London
I do not have much to say about London. Basically, it was rainy, dreary, and gray the whole time I was there. Jeroen and I explored the city a bit (he only just moved there a few weeks ago himself), and saw some of the necessary sights-- St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, Millenium Bridge, Piccadilly Square... all were standard and unremarkable, in my opinion. This opinion was undoubtably dampened by the rain and clouds, but nonetheless, London.... meh.
I think I know the reason for my complacency. EVERYBODY goes to London. Everyone says you HAVE to go to London, and so much emphasis is placed on the city as a cultural mainstay blah blah blah, but has this made it lose its novelty? The city is old, but not mysterious. It has character, but the character is quiet and subtle, and probably requires more than four days to find. Perhaps I am biased by the number of British people I know, jaded by the scores of stuffy Brits who hang out outside Stormies in LKF, turned off by the myriad bland and blase Brit bankers I encounter. It is not exciting or keenly interesting for me to go to a foreign country and hear English, albeit in many different accents. It is not exciting or keenly interesting for me to go to a city where people do not seem to care about their historic surroundings- everything and everyone seemed so bleak and depressing! There was no buzz of excitment, no hum of intensity. I think I find more excitement in more obscure places like Croatia or Hong Kong (yes, Hong Kong is somewhat obscure. When I first moved people were asking me if there was electricity here or if I would be persecuted because I was a Christian), perhaps because I feel like I have a tiny bit of ownership of them. I did not feel as though I "owned" anything of London- I felt more like I was walking through... I don't know. Something tired and worn out.
This is not to say that I hated London- on the contrary! I had a great time with Jeroen, wandering about and talking, seeing the sights together. I think London might be a 'together' place, where it's better to discover it with someone else, as opposed to forging it on your own, like Switzerland was. One thing I will say for London is that it has the most amazing diversity! I thought Hong Kong was a melting pot, but London! London had people from every country imaginable, and tons of them! This I did actually find exciting and interesting. I'm used to seeing heaps of Asians, but in London I saw heaps of everyone. This was nice, but also strange as they were all speaking English.
Some Londony observations:
-girls dress trampy for no reason. all the time.
-it's dirty
-huge! so huge!
-Tate museum is completely awesome
-about 65 different kinds of British accents
And because I am not inspired to write any more about this place, some pictures:
Ribs of the Millenium Bridge:
What it looked like the whole time:
The Tube:
Some cool buildings/bridges (I somehow cannot get this picture straight no matter what I do. I think the buildings themselves are crooked):
I think I know the reason for my complacency. EVERYBODY goes to London. Everyone says you HAVE to go to London, and so much emphasis is placed on the city as a cultural mainstay blah blah blah, but has this made it lose its novelty? The city is old, but not mysterious. It has character, but the character is quiet and subtle, and probably requires more than four days to find. Perhaps I am biased by the number of British people I know, jaded by the scores of stuffy Brits who hang out outside Stormies in LKF, turned off by the myriad bland and blase Brit bankers I encounter. It is not exciting or keenly interesting for me to go to a foreign country and hear English, albeit in many different accents. It is not exciting or keenly interesting for me to go to a city where people do not seem to care about their historic surroundings- everything and everyone seemed so bleak and depressing! There was no buzz of excitment, no hum of intensity. I think I find more excitement in more obscure places like Croatia or Hong Kong (yes, Hong Kong is somewhat obscure. When I first moved people were asking me if there was electricity here or if I would be persecuted because I was a Christian), perhaps because I feel like I have a tiny bit of ownership of them. I did not feel as though I "owned" anything of London- I felt more like I was walking through... I don't know. Something tired and worn out.
This is not to say that I hated London- on the contrary! I had a great time with Jeroen, wandering about and talking, seeing the sights together. I think London might be a 'together' place, where it's better to discover it with someone else, as opposed to forging it on your own, like Switzerland was. One thing I will say for London is that it has the most amazing diversity! I thought Hong Kong was a melting pot, but London! London had people from every country imaginable, and tons of them! This I did actually find exciting and interesting. I'm used to seeing heaps of Asians, but in London I saw heaps of everyone. This was nice, but also strange as they were all speaking English.
Some Londony observations:
-girls dress trampy for no reason. all the time.
-it's dirty
-huge! so huge!
-Tate museum is completely awesome
-about 65 different kinds of British accents
And because I am not inspired to write any more about this place, some pictures:
Ribs of the Millenium Bridge:
What it looked like the whole time:
The Tube:
Some cool buildings/bridges (I somehow cannot get this picture straight no matter what I do. I think the buildings themselves are crooked):