My, How I've Changed

I came to London for the first time 9 years ago. I was young, I'd never seen anything of the world, and I was very excited to explore it. Monica and I share many memories of being young and silly while on our 6-week backpacking trip through London. When I think back to that trip, I just have to shake my head at us. Seeing Big Ben and not realizing it until later that night, going to bed most nights around 9:00pm, our homesick breakdown in Belgium... oh, how young we were!! But we were also very excited about everything we wanted to see: Loch Ness (too bad we didn't actually make it - wait, that's another silly moment), David (oh, no, we didn't see that either, did we?), Pisa (yes, we did actually make it to that one), Stonehenge, Trinity College in Dublin, Piazza san Marco in Venice, and all the other beautiful things that we saw, took pictures of and created memories of. We were bright-eyed and keen to explore it all, to make the most of every single minute we were in Europe. It was the trip of a lifetime!

And now 9 years have gone by. Naturally, I have made comparisons between that first trip and this one. While London remains virtually the same, my experience of it has been quite different thus far. The following are a few of my thoughts on various aspects of "London life".

On Being A "Local":
It's a different experience moving to a city you've only ever been a tourist in. I felt a bit of this when I moved from Langley to Victoria, having been a tourist there many times during my childhood. It was different and fun to transform myself into a "local", getting to a point where I was looking slightly down my nose at those pesky (but highly amusing) tourists who took pictures of everything, walked around with maps in their hands and actually waited for lights to change before crossing the narrow streets of downtown.

And now here I am, doing the same thing again. Except this time I feel a yearning to be a local. I don't WANT to use the tube map; I just want to have it memorized already. I don't WANT to look the wrong way when crossing a street, so I just shift my eyes and slightly shift my head to check BOTH ways (I don't want to get hit either!).

I'm also spending a lot of time and energy adjusting to a new life, trying to be responsible and attempting to feel as normal as possible in an unfamiliar setting. I'm attempting to curb the effects of jetlag by going to bed at normal times (although last night's trip to a pub and the hour-long commute home didn't help!) and getting up early too. I'm eating as healthily as possible (which is helped by the fact that all my body seems to want these days is yogurt, toast and apples). And today I spent the morning wandering around my area, visiting the grocery store, dollar store and library. 9 years ago, I would have spent the day hopping from Leicester Square to Buckingham Palace (making jokes, getting lost and taking pictures along the way). But I just have this calm sense that I'm going to be here for a while, those attractions aren't going anywhere, and it's more important for me to settle than to sight-see right now.

On Being Impressed:
This isn't to say that I haven't seen anything touristy yet. Actually, I had a bit of a funny moment yesterday. I was meeting some friends downtown as we were headed to the War Museum (which, by the way, was fantastic, sobering and massive - we were there 3 hours and didn't come close to seeing everything). When I exited the tube station and came up at Westminster Bridge, the London Eye was there in front of me. I turned around to see Big Ben looming overhead (and yes, I knew what it was this time). My heart lurched a little bit seeing these famous sights, and a load of memories and emotions washed over me. In a flash, I thought back to the first time I had seen it, I connected with my UK ancestral roots (and thought of Nana), and the first coherent thought that came to mind was "Hellz YEAH, I live here!". It was a pretty exciting moment. Then I strode off across the bridge (camera-less) and dodged around the hoards of tourists taking pictures of both sights. All this is to say, even though time has gone by and I'm older and a little less keen now (see that British slang making its way into my writing already?), the sights, as they say, are priceless. And no less exciting to behold.

On Double-Decker Buses:
The one thing we did NOT do in London 9 years ago was ride a double-decker bus. I can't even remember why, but it probably had something to do with being too shy to ask how to use a bus. Again, we were young and silly. In any case, it has always been one of those "I can't believe we didn't do that" things (akin to not riding a gondola in Venice). Two nights ago, I rode a double-decker bus, on the top deck, just like I'd always pictured myself doing once I arrived here again. And I thought to myself, "hmm... This feels just like a bus in Victoria. Why have I been waiting 9 years for this?". I have a feeling returning to Venice and riding a gondola won't carry the same disappointment (at least I hope not!).

On Noticing My Own "Accent":
For the first couple of days here, I really spent an inordinate amount of time hearing my own voice and noticing how different it was (no jokes about that being related to how much I talk, please!). And yes, clearly I sound different from the Brits around me. But honestly, there are so many people speaking so many languages and with so many international accents, it's not that weird that I have one too. It helps that I live with a Canadian, and that half of the friends he's introduced to me are not from Britain (they're from Canada, Slovakia, Italy and New Zealand). Shopkeepers and servers have varied accents too. So I'm feeling less and less "different" as the days go by.

~~~

Life will go on, I will eventually see all of the sights and museums (most of which are FREE! I don't remember it being that way when we were here before!), and I will begin the working life on Monday (yes, I'm already booked to teach a full week). And I'm sure my impressions of living here will change a thousand more times before I head back home. Or perhaps I'll move on elsewhere, only to form new memories and create a new life in yet another new city?? We shall see....