Things that Don't Suck About Living in London

It has been pointed out to me I have been relatively negative in my internet presence lately, so here's a post to the contrary. I'm not going to do a list of five things I enjoy about living in London, but rather just a few random items that come to mind that hopefully don't need much explanation turning this post into a book chapter. The following are in no particular order other than the ones I came up with first in my head.

-I think we can all agree, one of the funniest things in the world is watching people fall. A little disclaimer here: it's not so much fun having to deal with the aftermath of a fall that actually hurts someone, especially if it's someone you actually care about, but the fall itself is magical regardless of the outcome. The inspiration of this thought: it snowed today, which is absolutely terrible, but it did provide some incredibly awesome unintentional comedy for my walk home. Maybe it's because I'm from the Midwest and grew up in this disgusting excuse for weather, but I'm pretty sure footed in snow/ice, very much unlike the majority of people I saw today on the walk back. While I didn't see anyone actually fall, I did witness many people in the midst of an almost fall or people tiptoeing around on the sidewalk like when you're walking in from an all-night bender in high school and don't want to wake the rents. One can only hope that if this shitty weather continues, at the very least I'll be able to witness someone almost break their ass after slipping and sliding for a solid ten seconds. I feel I've earned it.

-Speaking of walking, another thing I've learned to enjoy is the 20 minute walk to and from work each day. I've been spending an inordinate amount of quality time with my iPod and without it, these walks would be much less tolerable. On the walk to work, it gives me time to mentally prepare for the day and relax in a strange way before what will no doubt be a relatively stressful day. On the walk back, obviously the opposite, a chance to unwind while also getting a little unintentional exercise (never a bad thing) and deciding what to do for the evening, if anything. It also gives me an opportunity to check out new music and my collection has grown to the point where I could potentially listen to a new album each day and not run out for the rest of the year (thanks Joel).

-On the topic of transportation, this is one of the best features of Europe and each major city. I live within a 10 minute walk of two Underground (tube) stations and probably a 5 minute walk from about 20 bus stops. With these links, I can potentially be anywhere in the city in the matter of a half hour for a very decent price. Also, a 20 minute walk from King's Cross/St. Pancras station means I can board a train for anywhere in Europe at essentially a moment's notice (provided I'm willing to pay the premium). I do miss driving and the freedom that comes with it, but I do not miss the frustration of dealing with traffic on an everyday basis. Although one of the perks of driving is leaving whenever you wish, rather than being at the mercy of the train schedule...give and take, I suppose.

-As we've already discussed, I have never lived in a major city before so this is probably similar for the hundreds of major metro areas, but there is so much entertainment available in very small area which means there is always something to do. I can't even fathom a guess at how many museums there are in London, and they all have free entry. On one of our first days here, our program adviser said something along the lines of “people can come see all the stuff we've stolen from civilizations over the last thousand years for free. We may have stolen it, but we take good care of it.” Fine by me...I like free. Free is good, especially when living on a monthly stipend similar to the amount of money a normal person earns in a few days. Along with the museums, there are plenty of concerts held every night for not a lot of money. The obvious entertainment options are here as well: musicals, plays, people-watching, movies, etc. but there is so much to do it would be difficult to be bored in this city. I'm convinced a person could live in and stay in only the London area for an entire year and not experience everything it has to offer, there is that much to be seen.

-Along the same lines of transportation and walking, another very cool aspect of the city (and again, probably most major metropolitan areas) is the street art. London is home to many of the best street artists in the world and their work is prominently displayed all over the place. Some may see them as people who destroy and deface, but much of their work is extremely detailed and quite clever. If you have a chance, check out some of Banksy's work online. Apparently every Christmas he seems to do something pretty extraordinary and while I've never actually seen any of his pieces (I've tried and failed miserably), I'm looking forward to finding out what he'll do next. How does this pertain to walking and transportation? One of the only ways to stumble upon some of the best street art is walking around and keeping your eyes open. When it was actually warm, (well...it was never really “warm” here...just...tepid) one of my favorite activities was to walk randomly around the city and try to find my way back without the use of a map. During these mini expeditions I would stumble across some of the street art the city has to offer and some of it is truly amazing.

I'm running out of ideas, so I think I'll stop this post here before it gets too dull and boring (oops...too late). As always, if anyone has any specific questions, go ahead and comment and I'll do my best to answer. Until next time...