ravi sekerWelcome to my collection of interesting tidbits and reflective blogs of my time here in London! These are all things that caught my attention which were a little bit, and sometimes a lot, different from life back in America. Archives
August 2018
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Melting pot of culture6/22/2018 Over the past few weeks, I’ve grown extremely familiar to London and how the city lives and breathes. I have never lived in any major metropolitan city, but I would assume it is extremely similar to life in London. This includes busy people surrounded by busy transit living busy lifestyles. London is a living organism and there is always some activity going on whether its 2am or 2pm.
When considering the term “local cuisine”, London’s would be an international melting pot of cultures. From Mediterranean to Mexican, there hasn’t been a single area’s signature food left unrepresented in this city. This makes for a tantalizing experience for your taste buds, giving them the ability to taste authentic food from countries around the world from the comfort of your own city. When concerning specific “English food’, nothing comes quite as close as Fish and Chips. This delicacy, usually enjoyed on Fridays, features a fried haddock served with lime and chips (or as Americans call it fries). Other classic English meals include Bangers and Mash (sausages and potatoes), Shepherd’s Pie (pie baked with minced lamb inside and a mashed potato crust) and Scotch eggs (hard boiled eggs wrapped in meat). There are a couple of unspoken rules I’ve been picking up during my time here though. For example, here in London, if you are to go up an escalator standing you must stand on the right-hand side. This leaves the left side open for people intending to walk up/down an elevator. Pedestrians don’t have the right of way here in London, but that doesn’t mean the streets don’t see their fair share of daredevils ducking and weaving traffic trying to make it to work or happy hour at the bar on time. The British English language is also still growing on me. Across the great pond, elevators are called lifts, trash cans are rubbish bins, cookies are biscuits and there’s a whole subdivision of English slang. Keeping up with it all really has me “knackered”. Unlike many other English cities, London is a haven of people from countries and cities across the world. My daily commute involves listening to at least three conversations in a different language. I witness people of so many different ethnicities all living (or most likely on holiday) here in London. As for things going on, there is this small tournament known as FIFA World Cup that happens every four years going on right now. No big deal. I’ve truly discovered how passionate and extreme English football fans are. Game days are always a treat and watching games at any pub surrounded by a bunch of drunk of English fans is truly a unique experience. That is, until you feel your first beer shower whenever England scores a goal. Learning English football chants, the rich history behind their team and the fact that soccer is one of my favorite sports, I could never have imagined a more perfect time for me to live in London. Unfortunately for the hordes of English fans, we lost in the semi finals against a tough Croatian team. It would have been unbelievable to have been in London for an England World Cup victory, but this just gives me more reason to come back in four more years for the next one. It’s coming home England! From the LGBTQ Pride Parade to Brexit rallies, there was no shortage of exciting things to do in London, no matter the day.
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