Londoner, true and true
As I took the tube this morning, after waking up at 7:30 this morning in a the borough of Hackney, I discovered that I am slowly getting accustomed to London life. With my eleven roomates (I seem to meet a new one everytime I open the room to my door), I really am living the total student life. Here are the names I can remember:
* Sha and Tex from India (my ground floor mates)... both are graduate students at Middle Essex University
* Lin from Vietnam... she is eighteen and was shipped here by her parents, I think, to get a proper western education.
* David from Mexico... A very friendly, but somewhat nocturnal Mexican.
* Nataresh from Spain... Doesn't really speak English so I got to practice my very rudimentery Spanish... Me llamo es Serge y soy de Canada. Yo vivo en tu casa en la primer piso.
* Honey (not kidding on the name) and his roomate Oye (not kidding on the name) from China... They smile a lot but they don't really speak English either. Everytime I say Honey's name, he giggles uncontrollably... Really strange stuff.
* A Columbian fellow and his girlfriend from Hungary who have introduced themselves three times already but their names are so complicated I cannot understand them.
* A Korean girl whom I forgot her name but looks very quiet.
I travelled throughout London all day yesterday starting at 1:30 PM. I signed the lease but only after 2 hours at the apartment... Lin and Mia (the landlords) were busy running errands and photocopying documents so I got to talk with Sha, an Indian graduate student completing his dissertation for a Masters in Computer Engineering. He lives with a roomate in the room next to mine... The rooms are quite large in this house! Then, I went back to Ted's place to pick-up my duvet and pillows, which ended up being more trouble than anticipated (how does one transport a king size duvet in the tube? In a very large garbage bag of course... I'll let you ponder on the comic relief I provided Londoners yesterday). Then, I had to go to the airport to pick-up my baggage at the let luggage shop. Good news: Manor House is on the Piccadilly line which connects directly with Heathrow. Bad news: it's 30 stations until Heathrow... roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes... But I almost finished the book Jess bought for me before my departure... The end is quite funny and I really like it so the 2 hours and 40 minutes on the tube went by very quickly (thanks Jess!). Has my already long and tyring day ended? Not quite... You see, Norm, a Canadian friend of mine from Ottawa, who is working in London, was flying out the day after (back to Canada). I was very lucky to get a few things from him and made my way to his place, a 5 minute walk from Bank tube stop. By the time I was in the apartment, with all my stuff off my bed (and had a bed to sleep on), it was way past my bedtime.
I also discovered, being on the ground floor does have some important disadvantages (I hadn't really thought of this when I saw the apartment) as my room gives way to the corridor leading to the living room and kitchen... Although I usually get up in the morning relatively early, sleeping in may be a challenge. But this may not be a problem if I conveniently use earplugs on Saturdays and Sundays. This isn't a problem for the time being as I have classes everyday until next Sunday at 10:00 or 9:00 AM.
I have unpacked most of my things but this would lead the reader to believe everything is in its place. You would be wrong. I have a pile of dirty laundry in one corner. I have a pile of food that Norm gave me the night before in another. I have a pile of odd things (like ties, computer cords, squash rackets, plastic bags and whatever else doesn't belong anywhere) in front of my mock fireplace (yes, you read right). I have put some things on hangers (which I can only thank Norm for supplying).
Once I had my morning java (thanks again for Norm's Nescafe instant coffee...), I put on a blazer because today, there is an interesting presentation by bankers on measures of success... Not that I ever want to work in a bank in London, putting in 12 hours days in a stressful environment but I thought the idea of attending this presentation would be mildly amusing... I got dressed, brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, walked out of the door, made my way to the local shop for a few fruits and croissant... The girl at the counter kind of giggled which I thought was kind of cute (man, I'm making women in London giggle, that's great!)... Then, I made my way to the tube office and purchased my oyster card (what the hell is an oyster card, you might ask? Don't ask me! But I did shell out 21 pounds for it and it gives me access to the tube for 7 days). Again, the women kind of smiled at me (but this smile was more malicious... sort of "you are really out of it this morning, aren't you?"). It wasn't until the break this morning at class that I discovered I hadn't shaved in 3 days, was wearing a blazer with a white shirt and might ressemble a hobo in most countries... But heck, I'm a student, so on LSE campus, anything goes! No smirks, giggles or even looks as everyone is out of whack here!
Just one last thought before I run out of inspiration (which happens very often)... The tube is an amazing invention, allowing thousands of people every minute to get where they want to get, so long as there are no tracks to fix, leaves on tracks, tea spilled on the controls by the conductor as he speeds out of the station. I kind of feel at one with the proletariat, on their way to wherever, everyone minding their own business, everyone trying to get to somewhere... I think this feeling will get increasingly annoying with time (I'm laughing as I write this because one has to in London).
Life is as it should, in a metropolis of 12 million people. I am but a dot in the city's fabric and I'm kind of happy to be here (even if my stomachs is making strange noises... Was it the milk in Sha's tea he maded me yesterday or the gallon of water I drank straight from the tap when I came back last night...)
