- I don't think it's compulsory to wear bike helmets here so given the massive level of traffic it's always quite weird to see people cruising along helmet-free as if they are on a country back road, weaving in and out between the huge buses
- Because of the way London has evolved - from loads of little villages - a lot of streets are tiny, narrow and winding. The hardest thing to get used to (especially coming from Christchurch and having lived in Vancouver) is that there is no convenient grid system - at all. If I'm walking around exploring I often turn down a random street and automatically think 'I'll just take the next corner to come back onto the original street.' But no! Dead ends or random curves that lead away from where you want to go. So very easy to get disorientated or spend extra hours just trying to get back to where you started haha. All part of the charm of London...luckily in the centre there is never a shortage of tube stations to get back home with ;)
- Perhaps because of the level of traffic again, the majority of intersections -big and small- have the words 'look right' and 'look left' on the edge of the road for pedestrians (photo coming soon). I now have the impression that London is full of jaywalking idiots. I do see the point in having this though - except when on seriously busy main roads, Londoners never stop for cars when crossing a road. They hardly break their step at in intersection, they are so hurried and shut off to what's around them
- I live near a busy intersection so sometimes I hear an extremely annoying little recorded voice coming from the larger trucks waiting at the lights. It goes: Caution, truck is turning left. Zzzt zzt zzt. Caution, truck is turning left. Zzzzt zzzt zzzt.' Over and over again. Grrr.
- I bought a little potted sunflower to brighten up my room for a few weeks. Nothing unusual about this except that I bought it from a 24 hour florist. Why does a florist need to be open for 24hours? And it wasn't even in a very busy area!
- There is definitely a big lack of care for the environment, at least in London. It's very hard to recycle - there just isn't the facilities. Sometimes you see a few skips grouped together on the street with a 'recycling station' sign. Do you remember those plastic rings that went around 6 packs of beer? Weren't they banned in NZ a decade ago? Yea England didn't get that message...
- Also on alcohol, it is extremely accessible and cheap. When you really want a single bottle of beer/cider or a 4 pack of anything go to the fridges at your local mini express supermarket (Tescos or Sainsbury's). Spirits are behind the counter. When they are closed, just head to the nearest off-license, basically a dairy open 24 hours.
- The sirens of the emergency vehicles are ear piercingly loud. Like, you don't want to be just walking along the road when an ambulance comes up and gets stuck at the lights. Wince.
- The '@' symbol on computer keyboards is in a different place so I have to be careful when typing my email address. The '£' sign is where @ should be on top of the 3, and @ is above '
- Many of the cafe/ready to eat food chains like Starbucks have two sets of prices - one for eat in and one for take away. Everywhere here is geared towards ready to eat, on the run food, so they actively encourage you to take your food away so they don't have the hassle of cleaning your one plate and one fork. This wouldn't annoy me so much if the price differences weren't so crazy. Sometimes it's nearly a pound difference if you want to eat in! For the exact same food!! :( More on cafe culture (or lack of) in a future post.
- To finish, did you know that years of actual hard work could have been avoided?
Elbow Grease: the only cleaner you'll ever need
"Stubborn deposits may require further applications"
- And lastly, here is a picture of an electric smart car getting charged on the side of the road. Enough said.
