Fire Alarms and Lost Buses

Hello again! It's been a little while since I posted last, but unfortunately I got a bit of a cold after the last adventures I had and had some catching up to do with my classes.

Nothing much has happened in the last week and a half or so because classes are pretty intense right now. We're halfway through the semester already, which is totally crazy, and now we have what is called "Reading Week". It's a week we get during week 6 of each of our semesters to catch up on work, but of course our professors take the advantage to give us even more to do :)

That said, I thought I'd elaborate on a few funny things that keep happening to me in my day-to-day life here in London.

First, Fire Alarms. I realize these aren't a "London" thing, but honestly, they go off ALL THE TIME. They're extra sensitive to the point that your toaster will set it off even if you put it on the lowest setting, keep the window open, and practically fan the toast SMELL out of the window while it's crisping.

I have now evacuated every King's College building I've ever set foot in. They go off multiple times a week at all times of the day or night and it's required to evacuate. In one week alone, I evacuated my apartment three times, the library once (at 11:30pm), and the building where my classes were twice. But I suppose I can't count the classroom evacuation twice because one of the times I was in the cafe and got stuck behind the fire doors. I'll still count it, though.

The other funny part, is that they have gone off so many times falsely in our building that we were told not to evacuate unless they last more than 30 seconds. So, sometimes you're in bed, the shower, etc and you hear it so you start to get up, get one shoe on, and it stops. The current record for this is 10 times in one night - at midnight.

Second point of interest, the city buses. They are by far the quickest way to get places in a lot of situations as well as your only option if you want to travel anywhere after 11pm as the tube stops running after 11. Fun fact - they're called Night Buses. Like in Harry Potter. I know, right?

They're not purple and it's Night vs Knight, but still. 

Now, coming from Chicago, I didn't have a high bar for the buses here in London. And honestly, they are awesome in comparison because they have letters that correspond to where you get on and off and the bus drivers are actually helpful. That said, there are a few quirky things about the buses that one must learn before deciding to ride.

1. Don't get on a Hydrogen bus - odds are, if you're going more than 6 blocks, it will probably break down. I know they're trying to be environmental and I totally love that, but they don't work! You can tell it's about to break down too because the bus makes an unexpected turn onto a side street. The bus driver then insists that it will be back up and running if he can just kick it back into gear. I'm not sure if that's a technical term, but it involves a lot of key turning and the bus making that "errr errr err" sound. After a while, the bus driver will give up and tell you where the next stop is.

2. The routes are crazy. As I've mentioned before, Citymapper is the best app in the world and can get you anywhere at anytime. So, picture this, you get on a bus heading towards your destination and you sit down so that you can see both the sign that displays what stop is next and you have your phone out with Citymapper open so that you can follow the blue dot on the red line to make sure you know where to get off.

Then, this happens: 

Your first sign of trouble, the display switches to an asterisk instead of the next stop. 

Then, you look down at Citymapper and see this: 

Confirmed, you've been rerouted. 

There is never any notice given for a reroute and for some reason, no one else on the bus ever looks concerned, upset, or bothered in the least. I've also learned to accept this and somehow, it always gets back on track at some point and I make it to my destination. I still have absolutely no idea why this happens though, and I have set it as a goal to figure out the mystery of the reroutes. 

These odd things about London are part of the charm, even though it doesn't feel like it when the fire alarm is going off at 1am because someone wanted a toasted PB&J. 

Cheers! 

Lizzing London - I'm here!

Hello from London! This has basically been my subject line in every email I've sent in the last two weeks. I'm finally here and somewhat settled into "normal" life. I've been here for 2 weeks now and can say that I do feel like I live in London! Here are some major topics and some updates.

Classes: 
Classes started last week and I love them so far. Although, there is so much reading my eyes might fall out of my head. I am starting week 2 tomorrow and basically have all of my classes on Mondays and Tuesdays only until my certification workshop starts in late November. That leaves a lot of time to do fun things - like more readings for class haha. But really, it does help that I have a 5 day weekend and can really space out how I want to work.

My Flat:
The building is tucked away behind a busy high street in the borough of Southwark. That flat is laid out very oddly, but it's pretty functional nonetheless. My room is a bit bigger than I thought it would be and I have plenty of storage space. I have three roommates that I'm very slowly starting to get to know who are from China and Mexico. The building is only for Postgraduates at King's, so I've met a lot of people who are doing as much reading as I am so it's nice to have some study buddies.

