The theme of this week's post is "enjoying the little things." Such as my new gym, which I pay way too much for but it makes me happy, so I'm just going with it. It's in Shoreditch, which can be summed up as: lots of hipsters with bleached hair and studded shoes and oh-so-cool bars (which are very aware of how cool they are). But in the case of this gym, the hipster vibe actually works. It's under some train tracks in this old factory or warehouse that they've fixed up--lots of exposed brick and architecturally-chic archways. The atmosphere combined with the fantastic dance classes I've been taking there make the fees worth it because it just brightens my day--and gets me off my ass and away from my seemingly endless stream of research.
Another day-brightening thing that occurred recently was my discovery of a new bar that I've fallen in love with. Usually when I go out, I just try to buy whichever drinks are cheapest, but occasionally, I like to get my hipster on and have really fancy artisan cocktails. I'm secretly just a little bit obsessed with cocktails made with egg whites or infused with thyme or made with housemade espresso bitters or any of that ridiculous stuff. Anyway, this past week I went out with a friend of mine to this great bar called the City of London Distillery, which has some great cocktails and makes their own gin, plus it's not overly pretentious. The drinks are actually reasonably priced (especially considering the price you pay for a whiskey and coke at any club in the city) and they effectively turned me into a gin fan. It also helped that as soon as I sat down and told the waiter I knew nothing about gin he proceeded to bring three bottles of different types to the table for me to sample. Many delicious drinks (and a few more free samples) followed and by the end of the night we were on a first-name basis with basically everyone who worked there. That is a good night out.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Random Things I've Noticed Living in London
As I've been living in London now for almost five months (give or take a few weeks), here are a few random things that I've noticed about living here:
1. While it doesn't rain constantly as some people would have you believe, really, fully sunny days are pretty rare so it's important to take advantage of them, even if it's cold out. Unfortunately illness kind of ruined my weekend and I missed a lovely day today, but on Friday it was gorgeous out and I took full advantage. Even when it's a bit chilly, you can't go wrong with a sunny stroll through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
2. I've become pretty used to the British accent but there are still random moments when it's just so gosh darn charming. E.g., when the lady working at the corner pharmacy called me "my lovie."
3. This last one isn't so much something I've noticed as a problem that I've developed. Basically, my spelling has become bipolar. Do I write favor or favour? Criticize or criticise? When I'm taking notes I find myself writing half my words in British English and half in American English. Let's just say I'm grammatically confused.
That's all for now. Just a brief look at the random places my mind goes to when I'm out and about in London.
1. While it doesn't rain constantly as some people would have you believe, really, fully sunny days are pretty rare so it's important to take advantage of them, even if it's cold out. Unfortunately illness kind of ruined my weekend and I missed a lovely day today, but on Friday it was gorgeous out and I took full advantage. Even when it's a bit chilly, you can't go wrong with a sunny stroll through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
2. I've become pretty used to the British accent but there are still random moments when it's just so gosh darn charming. E.g., when the lady working at the corner pharmacy called me "my lovie."
3. This last one isn't so much something I've noticed as a problem that I've developed. Basically, my spelling has become bipolar. Do I write favor or favour? Criticize or criticise? When I'm taking notes I find myself writing half my words in British English and half in American English. Let's just say I'm grammatically confused.
That's all for now. Just a brief look at the random places my mind goes to when I'm out and about in London.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Tesco on a Saturday (aka: Hell)
So under normal circumstances I actually enjoy going to the supermarket. Once I got to college and was required to shop for myself, I found it to be a pretty enjoyable experience. I make a nice, organized list, I plan out meals for the week, I get free samples if I'm really lucky. Overall, I like food and I like finding yummy stuff to cook for myself.
However, since coming to the UK, I have found grocery shopping to be a hellish experience nearly every time I have to do it. This probably has to do with the fact that the supermarket near my flat is an enormous 24-hour monstrosity--like a SuperWal-Mart in the US. I made the terrible mistake of going there on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and nearly lost my life multiple times. There are so many people, but that's not the issue. At the risk of making a cultural generalization here, when I've shopped in the US, even when it's really busy people are usually (usually being the key word) relatively calm and (again usually) not overly rude in any way. At the Tesco, where I shop here, however, a large proportion of people seem pretty willing to plow you down in pursuit of their produce. There are no rules of the road, so to speak.
God forbid you stop on the side of the aisle to pick a cheese--you will have people on all sides swerving around you trying to be the first one's to reach the yoghurt section. I do my best to stay zen, but by the end of my trip I'm usually working hard to control the urge to ram my cart into the next person to cut me off or give me a dirty look for taking too long to choose a type of jam.
In conclusion, for my own sanity and the safety of the fine people at the Tesco I have decided that I should commit to online grocery shopping from now on. Small delivery fee, no carrying of groceries on the bus, and I don't have to experience homicidal tendencies? Sounds good to me.
However, since coming to the UK, I have found grocery shopping to be a hellish experience nearly every time I have to do it. This probably has to do with the fact that the supermarket near my flat is an enormous 24-hour monstrosity--like a SuperWal-Mart in the US. I made the terrible mistake of going there on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and nearly lost my life multiple times. There are so many people, but that's not the issue. At the risk of making a cultural generalization here, when I've shopped in the US, even when it's really busy people are usually (usually being the key word) relatively calm and (again usually) not overly rude in any way. At the Tesco, where I shop here, however, a large proportion of people seem pretty willing to plow you down in pursuit of their produce. There are no rules of the road, so to speak.
God forbid you stop on the side of the aisle to pick a cheese--you will have people on all sides swerving around you trying to be the first one's to reach the yoghurt section. I do my best to stay zen, but by the end of my trip I'm usually working hard to control the urge to ram my cart into the next person to cut me off or give me a dirty look for taking too long to choose a type of jam.
In conclusion, for my own sanity and the safety of the fine people at the Tesco I have decided that I should commit to online grocery shopping from now on. Small delivery fee, no carrying of groceries on the bus, and I don't have to experience homicidal tendencies? Sounds good to me.
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