When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life

Wow... it's already happened. The reason I've been absent is because I have completely entered the time warp that is London. It's like walking into my favorite pub at 12 noon and the next thing I realize is that the pub is shutting down and I haven't eaten anything since breakfast. It's like that.

Everyday I try to think about how to capture what I'm seeing and feeling and putting it into words, and it's beyond hard. I want to say it just right. My dad reminded me about this quote (which also happens to be written on the wall of my favorite pub) and it says "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." -Samuel Johnson

I am so hyper-aware of everything that's happening around me, in a way that I didn't experience the last year I was here. I feel like I've opened up my periphery vision and am seeing new things that were always there, but I wasn't ready to see them at the time. Let me tell you, this has proven to be good, bad, and really really funny.

Before I talk about potentially offensive things (even my Grandmother reads this!!) I want to share the story about how I met Patricia, this lovely 70 year old woman from London who has completely inspired me beyond belief. The other day I was sitting next to the Tower of London, reading The Times and drinking a coffee, and soaking up the sun in my sundress. It has been beautiful lately, about 20 degrees and sunny everyday. So, this gorgeous lady comes over and asks if she can sit in the chair next to me so she can soak up the sun too. Before she can put her coffee on the table, we start talking. About everything.

To make a fairly long story short, she is the epitome of how I want to age and to be a beautiful, strong woman like herself (very much like my mom and grandmother too). She told me her "secrets" to achieving a happy life and they included things like staying fit, eating right, and creative visualization of things that you want to accomplish. She is a firm believer that the energy you put into the world is the energy that will be returned to you, and she hinted about believing in God. I soaked up her words and wisdom and was beaming by the time I met up with my boyfriend (who I kept waiting for this lovely lady). When we parted, she said some really inspiring and tear jerking words, that I can't even share them on this blog.

I think in the past I've been too quick to say that Londoners are generally snobbish and uptight... and that's a theory that I'm slowly breaking down right now. Everyday I have a meaningful conversation with a stranger- a phenomenon that I thought only existed in Canada.

And then there's the Irish. This is another fairly long story that I'll abridge. So I went to Wellington Barracks (steps from Buckingham Palace) to watch Vince perform and be part of the year's biggest inspection of the guards. I'm sorry honey, but being a guard myself, I got bored. So I went to a pub thinking I would have a quick drink and meet up with Vince once he finished being inspected by the guy with the funny hat. The next thing I know, I'm sitting at a table with 7 drunk, grown up Irish men and laughing so hard I was nearly peeing myself. They are 100% a different breed of person. Perhaps some of the funniest people I've ever met in my life, very closely followed by the English. I was suspicious that they were some kind of policemen or security intelligence members because aside from the muscles, I tried taking a picture to remember these blokes, and they were having none of it.

Anyway, I need to be careful as it turns out, because when I got up to leave, one of the guys told me to tell my "Army boyfriend" that I had been drinking with some former RUC members. I figured it had something to do with some kind of political group of Northern Ireland, and google confirmed that I was mostly right. They were a form of police service that fought in Northern Ireland during a time of lawlessness and violence, and it was formed in 1922 until 2001. You can google the rest.

Alright, I've just realized that I have enough stories to write a book so I'll share one more that made me laugh really hard. The other night I met up with two lovely ladies that I haven't seen in 6 months, and we met in the city (near Liverpool street station) for some dinner. Towards the end of dinner, one of the ladies turns to us and says "right, are we up for a wee bit of karaoke tonight?". Normally these words made me run away crying because there's few things in life that I hate more than karaoke, but I'm trying to be "yes woman" lately. So off we go, walking down the small alleys of the city towards the karaoke bar.

Here is the hilarious part... the karaoke bar is an Asian restaurant, where you walk in and there's a small, beat up couch in the corner, a screen overhead, and a family of Asians that speak minimal english and charge way too much for a gin and tonic. We 3 ladies arrived and were obviously the first people there aside from the 1 very large fish swimming in the fish tank. It was just so odd that for the first 10 minutes, we sat on that beaten up couch and laughed our butts off, and the hilarity level got even higher when this tiny Asian man started singing for us. "How are you ladies tonight? You feeling sexy?" Oh my god it was so funny.

Only minutes later did the place completely fill up with drunk city boys (another breed of person) looking to scream into the microphone and perform various embarrassing acts with each other... so we left. At least we left having had some really good laughs.

I realize that I'm not doing a very good job at "describing London" so I will work on that. I'm still trying to get the words right, but I figured these stories were worth sharing in the meantime.

Time to sit in the sun and read the newspaper!! xx

I'm baaaaack.

Alas, my first blog entry from London! 

I reckon I'm still in the honeymoon/sleep deprived phase of my arrival, because I'm still smiling and saying hello to strangers and apologizing to everyone I bump into on the trains! 

