My London Times
Walking home from a poetry reading this evening (from my favorite professor may I add), I had all sorts of ideas of things I wanted to write about. Now, of course, I am at a loss for words.
Yesterday I went to London for the first time. The train system here in Cambridge makes no sense to me, because everyone I have talked to has had a different price for when they have taken it. Well, the Cambridge to London deal I got was a real DEAL. I arrived at the train station at around 11AM, and bought a roundtrip ticket, which included “underground” for 19 pounds. It also gave me a 5-pound river cruise near the London Tower. Such a great deal. Buying the ticket of course was a slight ordeal. Here’s the dialogue:
Me: Hi, could I please get the cheapest ticket to London?
Lady: Sure, with underground?
Me: Underground? (in my mind I am thinking maybe underground is a faster train that goes under the streets)
Lady: Would you like underground included with the ticket?
Me: Maybe… what is it… (5 seconds pass) … oh yeah yeah, I’ll take it. (finally realizing that underground is metro)
It’s funny when little cultural differences like that happen.
I was looking for a movie theatre on tottenham court road, and went up to the lovely people outside some theatre:
Me: Hi, I’m trying to find a movie theatre… Do you know of one around here?
Her: Movie theatre?
Me: Movies, you know… I mean cinemas? I’m trying to find the cinemas.
Afterward I cracked up a little, and wondered what the right name for the movie theatre was… I still don’t know.
Anyway, London was great. It’s one of the few places outside of the USA I think I could happily live. People had told me that it was like Boston, but I didn’t see that at all. Boston is a very unique place. I thought about it today, and I wouldn’t mind if I ended up settling down in Boston- I love it there. I want to go somewhere else for a bit though, after I graduate… but maybe coming back after I am done doing whatever would be nice.