* Sha and Tex from India (my ground floor mates)... both are graduate students at Middle Essex University
* Lin from Vietnam... she is eighteen and was shipped here by her parents, I think, to get a proper western education.
* David from Mexico... A very friendly, but somewhat nocturnal Mexican.
* Nataresh from Spain... Doesn't really speak English so I got to practice my very rudimentery Spanish... Me llamo es Serge y soy de Canada. Yo vivo en tu casa en la primer piso.
* Honey (not kidding on the name) and his roomate Oye (not kidding on the name) from China... They smile a lot but they don't really speak English either. Everytime I say Honey's name, he giggles uncontrollably... Really strange stuff.
* A Columbian fellow and his girlfriend from Hungary who have introduced themselves three times already but their names are so complicated I cannot understand them.
* A Korean girl whom I forgot her name but looks very quiet.
I travelled throughout London all day yesterday starting at 1:30 PM. I signed the lease but only after 2 hours at the apartment... Lin and Mia (the landlords) were busy running errands and photocopying documents so I got to talk with Sha, an Indian graduate student completing his dissertation for a Masters in Computer Engineering. He lives with a roomate in the room next to mine... The rooms are quite large in this house! Then, I went back to Ted's place to pick-up my duvet and pillows, which ended up being more trouble than anticipated (how does one transport a king size duvet in the tube? In a very large garbage bag of course... I'll let you ponder on the comic relief I provided Londoners yesterday). Then, I had to go to the airport to pick-up my baggage at the let luggage shop. Good news: Manor House is on the Piccadilly line which connects directly with Heathrow. Bad news: it's 30 stations until Heathrow... roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes... But I almost finished the book Jess bought for me before my departure... The end is quite funny and I really like it so the 2 hours and 40 minutes on the tube went by very quickly (thanks Jess!). Has my already long and tyring day ended? Not quite... You see, Norm, a Canadian friend of mine from Ottawa, who is working in London, was flying out the day after (back to Canada). I was very lucky to get a few things from him and made my way to his place, a 5 minute walk from Bank tube stop. By the time I was in the apartment, with all my stuff off my bed (and had a bed to sleep on), it was way past my bedtime.
I also discovered, being on the ground floor does have some important disadvantages (I hadn't really thought of this when I saw the apartment) as my room gives way to the corridor leading to the living room and kitchen... Although I usually get up in the morning relatively early, sleeping in may be a challenge. But this may not be a problem if I conveniently use earplugs on Saturdays and Sundays. This isn't a problem for the time being as I have classes everyday until next Sunday at 10:00 or 9:00 AM.
I have unpacked most of my things but this would lead the reader to believe everything is in its place. You would be wrong. I have a pile of dirty laundry in one corner. I have a pile of food that Norm gave me the night before in another. I have a pile of odd things (like ties, computer cords, squash rackets, plastic bags and whatever else doesn't belong anywhere) in front of my mock fireplace (yes, you read right). I have put some things on hangers (which I can only thank Norm for supplying).
Once I had my morning java (thanks again for Norm's Nescafe instant coffee...), I put on a blazer because today, there is an interesting presentation by bankers on measures of success... Not that I ever want to work in a bank in London, putting in 12 hours days in a stressful environment but I thought the idea of attending this presentation would be mildly amusing... I got dressed, brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, walked out of the door, made my way to the local shop for a few fruits and croissant... The girl at the counter kind of giggled which I thought was kind of cute (man, I'm making women in London giggle, that's great!)... Then, I made my way to the tube office and purchased my oyster card (what the hell is an oyster card, you might ask? Don't ask me! But I did shell out 21 pounds for it and it gives me access to the tube for 7 days). Again, the women kind of smiled at me (but this smile was more malicious... sort of "you are really out of it this morning, aren't you?"). It wasn't until the break this morning at class that I discovered I hadn't shaved in 3 days, was wearing a blazer with a white shirt and might ressemble a hobo in most countries... But heck, I'm a student, so on LSE campus, anything goes! No smirks, giggles or even looks as everyone is out of whack here!
Just one last thought before I run out of inspiration (which happens very often)... The tube is an amazing invention, allowing thousands of people every minute to get where they want to get, so long as there are no tracks to fix, leaves on tracks, tea spilled on the controls by the conductor as he speeds out of the station. I kind of feel at one with the proletariat, on their way to wherever, everyone minding their own business, everyone trying to get to somewhere... I think this feeling will get increasingly annoying with time (I'm laughing as I write this because one has to in London).
Life is as it should, in a metropolis of 12 million people. I am but a dot in the city's fabric and I'm kind of happy to be here (even if my stomachs is making strange noises... Was it the milk in Sha's tea he maded me yesterday or the gallon of water I drank straight from the tap when I came back last night...)
posted by Serge LeVert-Chiasson at
2:52 AM
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