Peculiarities of London
When you are in any new place, you find things rather odd at first until you adjust. I have had a bit of a scratchy throat since I've been here. At first I thought it was "airplane sickness", you know that terrible thing that happens when you are stuck on a plane for hours with a wide range of strangers of various states of health, and subjected to the recirculating air for the entire journey. As soon as you get off the plane you start to notice cold symptoms. Usually I have found this happens on the trip home when you aren't pumped full of adrenaline and ready for adventure. But after 5 days of a semi-scratchy throat, I convinced myself that it wasn't from the plane, but possibly from the air pollution in London. Not that I have really noticed it in any other way, possibly because I am pumped full of adrenaline and ready for adventure. Then today, it started to feel more like a cold. A bit scratchier, had to blow my nose a few times, a little bit of feeling thick in the head, but then Jonathan, one of my studio mates and the person who came to Canada last year, suggested that maybe it was the pollution and the damp and mentioned that he thought Marianne had been sick some of her time last year. So that has made me think, maybe it isn't a cold, maybe I am just a healthy prairie girl who doesn't have the physiology required to survive in London.
The Tube is becoming a regular part of my day, and doesn't scare me as much as it did the first couple of days, but it does have it's peculiar aspects. For the most part the signage is great and you can follow the signs to the subway you need. There are also lots of subway workers (I'm sure there's an official name for them) to help you figure out where you need to go. The problem is, once you're down on the platform you need to know which way you are going. The Circle Route Train, which I mostly have taken, says East or West, but from where I catch it, Liverpool St. Station, I actually will be going North or South for a ways. This threw me a bit at first. It also threw me that if I come down the stairs and there is a train there, I didn't know which one it was, as different ones stop at one platform. If I was there when the train was coming in, I could see the name on the front of the train, but not many of the trains have anything on their sides. Of course sometimes it would have a destination on the front, so I would quickly have to look at the map to see which one it was. Fortunately the Circle Route goes in a circle so you don't have to worry, but you do have to know which direction you are going in the circle. So I have been standing there looking at the trains for some clue as to how in the world people know what train it is and I finally figured it out. It isn't written on the train, it's written on the little lit up sign above the platform. Duh!!!
Being a pedestrian has it's challenges. As I mentioned you have to look right, or left depending on what side the traffic is coming from, and I actually look both ways...several times...just to be sure!!! But yesterday someone was turning from the outside lane of the street beside me and I wasn't expecting anyone to be coming from that direction, so now I have to look in all directions, kinda like a bird. Sometimes there are pedestrian crossings and you can push a button and wait for the walk symbol to cross the road. Very civilized. Except, in the middle of the road, there is often a fence, so you can't walk straight through. It forces you to navigate down a ways and then around a corner to get to the other side of the island. For some reason, probably to slow you down, even if you run through this maze, you cannot get to the second walk light in time to cross the other side of the road. Very frustrating and time consuming. I've notice many people just ignore the maze and jaywalk, but apparently you can get ticketed for this.
Buildings don't have the same numbering system as we do in Canada. I have a vague memory of this when I was in Vienna tootling about with Laura. The ground level is, well, the ground level. One floor up from the ground is the first floor. So the Printmaking studios are on the 6th floor of the RCA according to the elevator...oops, lift, but according to me they are on the 7th floor.
Barton told me the coins go according to weight, not size. So a £1 coins is the size of a nickle but thicker and heavier, and a 20p coin is the size of a nickle but lighter in weight. Some of the older 20p coins are hexagonal but the new ones aren't. 10p is the size of a quarter, 5p is the size of a dime, 2p is the size of a loonie (but copper) and 1p looks like our penny. Yay!!!! Something I can relate to.
I noticed that many people I am getting to know wear scarves. Scarves that have been folded in half and then wrapped around the neck and the unfolded end is drawn through the loop. I didn't bring a scarf. I usually only wear one when it is a million degrees below zero. It is colder here than it was in Calgary when I left, so after a few days of looking at people who looked really warm with their necks all covered up, I decided I would buy a scarf too. When I was at Petticoat Lane I saw a lovely red/orange/yellow/blue/brown, striped scarf (looks better than it sounds) and when I fondled it, the seller came up and told me how lovely and soft it was and asked if I wanted to try it. She kindly looped it around my neck, in the fashion of everyone I had seen and I bought it. I felt invisible. Not like a tourist anymore, despite my backpack and camera and gawking around all the time to see where I am and where I need to go. But then a funny thing happened. When I was on the subway the next morning, feeling like I blended right in, I started looking at everyone on the subway and no one had the looped scarf. Yes, there were scarves, but no looped scarves. So I guess my disguise may not have worked. The looped scarf may be an artist thing, so now no one knows I'm a tourist, but they all know I'm an artist.
Shall I go on. You can drift off if you like. Go have a cup of tea...oh, you're in Canada, so go have a cup of coffee and come back. Or just go away and roll your eyes and never look at this blog again if it is too wordy for you. I've taken lots of photoes, but after spending a 1/2 hr. before this trying to get them to load into this computer I gave up. Hopefully I will figure it out soon.