The area: 
I basically live in the Lakeview of London with just a hint of Wicker Park mixed in. It's technically in Central London, but just outside of all of the major landmarks. I live south of the river, so when I travel to one of the campuses, I get to walk across Waterloo bridge and see this:

OMG, right? I get to live here!



People: 
I've gotten to meet people from all over the world since the building I live in is only for International students. My program is also very international with students from 35 countries out of the 90 of us - pretty awesome!

I have learned so much already just being here two weeks. Here's what I've been thinking about the most.

- I take English for granted and I'm totally spoiled by the fact that everyone else has to speak English to me.
- I need to learn 10 languages ASAP.
- I can get by with only 4 pillows on my bed.
- Coffee and I are BFFs again.
- Weekends are for class reading. As all days of the week are.
- Getting lost in London is a right of passage. Unlimited data for GPS is a must.
- The CityMapper app is a literal life saver.
- Buses are awesome for getting you places, but they often don't take the route they're supposed to. Be prepared for unannounced detours for no reason at all.
- The coins are still confusing.
- Groceries are the most expensive thing ever.
- Foxes to London are rats to Chicago.

Lizzing London, Volume 2: Two Weeks to Go

Welp - we're in the final countdown!

I've been unemployed for about a week and a half. I'm sorting through my things to get it down to just a suitcase or two. I'm spending time with family and friends.

Right now, it all still feels like I'm just on a bit of a vacation from my real life and that I'll be going back to work and my normal life in Chicago very soon.

Here's what I've learned in the last week and a half: 

1. Without a schedule, I honestly never know what day of the week it is. I need one of those calendars that says the date and day of the week like in a nursing home.
2. I make a lot of lists to feel productive.
3. I take a lot of naps.
4. I have entirely too much stuff.
5. All of my hair appliances are dual voltage: win!
6. I'm really bad at that "Two Dots" game.

The next time I write, it will be from London. How crazy is that?
Cheers!

Lizzing London, Volume 1: One Month to go!

I can't remember how to change the title of my blog. That's how long it's been since I've even considered blogging again. Please bear with me.

Now, this blog will be much different than what I have previously been writing about, my dear reader - all one of you. I'm sure you (basically just my mom) are really going to like the new direction, though. As you might have noticed from the title, I'm off on a new adventure in a new city. In just about a month, I'll be packing up and heading off to London to start grad school!

To recap the last year that lead up to this actually happening, here is a timeline.

May/June 2013: travel to London with family. Freak out on plane ride there. Love the city from day 1. Wonder about the construction workers outside our flat for next two weeks while exploring the city. Get hooked on tea with milk and the electric teapot.

June/July/August 2013: Think a lot about doing my personal essay, get references together, write a bunch of personal essay that gets deleted. process repeats.

September 2013: Whole month spent helping with BFF's upcoming wedding, doing wedding activities, worrying about writing maid of honor speech, and actually write something significant for personal essay.

September 30th 2013: Stay up until ungodly hours re-writing most of personal essay after having panic that it's the worst thing I've ever written. Big props to Genna for editing me in my panic.

October 2nd 2013: Submit application, panic for next week about doing it correctly. Genna gets married. Sweat a lot on day of wedding.

October & most of November: Incessantly check to see if there is an update on application. No update.

November 27th 2013: FIND OUT I GOT INTO KING'S AND HAVE TOTAL EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN.

January 2014: Apply for housing. Mostly no panic happening.

January - May 2014: Worry about leaving, worry about not leaving, worry about having everything together, attempt to get rid of everything I own, but then worry about not having anything left, get overly excited, plan for every inevitable failure in life, freak out a lot, move out of apartment, freak out even more, give notice at work, stop panicking so much, oh wait - more panic.

June 2014: Apply for visa & attempt to get IL driver's license. This license part isn't even really part of this story, but it was an ordeal that I cannot forget.

July 2014: Plan lots of fun things, start to get so excited and not so much panic, get Visa approved, enjoy time in Chicago before I leave.


So, now we're caught up. As you can see, I spent the better part of the last 12 months losing my mind over this, but it's all been worth it knowing that I'll get to spend at least the next year of my life (hopefully more!) in London, in my opinion of one of the greatest cities ever.

My blog will definitely still be a place where I rant about beauty, fashion, and other odd things that are girly, but also a travel blog - the series named by the famous Greyhound bus tweeter, Kelli Johnson (@kellistlouis)

Welcome to Lizzing London.