So here it is: We've each chosen 5 loves and 5 hates about London and the UK. We've tried to keep them specific to "The best things about London and the UK" as opposed to generic "the best things about being away from home" type things, if you understand me...
sorry no photos this time - we're working on a multimedia slideshow thing of our adventures in the tower of london and I'm working on a "cityscape project" with lots of artsy shots from arround the place :D
so: Andrew's Best things about London/UK
1. It's London...
Since childhood, I've learned about this city and this country. I've played monopoly and dreamed about owning a hotel in mayfair. I've sung "London bridge is falling down", I've learned about the knights and the crusades. I've learned about the spanish amarda, the black plague and the battle of britain. it all happened here. Balham High street, (a 100 meter walk from my house and a street that I walk allong every day to go to work) was originally a roman road. there's a street in the city called "london wall" it's called that because a good portion of the original Roman legion-built city wall is still standing there from nearly 2000 years ago. a lot of the inner city suburbs are named after the gates built in the walls (Aldersgate moorgate, bishopsgate) there is just so much history here. famous land marks, famous people....
This is where big ben is, this is where the prime meridian of the world is, this is where guy fawkes tried to blow up parliment house, this is where Oliver Twist said "Please, Sir, I want some more". This was the capital city of the world back when they used to say "the sun never sets on the british empire"
this is the largest city in the european union, it's so big that it has FIVE international airports. approximately one in every 880 people in the world live here (one in every 471 if you include the metropolitan area.)
I honestly feel a bit honoured to be here and slightly intimidated by it.
2.The Location
I always considered myself fairly international event-savy when I was in Australia. I would always read international news and would be able to small talk about the political situation in the EU or the US. Now that I'm in London, it's very apparent that I had no idea.
France, spain and germany are just over there --->
the USA and canada are just over the other way <--- Israel, the middle east and the persian gulf are just a bit further past france. We ARE in the EU. We're right in the middle of it all. it's no longer international news... it's local. as intimidating as that may be, it's also good :-) france is just over there ---> meaning that we can just pop over to paris when we feel like it and have the money.
the Location is definately very cool :-)
3. The range of stuff to buy.
because the population is so large and we're right in the middle of europe, there is so much variety. Niche brands that in australia sell via intermediaries can have their own physical store. yes! there's an oakley store! rather than just browsing online and dreaming, I can go in and touch all the products! there are so many stores that sell different products it's hard do discribe. you ask a local "where do I go to buy nice jewelry" and they'll say "chancery lane or sloan square" there's whole streets with nothing but certain types of stores!
4.The Diversity of the people
ok - please accept my apologies for any non-politically correctness in this part.
in Australia, there is hardly any black people, hardly any indians and far more asian. in London, there are people from every country. African, polish, Indian, asian, and lots from europe. oh, there's some english here also, I think....
It's just amazing living in a massive stiring pot of cultural diversity (and occasionally tension).
5. Warm clothes
I've always liked the idea of overcoats and gloves and hats. now I can wear these things without feeling pretentious :-D it's really great.
Hates:
Since arriving in London, I've found myself increasingly annoyed by oblivious, slow-walking people everywhere and people who chew gum with their mouth open... they seem to be everywhere. however, I can't put this down as part of my pet hates section beecause I've concluded that their seemingly increased number is only due to the fact that the city is many times larger than Brisbane, and therefore it's more likely that one will bump into an oblivious slow walking person or be forced to see someone chew gum with their mouth open. if I had more time on my hands I may conduct a study to identify the ratios of normal people to those that chew gum with their mouths open in various capital cities of the world, but for now I'll just have to deal with it and accept that there will always be people that chew gum with their mouths open, wherever you go....
1. English keyboards
This is my number one pet hate. Because I'm a computer programmer, my keyboard is a large part of my day. the faster I can type, the more time I have for thinking about solving problems etc. Now, I know that the standard QUERTY keyboard it not necessarily the most efficient in terms of where you place your fingers (look up info on the Dvorak keyboard one day) but the keyboard used in australia (actually the "US keyboard" that I'm used to, still seems efficient in terms of the extra keys. we don't necessarily have to streach all that far for the shift keys etc, and the keys that we don't use all that often are placed well out of the way of the main letters.
The english keyboard however...... it's like, either no one was really thinking when they designed it, or it was designed by an American out of spite.... they must have thought... "ooo, here's some extra keys that they won't need very often, let's move the really important ones just out of reach and place the stupid ones no one ever needs in their place.
observe:
Now, those with a key eye will notice the following things about the UK keyboard:
The left shift key has been reduced to half the size and the backspace key has been put in the half that used to be there. previously I'd be pressing shift on the part closest to my hand. now I actually have to lift my hand off the home row and move my entire hand about a centimeter to the left every time I hit the shift key. try it... try typing while only hitting the far left hand side of the left shift key.... how if you multiply that distance by the number of capital letters per day, then my left hand is moving additional METERS! not only is my left hand moving more, but my typing is slower because of the required moment and my typing is riddled with backslashes whenever I miss the key....
now the same goes for what they've done with the enter key..... the squished it over to the right and put the hash key right where I'm used to hitting enter.... so my right hand also has to leave the home row at the end of each line of code I write.... further, my typeing is riddled with hash symbals as well as backslashes. what idiot thought that people use the back slash and the pound symbal more often than the shift and enter keys!!???
Another thing you'll notice is the At symbal is where the double quote used to be. although this isn't as annoying as the other two issues, I still use the double quotes FAR more often than I do the at symbal.... so they've moved yet another useful key further away for no reason...... Typing is no longer a no-brain excersise. I have to force myself to remember to move my hands further away to reach the most basic of keys... it's ineficient and annoying.