I wanted to tell you about cards for some reason. I seem to have acquired a bunch of cards since I got here. First I had to get a bus/tube pass, which is called an Oyster Card, probably because the case you keep it in opens and closes like a shell. "Don't lose it", Hayley said to me. Then I had to get a student pass to get in and out of the RCA building. "Don't lose it", the security guy said to me. Then I had to get a new SIM card for a mobile phone that Hayley kindly lent me. That went into the phone, so I really hope I DON'T lose it. Then they give you a card with your telephone no. on it. "Put it in a safe place" the nice man who sold it to me said. Then I bought a phone card for long distance calls too, and I really don't want to lose that either. And then yesterday I got a library card and the librarian said, "Don't lose it OR lend it out or IT WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU!" Phew!! This is a lot of responsibility.
Enough for today. I went time travelling, forwards and backwards in time at the Victoria and Albert Museum today and I will tell you more about that tomorrow.
The Tube is becoming a regular part of my day, and doesn't scare me as much as it did the first couple of days, but it does have it's peculiar aspects. For the most part the signage is great and you can follow the signs to the subway you need. There are also lots of subway workers (I'm sure there's an official name for them) to help you figure out where you need to go. The problem is, once you're down on the platform you need to know which way you are going. The Circle Route Train, which I mostly have taken, says East or West, but from where I catch it, Liverpool St. Station, I actually will be going North or South for a ways. This threw me a bit at first. It also threw me that if I come down the stairs and there is a train there, I didn't know which one it was, as different ones stop at one platform. If I was there when the train was coming in, I could see the name on the front of the train, but not many of the trains have anything on their sides. Of course sometimes it would have a destination on the front, so I would quickly have to look at the map to see which one it was. Fortunately the Circle Route goes in a circle so you don't have to worry, but you do have to know which direction you are going in the circle. So I have been standing there looking at the trains for some clue as to how in the world people know what train it is and I finally figured it out. It isn't written on the train, it's written on the little lit up sign above the platform. Duh!!!
Being a pedestrian has it's challenges. As I mentioned you have to look right, or left depending on what side the traffic is coming from, and I actually look both ways...several times...just to be sure!!! But yesterday someone was turning from the outside lane of the street beside me and I wasn't expecting anyone to be coming from that direction, so now I have to look in all directions, kinda like a bird. Sometimes there are pedestrian crossings and you can push a button and wait for the walk symbol to cross the road. Very civilized. Except, in the middle of the road, there is often a fence, so you can't walk straight through. It forces you to navigate down a ways and then around a corner to get to the other side of the island. For some reason, probably to slow you down, even if you run through this maze, you cannot get to the second walk light in time to cross the other side of the road. Very frustrating and time consuming. I've notice many people just ignore the maze and jaywalk, but apparently you can get ticketed for this.
Buildings don't have the same numbering system as we do in Canada. I have a vague memory of this when I was in Vienna tootling about with Laura. The ground level is, well, the ground level. One floor up from the ground is the first floor. So the Printmaking studios are on the 6th floor of the RCA according to the elevator...oops, lift, but according to me they are on the 7th floor.
Barton told me the coins go according to weight, not size. So a £1 coins is the size of a nickle but thicker and heavier, and a 20p coin is the size of a nickle but lighter in weight. Some of the older 20p coins are hexagonal but the new ones aren't. 10p is the size of a quarter, 5p is the size of a dime, 2p is the size of a loonie (but copper) and 1p looks like our penny. Yay!!!! Something I can relate to.
I noticed that many people I am getting to know wear scarves. Scarves that have been folded in half and then wrapped around the neck and the unfolded end is drawn through the loop. I didn't bring a scarf. I usually only wear one when it is a million degrees below zero. It is colder here than it was in Calgary when I left, so after a few days of looking at people who looked really warm with their necks all covered up, I decided I would buy a scarf too. When I was at Petticoat Lane I saw a lovely red/orange/yellow/blue/brown, striped scarf (looks better than it sounds) and when I fondled it, the seller came up and told me how lovely and soft it was and asked if I wanted to try it. She kindly looped it around my neck, in the fashion of everyone I had seen and I bought it. I felt invisible. Not like a tourist anymore, despite my backpack and camera and gawking around all the time to see where I am and where I need to go. But then a funny thing happened. When I was on the subway the next morning, feeling like I blended right in, I started looking at everyone on the subway and no one had the looped scarf. Yes, there were scarves, but no looped scarves. So I guess my disguise may not have worked. The looped scarf may be an artist thing, so now no one knows I'm a tourist, but they all know I'm an artist.
Shall I go on. You can drift off if you like. Go have a cup of tea...oh, you're in Canada, so go have a cup of coffee and come back. Or just go away and roll your eyes and never look at this blog again if it is too wordy for you. I've taken lots of photoes, but after spending a 1/2 hr. before this trying to get them to load into this computer I gave up. Hopefully I will figure it out soon.
I wanted to tell you about cards for some reason. I seem to have acquired a bunch of cards since I got here. First I had to get a bus/tube pass, which is called an Oyster Card, probably because the case you keep it in opens and closes like a shell. "Don't lose it", Hayley said to me. Then I had to get a student pass to get in and out of the RCA building. "Don't lose it", the security guy said to me. Then I had to get a new SIM card for a mobile phone that Hayley kindly lent me. That went into the phone, so I really hope I DON'T lose it. Then they give you a card with your telephone no. on it. "Put it in a safe place" the nice man who sold it to me said. Then I bought a phone card for long distance calls too, and I really don't want to lose that either. And then yesterday I got a library card and the librarian said, "Don't lose it OR lend it out or IT WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU!" Phew!! This is a lot of responsibility.
Enough for today. I went time travelling, forwards and backwards in time at the Victoria and Albert Museum today and I will tell you more about that tomorrow.
posted by Patti D. at 7:50 PM
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