I have now become one of the millions of people commuting from and to work in London every day.
I can’t stop being amazed about the huge amounts of people who are on the move every morning. I live close to Victoria station, which is one of the big ones in London, and the station seems to spit out a continuous flow of people every morning. I myself need to go the opposite direction, as my work is 15 minutes by train to the south of London. And just to cross a street when the lights turns green is a challenge, as the amount of people comming opposite me is so large that it’s nearly impossible to reach the other side of the street. But until now I have managed to get to work in time.
Talking about time, working hours are very different from what I have been used too. We start at 10 am and stop at 18 pm. There is a 1 hour break in the middle. That means a possibility to get the a train to work where you can actually find a place to sit, but on the other hand, it also means coming home very late, which gives a fairly short evening. Mmm, not optimal, but it has to do. Work is ok by the way, way better than my DK job for sure.
There are always, and I mean always, helicopters in the air in London. Probably an anti terror protection thing.
We don’t have a canteen at work to eat in, but the street here is filled with small restaurants who all deliver exotic lunch alternatives. Yes I got my appetite back. Good thing. Or maybe not …
The “chips” (I don’t do the fish) in the UK is better than those in Denmark. Better – their mayonaise is very close to the Dutch one. Generally food and stuff in supermarkets is more alike to the Dutch market. Which is good. The only thing I haven’t found yet : good liquorice !
I still don’t have a bankaccount, and payday is approaching, and I still haven’t sold my flat in DK either. (I am getting gray hairs over that).
I am amazed by the number of foreigners in London. It makes the city beautifully colourful, and integrating doesn’t feel that hard, being a foreigner myself.
My knowledge of English music is definetely being upgraded here. This workplace being quite a young environment (I nearly feel old here) we have music on all day from the company jukebox. Luckily the jukebox contains a very large musiccollection, with something for everybody. I did hear Jamie come by already, but also things like Bloc Party, the Smiths (“youth sentiment” is a nice dutch expression for that) and Take That. I need to have a talk with the JB manager, as it is a neccesity to have Billy Mack added. I mean hey !
And the Empty Mountain list ? Well what a fantasy you readers have, as it actually was a list with mountains. A list listing mountains in Scotland and Wales that you can climb for a charity weekend somewhere in september. When the site is up and running, I’ll link it up.
I love tea with milk. I am going to make a cuppa and then I need to get back to work. 5 days until I get internet at home, pfew, I can’t wait.
London is still highly lovable.
Dat soorten bergen bedoelde ik! Ik was al eens op Snowdonia.
No good liquorice would be a big disappointment to put it mildly.
That would be a big minus for moving to the UK (which could happen here as well).
Good liquorice can be imported from Holland, so it’s not that big an issue from me. :-)
Sounds like you’ve settled in nicely (in three weeks), I think that calls for a celebration. Huzzah!
Sorry to be “off of the topic” somewhat…But I have been checking out the blog…it is an interesting perspecive. I was trying to contact a few people living around Pimlico for some basic info about live music venues, salsa, and yoga in the area. I am a musician from the US and I would be coming through the area for a few days in April. Any info might save me time and money. Thanks!!!
Regards,
Carlo
Apart from the fact that I utterly hate piles of man and mortar – you’d call them cities – the introduction of ‘The Ingrid Experience’ doesn’t seem to disrupt life in London at all. She fits in perfectly.
Tell us Ingrid…, where you ever Dutch… really? Or just a Londoner faking it? I’d believe it if you told me it was so…
Love,
Jan
Maybe this (http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/dialectsofenglish.html) helps in becoming even more of a Londoner.