



5. I don't know if it is this city, or the fact that I am alone in this city, or the constant anticipation for rain (an anxiety I have decided I completely love), but I am always inspired to write. New sentences are constantly forming in my head. I cannot capture the excitement and nervousness, the sense of wonderment and freedom, that rushes through my veins. I am invigorated by the smog, the double decker buses, the friendly service.



6. I have seen a few people in need of money on the streets. A few of them simply begged with their dogs, or sat with their heads down in exasperation and a sign of pleading for sympathy. However, many of the poor in the streets engaged the fast-paced, relentless London crowd. I see opera singers and jugglers and classical musicians. (I stroll down the streets with my own background music and performers, my head held high, smiling--until my run down flats hit a bump in the sidewalk and I run into an old man with a walking stick.)