Minding the Gap: A Reflection on London

My, my how time flies. I remember when I first got to London, I didn't know what to think. I just adapted, and hoped for the best. It was a rough first few weeks, I cried myself to sleep because I missed home and my friends, but now...even five days later I can't help but feel nostalgiac.

Finding out what I miss is a process. I've been journaling about my spiritual growth in and since England, and I have learned so much but from very unexpected ways. First of all, from my good friend, Faith, I have learned a great deal. She showed me so much about living an authentic Christian life, and shared her views on everything from education to politics to views on the Church. We hung out so much that we were practically inseperable. I think we both learned a lot from each other. I think I will miss hanging out with her and playing songs on the guitar with her the most. But Im thankful for those times.

I learned so much from the people at Glorious Undead Church in Camden. From Heather, who led Girls Group, I learned so much about the peace of Jesus. She had so much peace from God that it overwhelmed the room of her amazing apartment. From Paula I learned about the beauty and joy of Christ, and her childlike faith and grace. She was just so much fun to be around cause she would listen and speak encouragement. Kari...I still want to know how to really pronounce your name!! I think I learned so, so much from our talk at the cafe you took me to. I wonder who found the note I left for you at the other McDonalds I thought we were meeting at? Anyhoo, I learned so much about myself by listening to you. You have no idea how it impacted me. I will post a blog about this later, hopefully (I say that, but I really will this time!).

Ok, ok, enough sappiness-- lets bust out the happiness! Lol! Here are some things I find interesting about the culture and some words/quirks we are not used to here across the Pond:

Brits drink their tea with milk. Like all the time. Michael form GU once called it "muddy Thames water"

A lot of people may be married but may not wear their rings. They also call each other "partner", rather. Is it because many people just choose to live together without going through the legal process of marriage nowadays? We talked to some girls from Paris about this one night.

"Pudding" over there is usually like bread. Everyone on Sundays gets a traditional Sunday Roast at a Pub, and they come with steak-and-kidney pudding. In fact, I had some instant pudding mix from America and gave it to my friend Heather and it seemed like it was something totally new to her!

Everyone takes some sort of public transportation via a ticket or an Oyster card. There are the busses (double decker of course!) and then the Tube; the London Underground. Like the Metro at NYC.

Buskers are people who play music and do tricks on the street or at the Tube. They are actually liscenced to do so; they have to ask the station and show them their ID's and they play there for a set amount of time and when people walk by, they put a few pence in their cases.

A Telly is a TV.

 Its pronounced, "toh-mah-tow", not "tom-ay-toe".

There was a court case deciding if Jaffa Cakes were a biscuit or a cookie. Why? Because one would be taxed, the other one wouldn't!

courtesy of Google. Orange-flavored cookies

They measure everything in Celcius. And that makes baking fun. Then they use the metric system as well and I just end up giving up with the conversions. Plus, they measure weight in "stones", which is 14 pounds. If you weigh 10 Stone, thats 140 lbs.

Pounds can also be called "quid". Such as, "I have 5 quid on me for lunch".

Pizza there is so different. Its European and you can eat a whole pizza yourself cause the crust is thin.

Tax is included on pretty much everything already. Its called VAT, so you get what the price tag says. That money you pay thats included also goes towards funding things like the NHS, which offers free/socialized medicine.

You can walk almost anywhere! There are parks every 28 feet or so, and there are so many flowers! Snowdrops and Daffodils litter the streets instead of, well, litter. They keep things really clean over there.

Those red telephone booths are not there for practicality. They are kept to trap tourists and then they eat them!...ok kidding. But they really do have some gross ads in them posted up all the time. Its just plain wrong.

Don't do the London Eye. Its a real tourist trap and apparently not worth the money.

Best places to get groceries? Try Tesco's, Sainsburry's and Waitrose. I like shopping at Waitrose the most, which is like a Target/HEB of food mainly. Sainsburry's is like Walmart in that it has a load more random things. Tesco's is a convenience store.

I think London also has socialized sandwiches. Every store has the same boxed, gnarly sandwiches. You get over them pretty quick but are convenient for a quick bite.

Well, that's all for now, folks! I could go on and on, but those are some interesting facts about London that I have discovered while abroad. I hope you find this useful! Cheers! *This means  'thank you' in a way. Everyone says that. No one says 'pip pip cheerio' unless they are joking. Also, don't flash the peace sign backwards. Thats bad. Over and out!

Your world traveler,
Diana