2. "Coffee"
very few places make it a consistant way, sometimes it's too cold, sometimes it's too hot and tastes burnt, sometimes they put a straw in it..... the only place that makes really good coffee is run by Australians.
3. "Rain"
It never really rains properly here. it sprinkles lightly, it sprinkles heavily, but it never rains like it does in Australia. . it's like the sky constantly has a cold and is sniffling annoyingly.... it's like the sky goes to sneeze, and then holds it in, spluttering rudely. You want to hand it a tissue and tell it to blow it's nose. sometimes I feel like yelling "JUST RAIN PROPERLY AND GET IT OVER WITH SO WE CAN GET ON WITH OUR LIVES!!"
I've always liked a good rain storm in the summer. I smile and look out the windows, listening to the raindrops hitting the roof, watching the water flow down the gutters, knowing that the grass will be green the next day and everything will smell clean and fresh.
but London is just grey, miserable and wet.....
4. Lack of bins.
The city councils in London don't seem to believe in rubbish bins. it's possible to walk kilometers without seeing a single rubbish bin. There's the occasional one here and there. it contributes to a dirty city, there's chewing gum on the ground all over the place. there are no rubbish bins in train stations whatsoever. I'm told that this, in particular is because of potential terrorist attacks.... they're afraid that people will put a bomb in a rubbish bin and that it may go off at a train station....
If I was a terrorist, I'd be putting the bombs on the trains themselves, at peak hour. Now, it just so happens, that dispite the lack of bins on the stations, most southern line trains that I've traveled to work on have bins underneath the seats........ it's idiocy I tell you!
5. confused walking people
In the tube stations, there are signs on the escalators telling people to "please stand on the right". everyone does, and people who are in a hurry walk up the left of the stairs. This, combined with everyone driving on the left of the road means that most people are confused when it comes to passing people on the footpath. should they obey the normal traffic rules or tube station ettiquite? basically it means that every person you go to pass is confused which way they should go. it means chaos when the streets are packed with people shopping. why doesn't everyone just walk on the left?
Debbie's Top 5 Loves about London
1. Other countries are so close. It's just a hop, skip and a jump. Although we haven't travelled yet outside London, let alone the UK, the option is there. If you feel like eating some french croissonts, then it's only 2 hours to Paris!
2. There is so much to do and see in London! That's why we haven't got to travel outside the UK yet. Down every little street, tucked away are some beautiful and quirky shops, coffee shops and buskers. You can listen to thrilling opera or be swept away by violins, violas and cellos playing clasical music. There are also lots of events like arts, crafts and lots of markets scattered around the city. The city has a real buzz!!!
3. The cultural diversity. You can be walking down the street and listen to conversations of people speaking in French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Greek and many African languages as well the accents of the Scots, Welsh and Irish. You can learn so much about other cultures just be looking and talking to the many other nationalities here.
4. Seeing so many supercars. Yes, I'm sure you're surprised about this one but after being converted to loving Top Gear which is Andrew's favourite show, I have learnt a little bit about supercars and love seeing them zoom past. I would love to race Andrew in a Lamborgini.......
5. The tube being so hot and stuffy.........Why you ask is this a love of mine..........Well it really helps to thaw out your frozen face after it freezing on your way to the tube.
6. I know it's a Top 5, but I have to add this one in too, esspecially for all the girls! You can wear a knee high boots, coat, scarf, beanie/hat and gloves and not look like a fahion try hard. It's not only fashionable to wear all of these items, but it's essential to survive in London! It's only just gone Autumn, the leaves are falling and I have just rushed out to buy a coat as last week my hands actually hurt walking to the tube.
Debbie's Top 5 Hates in London
1. Being squashed and pushed and shoved on the tube. Especially when there has been a delay and the trains are not coming every 2 mins, but coming every 4-5mins. You may think this wouldn't make much of a difference but believe me it does. The trains need to come every 2 mins otherwise people start to panic and it's every person for themselves. You feel like a sardine being pushed from behind and even when you think there is no more room onto the train, you're wrong because the person behind you desperately wants to get on so they force you on in an attempt of also getting on. Then when you are finally on, you don't need to hold onto a bar because you are so tighly jammed packed that you're totally supported by other people's heads, backs and bottoms! Then when the train stopps at the stations, you literally have to squeeze through or push people with your handbag to let you through off the train.
2. Going shopping down Oxford street takes a lot of patience because as the population of London is so big, people not only NOT move out of the way, but they also come from all 4 directions. You end up zig zagging around to find you haven't moved very far from where you started. Ok Ok, a slight exaggeration but you actually get further if you walk slowly.
3. Not having a car and having to go to the supermarket everday because you can only carry a small amount of items without yours hands falling off. You have to ask yourself, "Do I really need to buy a bottle of milk, shampoo, laundry powder and toilet paper today. Nah.....we can do without the toilet paper!"
4. Not being able to eat outside without getting smoke in your face. I had forgotten what is used to be like in Australia when people could smoke outside cafes. London should definitely introduce the no smoking near eating places rule. I realise that would affect about 70% of the population but at least Andrew and I would be happy!!
5. Not being able to understand people on the phone at work because of their accents. One guy I had to pass him over to the other receptionist because I couldn't make out one word that he was saying. After the call was over, I found out that he was Polish, but he was speaking English?????
So there it is......my love and hates about London......but I do have to mention that my real biggest hate is that you guys are not here with us. And my biggest love is when Andrew does the housework!!!!!! Just kidding, Andrew is my biggest love full stop!
not sure why Andrew is hugging the tree??? maybe to keep himself warm??????
