"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see"

It's a little crazy to think that I've been in London for close to two weeks. As my friend Amy so eloquently put it the other night, "our lives have turned into marathons". Sometimes I forget that I have the next four months ahead of me to get to see and do all that London has to offer, and I try and pack 1000 things into one day. That being said, I finally feel like I am settling into my apartment, and more importantly, adjusting to the many distinctions in British culture. Before I get into the main feature of my post, the markets in London, I thought I'd share some of the differences between good old America and Great Britain that I have observed.

1. Where is the regular coffee guys?!? As a native New Yorker, coffee has not only been instilled in my daily routine, but I've come to think that seeing a coffee shop on every block is simply the norm. This is just not the case here. While you've got your big name, chain cafe's like Pret A Manger, EAT, and Costa, it's easy to walk through a whole neighborhood without running into a single "coffee shop". Walk into any of these chain cafe's and ask for a medium black coffee and expect a blank stare. Espresso is the only way to go around here. White or Black Americano is the closest I can get to plain filtered coffee, so don't be surprised when I come back to America with a bigger caffeine addiction than I started with. There is one place, however, where the baristas don't look at you like you are speaking a different language when you ask for black coffee. You guessed it folks...Starbucks. 
2. Mind the Gap, Pardon me and Cheers. For those of you who have experienced it, the NYC subway system is a place where man's true colors reveal themselves. If you are in the way of a morning commuter, you will get pushed, shoved, and if you don't show enough aggression, there is a good chance you wont make it on the train. Here in London, it's just the opposite. The tubes are just as crowded, and the people are just as time-pressed to get to work. Yet the cars packed with angry people and remarks such as "get out of my way", have been replaced with polite Brits who say "pardon me" when my foot accidentally gets stepped on. The angelic voice-over system that tells me to "Mind the Gap" when the doors are closing always brightens my day. The other day the conductor actually opened up the tube doors for a passenger who was 20 seconds late. At home, this said conductor would most likely not have made it home alive that night.
3. It's T.K. Maxx, not T.J. Maxx. No real story here, just thought this was kind of hilarious.
4. What is Oatmeal? Only porridge here folks. Before coming here, the only time I had heard of porridge was in the story of Goldy Locks and the Three Bears. From what I can tell so far, porridge and oatmeal are pretty synonymous though. 

Now that I've touched briefly on some cultural nuances, I want to spend the rest of my time writing about two of London's most popular markets. Generally every Thursday-Saturday, various neighborhoods in London close off a collection of streets, and fill them with white tents and tons of merchants. The first market I got a chance to visit is called "Old Spitafields Market", and it is right outside my door!! The market mainly sells clothing, and knock off purses, though there are a few CD-ROM merchants for all my friends out there who still have boom-boxes. Amy and I didn't spend too long exploring this market, but seeing as how it is so close, I'm sure I'll be back. Here are some pictures from Old Spitafields:

          

Now, onto the most incredible market I've ever been to in my life: Borough Market. I've been told by numerous London natives and visitors that I must spend at least one thursday roaming through Borough Market and trying every sample that the vendors have to offer. This is EXACTLY what I did on Thursday. Amy, Pam and I began our journey through the market and were immediately overwhelmed by all the different food options we were faced with for lunch. Our solution: Try everything. Cheeses, breads, olive oil, vinegars, blood oranges, veggie burgers, quiche etc. (I could go on forever but I dont want to make your mouth water). We tried them all. Most of the merchants loved giving us samples, though the middle aged man at the fruit stand definitely called us out on our game when five minutes had passed and we were still "sampling" his mangos. 

One particular stand that caught my attention was the massive grilled cheese station. Giant cheese wheels were placed on a stove top, and people gathered around to watch them melt. You even had the option to add in mashed potatoes. I could probably talk forever about the eclectic food choices that I faced on thursday, but after a whole lot of sampling, Amy, Pam and I settled on a stand called "The Veggie Table" where we enjoyed a handmade super veg quinoa pattie, with two salads made from scratch and a side of fresh hummus. See below for this bite of heaven:

Like I said before, I can talk forever about all the amazing things I got to taste on thursday, but I think posting a few pictures would probably paint the picture much more vividly. In no particular order, take a look at all the juices, curries, cheeses, treats, olives, nuts and incredibly fresh delights that I was able to enjoy. 

 

 

 

                                  

As usual this post was much longer than I intended it to be, but there is just so much to talk about! To be honest, this hardly even scratches the surface of everything I've done since I've been here. In between my classes, I try to fit in all the different Museums that London has to offer. The British Museum is around the corner from four of my courses, and with free entry it would be a shame if I didn't take advantage of it. My challenge in the weeks to come will be finding the line between wanting to do and see EVERYTHING, while simultaneously not overextending myself to the point of exhaustion. Its been snowing a lot the past few days, and the city of London has completely shut down. Luckily, its given me a chance to take a few hours off and get back on my blogging game!

I'll end the post with my British saying of the day:

"And Bob's your uncle": You would be surprised how much you hear this expression around here. I've come to understand it as something along the lines of "and there you have it". I've heard the expression a few times in asking for directions. "Turn left on Liverpool Street, right on Bishopsgate, right onto Middlesex Street and Bob's your uncle, you made it."

Waking up pretty early for my full day of classes tomorrow, so I think I'm going to sign off here!

Until next time mates, 

Sam in Buckingham