What transition?

Before I moved to jolly ‘ol England, I had a good number of people warning me about the transition. “Oh you know it’s different there. You have to walk everywhere! And everything is going to smaller then what your used to. And you won’t be able to get everything you would want right away.” I would then respond that that is exactly what i love about England, and depending how much they pissed me off I would tell them to shut up. I get that this type of living is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is mine. So with that, I’ve realized that I’ve practically skipped over the whole transition period; I’m here!

I’ve lived my entire life living in some suburb or another, which is great for growing up, but I’m a city girl at heart. City living is the best, it’s fast, there’s always something to do, and (I mean this in a good way) no cares about you. There are millions of people here, according to Google 8,174,100 to be exact. Do you think anyone is going to care what crazy outfit you wear, or in your beliefs, or where you’ve come from. It allows a different type of freedom to be the kind of person you want to be.

Yet with London, it is very easy to take a pause from the hurried life style of a city. Step into a pub, have a pint, or just go to a park and you are able to take a breather and suddenly life isn’t going so fast and you’re able to smell the roses. Sometimes literally.

It was the other day when I realized that I’ve transition just fine into living in London. I had an appointment with a bank in central London to start up my account, an appointment that should have lasted only a half hour ended up being an hour and a half just because we were chatting for so long. By the time I left it was rush hour in London, and in central London that one hell of rush. Everyone walks around with a purpose, they know where they’re going and when they need to get there. That’s one way I’ve learned to tell who the tourist are. They’ll stop to look around, probably wondering where the are. I’ve already helped some tourist find their way around. Yes, I am fully gloating.

There was a Boots (sort of like a Target, but with less options) across from my tube stop, so I figured that I would run the errands I needed to and grab a cup of coffee while I was at. Towards the evening, there are people giving out a free news paper of the evening news. The other times I’ve been to London I’ve seen people on the tube all smooshed together, reading their free evening news paper. A dream has been realized, I was one of those cramped up people, with coffee, and reading the news while the tube would take off. Maybe it’s the honeymoon phase for me for London, it’s not like I enjoy being pressed up to random strangers in an over heated carriage, but if it’s part of the package of what come with living in London, then I’ll take it.

The day to day life here is still entertaining for me. The concept of walking to the grocery store is not one I’m used to, but I was prepared for the walked so it’s not a surprise to me. The entertaining part for me is that the store that’s I’ve been asking people about, Sainsbury’s, everyone has told me that it’s a close, easy walk. If you’re a normal London walker, then it’s probably 10-15 min away, if you’re slow like me, it’s closer to 20 min. I realized as I was walking closer to Sainsbury’s, that’s it is right next to a tube station, a station that is only one stop away from the station where I live right next to. This is where the internal battle kicks in. Do you walk for just a brief bit that is probably even healthy for you, or do you waist the money and go on the tube and for some reason then feel like a bad person? Luckily I didn’t have my Oyster card and wasn’t able to make the decision and was forced to walk. It’s ok, I’m a better person for that. I just need to make sure I keep forgetting my Oyster card every time I go, so that I don’t feel tempted.

So that’s my life so far. Updates: I’ve met a ton of people and have been going out, so yay to having a life! That’s all you get for now.

-Jac-