Today is October 1st, which marks one month of living in London! This month was full of so many exciting adventures from getting Oyster cards, many trips to Tesco, sunny park days, double-decker bus rides, and poster painting to....a Hinge date and finding Harry Potter's doppelgänger (unfortunately, he wasn't the date ☹️). To recap how we are feeling and all our experiences from the month, we decided to do a fun Q&A.
How are you feeling in a creative way?
Z: 😁👟🐑🌸⚽️🚃🛜🪑👩🏻🍳
C: Canva brain dump
Favorite memories so far?
Z: I have three. My first is going to the RAF museum with Catja and Hebe. It was our first little exploration near our house and was a bit spontaneous, which always makes for the best adventures. We arrived with very low expectations and were blown out of the water by how much was actually there. My second is finding the 5 pound coffee and cake in Richmond. Not only was the cake and coffee very tasty, but Catja and I ended up chatting for an hour or so, a for a brief moment it felt like we were just locals sitting in our pub on a Monday afternoon. My third and final memory is not super specific, but is more so little bits over the course of the month. In the last couple of weeks, Catja and I have decided to make Instagram Reels to document our many adventures around the city. In doing so, we wander around the city taking little videos and wondering if people think we're some sort of influencers. Little do they know that all we do is post silly videos for our 40 followers and are in no way influencers of any kind.
C:
Walking around all the parks in the warm sunshine and watching dogs
Movie night in the flat with Zoe and Hebe watching Love at First Sight and Friends with Benefits
Many many pub quizzes
Watching sheep cross Southwark Bridge
Making lots of Fulbright friends and meeting so many new friends around the city
Making our Insta reel highlights with Zoe. It’s so fun and liberating to pretend to be an influencer and have fun documenting our lives! Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to channel Tube Girl energy
^and everything Zoe is saying above, especially our pub convo. We really did feel like locals and it was a beautiful moment in time
Best thing you’ve eaten?
Z: Hands down the pancakes I had this morning. My favorite meal of all time is breakfast, I LOVE breakfast food and will eat it at basically any time of day. After weeks of craving and talking about how much we all wanted an American style breakfast, I made a reservation at Polo Bar on Liverpool Street, a 24 hour breakfast cafe. With pancakes on my mind, I ordered the Lotus Cookie, Banana Pancakes from the dessert menu, which only briefly made me reevaluate my life choices. The pancakes came covered in whipped cream and stacked with bananas and Lotus cookies. They were absolutely delicious and were definitely what I needed after eating cereal every morning for a month.
C: Zoe has been cheffing it up at home while I’ve been at school, and she made the most delicious jambalaya on week 2. It was our first big meal with a working fridge, and we’d been surviving on cereal without milk, crackers, and carbs on nonperishable carbs for days. As much as I love a meal deal, I was craving home-cooked food. And I came home after a long, stressful induction day to the aroma of sausage, chicken, rice, and lots of spices. I almost cried eating it. THANK YOU ZOE FOR FEEDING ME!!
Favorite public transport memory?
Z: Honestly anytime I ride the bus! I haven’t had any stand out memories like Catja yet, but I have many more bus rides to come. Riding the bus has somehow quickly become a part of my personality, but I’m not mad about it. I find riding the bus really peaceful and I love to watch the city fly by.
C: I think I wrote about it on our week 2 blog post, but that day when the random drunk guys started handing out Fiber One brownies, digestives, and Doritos on the Tube at 11pm was hilarious. It made me feel like a Londoner experiencing these random acts of public transportation goofiness.
Favorite purchase?
Z: Sheep socks! While attending the Sheep Drive and Livery Festival, Catja and I wandered through the stalls and found the cutest socks with little sheep on them. Not only do these socks hold one of my favorite memories from our weird exploring so far, but they serve as a reminder of a funny moment with my Dad after I purchased them. While showing him the socks over Facetime, he asked if they were wool to which I replied, “no, cotton.” To my surprise, he found this to be absolutely hilarious and could not contain his laughter as we continued our recap of the day!
C: My Tube map puzzle is my favorite decoration now. Zoe and I finally finished it a few weeks ago, then I glued the back with some newspaper from the station and hung it on my wall above my desk. I study it every morning to see how far one place is from another and to plan out places to visit after classes. With the Tube strikes coming up again, it will be my daily reminder to be grateful for working public transportation. Compensate those workers! Also the Transport Museum Gift Shop in Covent Garden is my favorite place and I wish I could rep all the fun TFL gear.
Time(s) you felt the most American?
Z: While sitting on the floor of our living room with Catja, Lucy, Hebe, and (blonde) Luke, I was describing our plans to visit the sheep festival taking place in Southwark. After saying the name Southwark, which I pronounced “South-Wark,” Lucy stopped me to repeat myself. Confused as to what I had said that was unusual, I slowly repeated “South-Wark?” Apparently, Southwark is actually pronounced “Suth-erk,” in true British fashion you mush all the letters together. As I tried to repeat this name, I found myself sounding like I had the thickest Boston accent, something I had never experienced before. Now, even though I know how to pronounce it, I fear that people will think I am from Boston!
C: We walked by a sign that advertised a fat stack of fluffy pancakes one morning in Willesden Green, and I started craving American-style breakfast. I’m not even a huge bacon fan, but I got intense cravings for pancakes, eggs, bacon, syrup — the works. We finally stopped by a diner in central today with some friends which satisfied the craving.
Every time I open my mouth, I feel very American. Apparently, one random guy said my accent isn’t annoying for an American which I guess is a compliment? Also, someone keeps shooting off fireworks at random times in our neighborhood, and I always get a jolt of fear with the repeated banging. But that’s mostly irrational anxiety I think. Eggs outside of the refrigerator at the grocery store also throw me off.
Time(s) you felt the most British?
Z: Riding the tube today from Liverpool Street. Catja and I were packed into the tube surrounded by men, women, and children, decked out in American football gear. For a moment it felt like, Catja and I were the most British people there. We found out later that there was a game at Wembley, which was clearly where everyone was headed. The very curious thing that we need to get to the bottom of is why it seems everyone supports the most random teams. For example, a group of people got on the tube together, one wearing a Jet sweatshirt and baseball cap, another in a Falcons jersey, another in an Eagles t-shirt, one in a Chiefs jersey, and finally another in a Jaguars jersey. Truly a strange site to see!
C: I remember the first time I saw an Uber boat, I was enthralled. Uber! On the Thames! So exciting! I still think it’s thrilling, but it’s less of a novelty now, and people don’t frequent the boats for transportation since the Tube and buses are usually faster.
Whenever a stranger asks me for directions and I can confidently point them the right way, I feel quite at home. I also eat digestives and drink tea on the daily, so I’m settling in quite well.
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