revolutionary in training

I moved to London almost one month ago now and so far it’s been almost nothing that I expected. For one thing, there’s essentially no free wifi anywhere (which is why I haven’t been able to update this little blog of mine), but more importantly, nobody wears high heels… ever! Okay, a few people but do but we suffer greatly for it as the sidewalks of this ancient city are quite uneven and rather treacherous for anything but flats. How did I miss this the other times I’ve visited England, you ask? All I can say is that you see things differently when you’re living in a place instead of just visiting it.

Needless to say, I’ve had to make some adjustments to acculturize myself to London life. I gave up my sunny San Francisco wardrobe and now wear layers and warm jackets all the time. I bought a low pair of heels, refusing to give in to flats but only because I didn’t want to hem all my pants (or trousers as they call them here… pants means underwear!). I’m learning new vocabulary like trousers and cuppa (tea) and rubbish (garbage) and really important words like chav (someone who dresses like they’re from the Bronx of NY). I’m also learning that the job application and hiring process takes much longer here and that somehow people survive only getting paid once a month, a concept as foreign to me as not having free wifi.

Speaking of which, there’s really no way to get a job without the Internet so one day after walking up and down a London High Street (main street) for over 2 hours in heels, desperately in search of free wifi, I finally succumbed to purchasing it. I first checked out English cafés like Costa Coffee and Caffè Nero but eventually it was Starbucks that saved the day with their T-Mobile wifi service. It makes me feel incredibly American, despite being Canadian, but Starbucks has become my new home and just about any day of the week you can find me sitting at one of their many cafés working madly away on job applications on my beloved MacBook. 

So while I haven’t found a flat (apartment) or a job yet, I have learned a lot on this crazy adventure of mine. When some kid driving by throws an egg at your head and none of it gets on your fabulous new coat, count your blessings. When you notice a cute guy on the tube who’s fly is down, you don’t have to use proper words like, “Your zipper requires attention”, to make him understand you. And, most importantly, know the location of all wifi hot spots in the city and if all else fails, there’s always Starbucks.