One Month

I've been in London one month now. I wish I had something profound to write, but I don't--I've never been good at that. Instead, I will randomly update and ramble. Enjoy.

To start, I will say this: as I sit in a crappy, wood-panelled internet cafe, my groceries at my feet, I am both elated to be here and still, not surprisingly, hella homesick.

It's not that I don't love London--I really do. It has it's bad parts--frightening levels of crime, disturbingly filthy streets, painfully expensive everything--and that's just the street I live on. London is probably the greatest city in the world. Maybe that's ethnocentric, maybe it's biased, maybe it's just damn naive. I just can't imagine a place that has so much of everything and such energy. London--not Londoners, mind you--but London is vivid. That word doesn't really fit, I know, but consider this definition of "vivid":

Entry: vivid
Function: adjective
Definition: intense
Synonyms: active, animated, bright, rilliant, clear, colorful, definite, distinct, dramatic, dynamic, eloquent, energetic, expressive, flamboyant, gay, glowing, graphic, highly colored, lifelike, lively, lucid, meaningful, memorable, picturesque, powerful, realistic, resplendent, rich, sharp, shining, spirited, stirring, striking, strong, telling, theatrical, true-to-life, vigorous
Source:
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

That's London. It's a lot of other things, too, but this is a start. (And that, in case you're wondering, I call "dictionary poetry".)

...

School has turned gut-wrenching. We're busier than I was during my undergrad, and the teachers never have anything good to say about my writing. Though terrihbly painful for the ego--I thought I was a good writer before this--it's (hopefully) great for my writing. In the very least, it's taken my arrogance down a peg or two, which is a healthy thing for anyone.

...

A few lists.

Things I miss about Calgary/Canada/Home: family and friends; the mountains and the prairies; personal space, not being surrounded by crowds and people constantly; driving; the prices... you people have it so cheap there; horses, good lord, I miss horses; decent computer access; people who say "have a nice day"; digital cable; customer service; normal banking service; cleanliness and recycling; central heating, oh the glory that is central heating; money with polar bears on it; cheap dinners out; clean air and clean water; Canadians--we're not perfect, but we care less about class, race, gender and whatever than anyone else, I swear.

Favourite things/places/whatevers in London, so far: people watching in Picadilly circus; shopping at H&M and Zara; markets; the tube, the glorious, expensive, stinky tube; the announcer at Canada Water station; my room--finally, I've moved out; over a dozen national, daily newspapers; the BBC; Westminster Palace... I have never seen a more beautiful building in my life; Scottish accents; my flatmates; old trees and ivy covered buildings; the Marquis of Granby/Kelly's pub, the best pub ever, and yes, I do mean that; cell phones with free incoming calls; the wonder that is text messaging; more things to do than one could ever do; free art galleries; cheap theatre; three hours to Paris; politically active; the weather.

Hardly extensive, but those are also a start. I mean, hey, I've only been here a month, right?