Londontown

Well life in Londontown has settled down a little bit for me over the past week or so. I have begun to adjust to my new flat, learning the ins and outs of my area, finding the nearest supermarket and post office and things. I did some laundry, got a little rest and am almost feeling like myself again.

I joined up at the gym nearest my new house. I feel I should mention it because this club is HUGE and unlike anything I have ever seen. It is one of those megagyms - it has a trillion machines to work out on, a pool, a spa, childcare area, a cafe and lounge (with free wifi)...I could practically move in at the gym and I don't think they would mind!

Mostly I've been spending the past little while trying to catch up, in all areas. It seems as though over the past few weeks time has gone into overdrive. Everyday I am waking up and looking at the calendar somehow shocked to find that it is indeed one day later. Already the 11th? I think to myself. The 12th? The 13th???? I think it's a sign that I'm becoming more settled here. Which is good. I just know that time is going to fly and I don't want to get to the stage where I'm so worried about missing out on things that I don't enjoy properly what time I do have. So I am trying to just do one day at a time and remind myself to enjoy being in London.

On that note, it's time for another edition of Things That Are Different In London (Europe) after a period of observing my coworkers and new flatmates, many of whom are Spanish or Italian.

1) Coffee - You will not find any Tim Hortons in London - except possibly near the Canadian store in Central London that I have yet to go and check out. Nor will you find very much filter coffee at all. Instead you will find espresso everywhere, it is the European way. Yes, you will find tea. It is England, after all, but I have been astonished at the lack of plain old coffee over here. It is either espresso or instant coffee. Back in Canada I would think of instant coffee as gross, and more or less a last resort, but people over here drink it all the time! I guess because they don't have filter coffee machines in their homes, instant coffee is the at-home/work coffee drink. I've only had it a few times and it is beginning to grow on me, but definitely requires a shift in standards.

2) Hot Chocolate - While we're on the hot beverage train...the coffee may be worse in some cases over here, but the Hot Chocolate is usually better! This is because they take the term hot chocolate literally. I have had some really superb hot chocolates so far, with steamed milk and melted chocolate bits and cocoa and everything. Mmmm delicious.

3) Evening Meal - You can call it dinner but not usually supper. And if you're really British, you call it tea (which could mean tea or supper or both...I haven't fully worked that bit out yet).

4) Rain - I know I lived in Vancouver for three years....but MAN this is a lot of rain. And in the middle of June. Some British people say it's going to be like this all summer and that makes me a little sad. I can't help expecting real summer to come around at some point and it just feels perpetually like February to me here. Come on, England.

5) Football - I know more about the Spanish/Italian/Polish/Norwegian/English football clubs than I ever could have dreamed.

Stay tuned to hear about my experience at Matilda! The Musical tomorrow night and Poland's ranking in the Europe Cup...