Ten Things I Hate About London
People keep asking if I’d ever live in London again. I don’t know that I would. It would take a pretty sweet offer and a flat within walking distance to work. It’s awesome in so many ways but there are a few things I’m not fond of:
1. Isolation – People avoid live interaction at all costs. They text message instead of talk on the phone. All mobiles are hooked up to facebook. Half the time, people don’t get your messages. On the tube, it’s eyes down in your daily Metro newspaper. You can be surrounded by people and totally alone.
2. The tube – 45 degrees in the summer with no air con. ‘Nuff said.
3. Oxford Street – I live the shopping but crowds and slow walkers make me homicidal.
4. Geographical Inconvenience – when you live, work and play miles apart, you spend your life indoors and underground and you remain pasty white
5. Private Public Space – Almost all parks are fenced in and close at dusk.
6. Keep Moving – there are so few places to sit down. Tired? Too bad. You can’t sit here.
7. Fees – Council Tax, tv and radio licences. What’s up with that?
8. Celebrity Worship – The Brits LOVE their celebs. All papers have pages of celebrity gossip. When I was out one night, apparently I saw a Big Brother contestant and a tv presenter. Bored now. Everyone knows who’s dating who, wearing what, and who got wasted and passed out at a club at 11pm. Oh Lily Allen, you’re not smiling now, are you?
9. Urine Stench – It actually hasn’t been so bad since I’m staying in a nice hood.
10. Terrorism - Every day on my way to work on the tube, I would read my Metro paper. Every day, there would be an article about a foiled terrorist plot against Londoners. A common method was using bombs to rip holes in the tube line beneath the Thames River so the line filled up with water. It's not like my fears were unfounded. 7/7 was tragic and horrifying.
But it’s a love/hate relationship. On a positive note, I LOVE how fashionable everyone is here. My style slips when the weather gets too hot… but not the Brits’! I love the accessibility to international travel. I love sipping wine in a park. I love most of the accents. Hot. I love that museums are free. I love that feeling of excitement when you meet up with good friends in Soho on a Friday or Saturday night.
Good times.
1. Isolation – People avoid live interaction at all costs. They text message instead of talk on the phone. All mobiles are hooked up to facebook. Half the time, people don’t get your messages. On the tube, it’s eyes down in your daily Metro newspaper. You can be surrounded by people and totally alone.
2. The tube – 45 degrees in the summer with no air con. ‘Nuff said.
3. Oxford Street – I live the shopping but crowds and slow walkers make me homicidal.
4. Geographical Inconvenience – when you live, work and play miles apart, you spend your life indoors and underground and you remain pasty white
5. Private Public Space – Almost all parks are fenced in and close at dusk.
6. Keep Moving – there are so few places to sit down. Tired? Too bad. You can’t sit here.
7. Fees – Council Tax, tv and radio licences. What’s up with that?
8. Celebrity Worship – The Brits LOVE their celebs. All papers have pages of celebrity gossip. When I was out one night, apparently I saw a Big Brother contestant and a tv presenter. Bored now. Everyone knows who’s dating who, wearing what, and who got wasted and passed out at a club at 11pm. Oh Lily Allen, you’re not smiling now, are you?
9. Urine Stench – It actually hasn’t been so bad since I’m staying in a nice hood.
10. Terrorism - Every day on my way to work on the tube, I would read my Metro paper. Every day, there would be an article about a foiled terrorist plot against Londoners. A common method was using bombs to rip holes in the tube line beneath the Thames River so the line filled up with water. It's not like my fears were unfounded. 7/7 was tragic and horrifying.
But it’s a love/hate relationship. On a positive note, I LOVE how fashionable everyone is here. My style slips when the weather gets too hot… but not the Brits’! I love the accessibility to international travel. I love sipping wine in a park. I love most of the accents. Hot. I love that museums are free. I love that feeling of excitement when you meet up with good friends in Soho on a Friday or Saturday night.
Good times.
posted by Douglas J. Stiles, BA Hons, MES! at 6/18/2008 03:38:00 p.m.
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