So I brought my running clothes with the purpose of actually doing some running. First of all, I need to stay in shape if I’m going to drink at every pub in London :). Second, it’d be a great way to see the city. So I got up early this morning and tried to see if I couldn’t get myself lost or hit by a car. Needless to say, I am still standing, so I survived the mean streets on London. I was trying to take a short trip to this canal which has a little park along it, but I took a wrong turn right off the bat which meant I ran sort of in parallel to the canal for a while. Eventually, I hit a canal but the park was closed until sunrise, so I ran on a road that goes along the park/canal. Then I decided I had a good sense of where I was so I started taking detours. The canal was pretty: there are nice apartments along it, it has a peaceful quality and on one side of it, there were houseboats lined up. A nice little trip. Alas, every time I knew where I was, I’d try a different road until I managed to get myself all backwards and took a wrong turn. I did bring my London A-Z, so I was able to figure out where I was. I took one more wrong turn which was actually a correct turn and ended up right back at my hotel and ready for breakfast.

Anyway, other than that, I have an appointment with a large estate agent company to look at some places tomorrow around noon. Hopefully, it’ll be productive. I don’t necessarily expect to find the apartment of my dreams on my first time out, but to just get a lay of the land and understand the whole real estate market better. fun fun!

These are just some random observations:

• I’m forcing myself to comprehend the whole “driving on the opposite side of the road” idea. I’ve gotten the jaywalking thing down pat. but it means I spend a lot of time reminding myself which side of the street the cars are driving. Never fear Mom, I am not blindly crossing the street. I spend a long time determining which direction the traffic is coming from and then cross. And, as I walk along the street, I keep reminding myself whic direction the traffic next to me is going.
• I’ve picked up 2 more smart cards. In the US, I had a smart card to get into the office building and to use the CTA. Now, I have another card for the UK office and an Oyster Card. That and the hotel room card means i have a lot of magnetic stripe and smart cards
• Gastropubs have some tasty, but not cheap food. Plus if usually guarantees that they will have some hand-pumped ales (yummy!)
• I have found a single pub with beer that is cheaper than an American pint. Granted, an imperial pint is about 20% more than a US pint 🙂
• I had strike one on my housing hunt. The place my coworker Ben found his place said they had nothing available with my criteria. I’m a little worried I sounded to rigid or that they thought I had rigid criteria. The tricky thing is that many estate agents only focus on a single borough or two. If they have nothing in those boroughs, I need to look at others. Anyways, tomorrow, I will walk into places and make it clear I’m more flexible.
• I like the questions to the Prime Minister. Granted, I think he knows what to expect more than you might think (he’s clearly reading off prepared notes), but I’d love to see Bush answering questions from Congress or the Senate 🙂

That’s a serious question. In the US, we more or less drive on the right side of the road and walk on the right side of the sidwalk. In the UK, they drive on the left side of the road. Interestingly, with a lot of thought, I’m about 60% used to this. However, when I walk on a sidewalk, I have no idea whether to be on the left or right side of the sidewalk.

Anyhoo (is that better mom/dad/a friend??), i kind of hit a jetlag wall. I woke up early this morning to see if I couldn’t check a little of the east end out, but it was cold and I was almost asleep on my feet. So I headed to work for morning, did a little work and kept trying to take in the city (digitally, of course) without feeling overwhelmed. Since one of the primary purposes of this trip is to actually get a grasp of this enormous city, I left after lunch and went for a wander. I’ve now seen a little bit of the city center (not gonna live there), the east end (I need to see more), Islington (nice but I doubt I can afford it) and now Camden. Camden seems like a good candidate. It’s got a little bit of an edge, but not in an unsafe way and it has all the nice aspects of a London borough. I almost feel ready to talk to an estate agent so I can be shown places and still have some idea what area I’m looking at!!

I promise, in the next few days, my camera will come out and you’ll get pictures of London, not 2 year old pictures of my broken bruised body and Carolyn’s broken and totaled car 🙂

PS – If the British news folks talk about the Brits who got nominated for an Oscar again, I’m gonna kill someone!! The BBC isn’t doing themselves too proud based on what I’ve been watching on the tele! It’s almost worse than the US entertainment folks in that they are supposed to be respectable news and all they can talk about is some silly fucking movie with Helen Mirran (I liked her in Gosford Park but I have zero interest in hearing anything about a pampered “royal” like Queen Elizabeth!) and Judy Dench. Oh yeah, that and people have been looting the shit that has washed up on shore from that half-sunken freighter.

Alrighty, lemme try to sum up the fun of the last few days with some bullet point observations:

• The US domestic airlines can’t do international flights for shit. I flew American to London in October and they kindly provided a seat and some movies and nothing else. I just flew British Airways and they provided toothpaste/brush, good food, unlimited booze and nicer seats. And there is less of a sense that you are just a piece of cattle to them
• London is a little overwhelming. I need to focus my energies on getting a good feel for this city, but that’s a tall order in just a couple of weeks.
• The local football team, Arsenal, beat Manchester United in an exciting match. I found a pub that wasn’t packed to the gills and had a couple of pints whilst enjoying some friendly (and happy) football fans. It was interesting to see all sorts of people I recognized from watching the world cup this summer
• The UK office is very nice. I like the design and, after they crammed our desks together in the US, I’m used to the lack of workspace every one has. I should be able to do all sorts of fun work that will keep me nice and busy for a while
• Jetlag hasn’t been too bad and i’m managed to avoid getting sick after a flight. hurray!

Thus endeth my first list post of things in London. Tomorrow I’m going to try to spend more daylight hours taking in the city and working a little less. Hopefully, I’ll also see some apartments and see what the UK housing market has to offer.

Well, I made it to London yesterday morning without a hitch. The flight was a little late, but that was no problem. My hotel room is nice and I was awake enough when I got there to wander a little bit and have a couple of pints while watching Manchester United lost to Arsenal (Arsenal is located a little north of where I’m staying). Then I went out to dinner with my soon-to-be coworker Ben and his wife Jeri (sp?). Very nice people, good food and so on. Then I caught some of the end of the Bears winning and heading back to the Super Bowl. I slept good and hard last night and it’s time to really start my adventure. woo hoo!!