Rewind back a few days- my flight was hilarious. Some of you may know that I have a slight aversion to flying (weird right? I only do it all the time) so my new approach generally involves a preemptive trip to the bar before getting on the plane. This time the bar definitely came with me onto the plane and stayed with me until my arrival the next morning... didn't get a wink of sleep and managed to stumble off the plane with some newly made friends. My poor friends that came to pick me up... it's bad enough that I'm a silly Canadian- add some sleep deprivation and lots of gin and I can imagine they were happy to see me off at home! (I'll make up for it with my presents- that's right Lindsay, you know what I mean!)

Sidenote: I'm sitting on the couch drinking tea and watching "Top Gear" in the background. Just feels right on a Saturday morning.

You know, it's really nice this time around because I don't feel like a tourist anymore. It's funny, the moment I stepped off the train yesterday, the speed of my walking tripled and I started dodging the tourists who stop in the middle of everywhere and stare blankly at signs and tube stations. It felt good to know where I was going and not to hesitate even for a moment. The first time I felt like I resembled a proper Londoner was the day someone asked me for directions and I actually knew the answer! 

Perhaps this fading tourist sentiment will help me make better choices this time around regarding my diet and beverage consumption. The last time always felt like I was on vacation, therefore constantly allowing me to live in this moment of exception. "Another pint? Why not! I'm on vacation!" Keep in mind that I worked quite hard for several months for a global bank in London's financial district, yet I still managed to justify everything with this vacation mindset. 

Speaking of work, I have an interview on Monday with an agency right in the city (near the Tower of London!) and I'm praying for a good outcome. All positive thoughts and prayers are definitely welcomed :) I haven't managed to score a job with the Olympics as originally desired, so I'm hoping to find something worthwhile that will help me to afford living in this expensive city. And to help me afford showing friends a good time when they come visit me (wink wink). 

In other news, I have an embarrassing confession. In all the time I've been here... I have never gone to the museums or art galleries. I know- it's bad. It's not even like there's a good excuse, because they are all completely accessible and totally free! So, I have decided to make the effort to visit as many as possible and got a great start yesterday at the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. It was incredible... and I'm not just saying that to pretend like I'm worldly and cultured (kind of like some people do on a first date). I saw Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, and other amazing works. Brilliant. 

This cultural experience was followed by another when I was invited onto a ship on the Thames to enjoy a drink! After only one, I stumbled back to the bar and couldn't believe I was such a mess... until I realized it was, in fact, the boat that was swaying. Phew!

Right, it's time to make a dent in my unpacking... More updates to come later :)

Today is the day.

Today is the day I head over the pond! You would think I would feel more prepared, especially with this dragged out transition in my life. I’m still not fully packed, and instead I’m writing in this blog.

A couple weeks ago I was reminiscing about my last year of living in London, and I wrote something that I never ended up posting for some reason... in any case, here it is:

“I can remember thinking to myself within my first week in London, 'why does everyone keep asking me if I'm alright?' It almost gave me a complex. Do these people know something about me? Are they worried I'm not handling London very well?

 As it turns out, that's just what they say to everyone. Canadians say things like "How's it going?" or "How are you?" but Londoners say "You alright?"

Over time I eventually started saying it myself and coming up with appropriate responses, all of them beginning with "Ya good thanks!"

 By the way, this is why if you ever ask a British person how they're doing; they almost ALWAYS begin the response with "Ya". Ever noticed that?

 I can't even begin to describe the countless conversations I had with Londoners from various ends of the city, mostly because I had no idea what they were saying at first. I can still hardly understand my boyfriend's brothers. Once I got used to it and started interpreting some accents as if they were a different language (they really are), my mom came for a visit and very amusingly reminded us about how conversations can get lost in translation. Poor mum sat next to a friend one evening and more or less had to nod and smile after awhile. There are only so many times you can ask someone to repeat themselves.”

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Something I've noticed about traveling and I suppose it's the same with most things in life, is that I really cherish a place right before a transition. For example, yesterday I went for a walk outside (here in Ottawa) and it was beautiful and sunny, the birds were singing, people walking by would smile and say hello... and it felt good. It felt more than good- it felt almost euphoric. Canada will always be my home.

Once I get to London though, everything is going to feel incredibly exciting and overwhelming in a "this is the best city in the world" kind of way. The trick that I want to figure out is how to maintain these feelings about any place I happen to be in the world. Not just that, I want to capture this feeling about everything in life because it's true what "they" say: everyday really is a gift.

I've recently had some reality checks that were a blessing, because I started to get myself down about really trivial stuff. They were "first world problems" as it turns out. Things like minor back problems, confusion with work related stuff, misplacing important documents... oh my god I'm so privileged, WAKE UP LAUREN!

So there you go- it's time to finish packing and today I will appreciate every moment of this huge transition. While things aren't necessarily easy in life, it definitely doesn't mean it's not going to be worth it!

xx