"take me on a trip
i'd like to go someday..."
on the plane, i looked out the window for the last 30 minutes of my flight across the pond,
i saw lots of green, more than i'd ever seen in the bay area, a palace, and London's version of the 101 - except everyone's driving in the opposite direction!
"wow, i can't believe this, it's finally hitting me...i'm heeeeeere!"
i reside in Kensington which is where the royalty of England resides, don't blink too fast or you might miss Prince Harry or William crossing the street.
On that note, i've never seen a place where the pedestrians are left to such reckless abandon as London.
Sometimes there are crosswalks - most of the time there aren't.
Everyone jaywalks, and people will silently shake their heads if they see you actually waiting for the crosswalk light to change.
Everyone jaywalks, and people will silently shake their heads if they see you actually waiting for the crosswalk light to change.
Most of the time, you have to just run through the street or you WILL get hit by a bus or a car that ain't stopping for NOBODY. I kid you not. Just run.
and most of the time, I was looking to the left to cross the street when I should've been looking to the right and if it weren't for the blaring horns of annoyed locals, you wouldn't be reading this post right now.
Anyway, besides the fact that I'll-probably-never-get-used-to-looking-in-a-different-direction-and-me-screaming-because-I-think-someone-is-making-a-turn-into-the-wrong-side-when really I look crazy, London is exactly where I need to be.
Just walking around in Kensington (of all neighborhoods), the diversity is CRAZY. Everyone you can imagine, and THEN some is here. On our way to the residence halls, I kept pointing out all the African people...and then I put two and two together. Black doesn't exist here.
I mean of course there are black people in London but the ones that are actually born and raised are African (Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somalian, etc.) and came from their African diaspora. The "blacks" in London are the ones that came over from America. So the "black" people who migrated to London can be referred to as "African British" or just African That's just crazy interesting to me.
Can I mention the accent one time? You already know!
And the fashion! the music! the punk kids walking down the street with angst in their eyes and cigarettes in their mouths, it's a city of inspiration! I've experienced all of this today and i've only walked about 10 blocks of this place! LOL
Though I was practically lost every step of the way, i'm going to make the next three months mean something.
It's me and you London.
- Emmef
reading this post makes me so excited for you! (and me lol) i know exactly what you mean about the traffic & the (lack of) "black" people. sandy & i had an adventure today - well it's actually not over, yet. i'll post something later. buenas noches!
ReplyDeleteWhen someone was arrested for jaywalking on an American show I always assumed they were walking in the street naked or something. The idea this could happen when you crossed without a green light never occurred to me.
ReplyDeleteAs for the terminology of 'black', 'African' etc. It is all very confused. You, however, will probably just be 'American' like George W Bush, fast food and awful 'gangsta rap'. Don't worry, this xenophobia is paper thin so don't do anything silly like introduce yourself as Canadian or, worse, pompously apologise for your fellow countrymen.
this is beyond exciting
ReplyDeletei cannot wait to hear more about it
immerse yourself fully - although i know that i don't have to tell you that
=]
Who the hell is this anonymous person???? lol...
ReplyDeleteanyways i'm CRAZY excited to hear about everything you do... Please do not die from crossing the street..
Have fun in the clubs!! and remember the accent stays in london...
hugs and kisses!!!!
Haha, you're very excited! Keep blogging and enjoy London, it's easily the best place in the country (if not even the whole of Europe).
ReplyDeletethanks everyone, i'm actually trying to hold myself back from posting too much haha. i want to give the other girls a chance to put up their first post but LONDON IS AMAZING (went on a coach tour today of the city and WOW) and i will keep my side of the story updated often :]
ReplyDelete