By Tara Martinelli
Where in the world is Tara? Don’t make fun of me, but answering this question is harder than it sounds. I have been in London for about two weeks and I still don’t know for sure what darn country I’m in. Before judging me, I swear, not a single person I have asked has been able to give me a straight answer. Is the country England or the United Kingdom? Is it neither? Is it both? What even is “Great Britain?” And yes, it matters to me! Foreigners and Londoners alike can’t give me an answer and I’m sure really want me to stop asking.
I have spent the past two weeks getting to know this city that will be my home base for the next four months. Before leaving Connecticut, many people, in order to calm my overdramatic nerves, told me that London is just a cleaner version of New York. So what does that mean? No rat friends to keep me company on the subway platforms? I’m out.
As a Fordham student, I am fairly certain that I’ve been mysteriously drugged on a regular basis for the last three years (my guess: it’s in Pugsley’s garlic knots) to the point where I truly believe that New York is the capital of the world and that no city can compare. So upon hearing that London is just a cleaner version of the capital of the world, I didn’t have much choice other than to constantly compare and contrast the two cities.
There are a few obvious similarities between New York and London. They both are major business hubs, they both have English as the predominant language and they both have very strong feelings towards President Donald Trump. The only thing anyone was reading about on the tube in the days leading up to Jan. 20 was the inauguration and Trump. Yes, this does mean that I was looking over many people’s shoulders and no, I don’t think they appreciated it.
Other than driving on the wrong side of the road (that’s right, I said “wrong” side of the road) and the square shaped toilets which I still haven’t gotten used to, the less obvious but even greater difference between the two cities is the pace at which life moves.
We all know how fast paced life is for a New Yorker. Your time is more important than anyone else’s and you don’t care whose cup of coffee you have to knock over to get where you need to be. Life moves a little bit slower here in ole London town. I have yet to see someone run to catch the tube or a waiter rush a table of people by bringing the check too early. In fact, if you don’t ask for the check, they will never give it to you!
They’ll just let you sit there and finish the last sips of your prosecco (my new favorite thing in the whole world) and chat with your friends for as long as you want. I was having tea with a friend, trying to blend in and all, and was curious about the closing time of the café. Upon asking the waiter, he informed me that the café had actually closed 30 minutes ago. I would have never guessed.
However, something that British people definitely take seriously is queueing. Didn’t know that queue was a verb? I didn’t either. If I could assign a golden rule to people coming to London, I would say it’s simple: respect the queue.
When you are waiting in line, you are really waiting in that line. Before anyone says anything, yes, here, we wait in line. My friend had to step out of line for a moment to pick up a coin that he dropped that rolled away (coins can be worth a lot here). When he returned to the line, the women standing behind us was screaming at everyone to rally together to kick us out of the line. When I tried to politely explain the situation she yelled, “Shut up, Americans! It’s a joke!” Update: she most certainly was not kidding.
As I mentioned, London is going to be my home base for the semester. Although I love this city so dearly already, there are many others across Europe that are eagerly awaiting my arrival. Anyone can pick up a travel guide that will tell me to go to Big Ben and the House of Parliament or Buckingham Palace but only upon visiting and experiencing the cities will I be able to really understand the people, the vibes and the plumbing. And that’s what my goal is: to find the weird and less obvious characteristics of a city that make it unique.
I’ll take London as my first city as a huge win. Cheers!
