I have 3 posts to write in the next 3 days, so instead of saying variants of the same thing three times, I’m going to dedicate each post to a specific aspect of life over in London.
Today I feel like I should write about the general ‘what it is like in London’ to lay a framework of my thoughts (for my assuredly huge audience), so I will.
To begin I feel I should mention that I’ve never traveled in my life except for this trip. It is my first time out of the southeast US and maybe my 6th time out of Florida. Being at Rollins, a typically wealthy school, I’ve been surrounded by everyone traveling on every single holiday and always boasting about how great it is and how it changes you. With that sort of build-up, I guess I was anticipating this ground-breaking revelation and crazy new lifestyle upon landing at Heathrow airport or something. Spoiler alert: that didn’t happen.
My life here is ridiculously boring and I think that anyone who portrays their life in a big city as a crazy rush all the time and this idyllic oasis is full of shit (not sure if I can use bad words, but we’re all adults here, right?). I guess the first few weeks were super ‘cool’ with all the touristy stuff and the pretentious art galleries, but after about a 3-4 week honeymoon phase, I found that life just chills out and continues as normal. I’m still RT, just RT in a different city.
I guess day-to-day here really isn’t different from being in Winter Park for me, hell, I’d even venture out to say that I prefer life in Winter Park. I wake up, I go to class, and then I find something to do. Lately I’ve spent a good deal of time in my room because I’m just so damn burnt out on doing the same 3 or 4 things in different locations: walk around stores, walk in parks, go to galleries/museums (which are free but you gotta pay to get there and to eat while you’re out), or eat.
I’ve found that London is a very unfriendly city; everyone walks with their heads down, the tube is always silent, and you only hear conversations when walking past the pubs where all the suits are able to use their alcohol to escape the mundanity of their daily lives. There is a weird dynamic of the Londoner that I can’t quite explain. Also, there is a ridiculous amount of poverty here contrasted with a ridiculous amount of wealth; it is disgusting.
The weather is literally the worst thing ever. Seriously, the worst. If you’re in Florida, even if it is hot as balls, take a minute to appreciate how beautiful it is.
There are a lot of cool things about London too, but I feel like all that is super over-hyped so I figured I’d show the not so great side.
Tomorrow will be about what has gone on in my mind over the course of 3 months of having nothing that needs done and next-to-no stress.
-RT