Call me crazy, but there is no southern hospitality here. Everyone seems to be in their own little world. No one says "hey" or "how's it going" in passing. People are all to eager to push past you on the side walk too. I've been told that these might be characteristics of a big city rather than specifically London things but I honestly can't tell. I've never felt like a small town kid before but I definitely do now. When Americans ask where I'm from and I say Spartanburg SC, most people haven't heard of it which is understandable, its not exactly a booming metropolis. In London when people ask where I'm from I say America. If they ask what part, they have never heard of South Carolina. I shouldn't really be surprised but its just so strange. It seems like the only parts of America they know about are the major cities and Florida. I'm one of the few southerners in my program. Actually the other two southerners are also Wofford kids (go terriers!). A surprising number of people are from Indiana University, probably around 70 kids out of 130. I figured I'd get some funny looks when I said "yall" and I've already been asked if sweet tea is a breakfast drink, but when I asked "what are yall fixin' to do?" IT BLEW PEOPLE'S MINDS! They just kinda stared at me, dumbfounded, like I was speaking Spanish. Yankees, am I right??? Speaking of language, British English is far more different than I expected. I figured I would be able to understand what people say, even if I didn't know what the phrases meant. Not the case. Some locals are so hard to understand they might as well be speaking dutch.
Everywhere in London new and old collide. A brand new shop might be next to (and in some cases literally touching) an 18th century building. The old and the new sometimes make it feel like two cities in one. If you walk down one street it might fell like a scene out of Oliver Twist, but the next street over looks like Atlanta. I have a love/hate relationship with how urban London is. I really enjoy being able to walk everywhere so easily, even if it takes 20 minutes. Sadly though there isn't much green space (there is not really space of any kind)*. Most of the "parks" I have seen are fairly small, some are even the size of what we would call a yard. Everything is so close compact. The Brits don't waste any space; buildings are flush to one another, roads are narrow and many shops are only 10 feet wide. The only thing that seems over sized is the biking lane (which is equal to the size of the lanes for buses!).
I know I've talked a lot in this post about things that are different and in some cases surprisingly so, but those are the kinds of things you notice first in a new place. I really do enjoy it here. Tomorrow we are going to Windsor Castle and Sunday we are taking a bus tour of London so pictures of all that will come soon.
Long Live the King
*According to my friend Andrew Koontz, statistically London has tons of green space (47% to be exact) but that is less than good ol' Spartanburg SC so my statement stands.
Well what did you fix to do? -Sam
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