Acceptance
Door: TvP
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Tayma
30 Maart 2015 | Verenigd Koninkrijk, Londen
Hi all!
Two and a half months later, but here I am again. The last few months I have been incredibly busy, but I did have quite a lot to tell. Now my exams are done and I have a Sunday afternoon off, so I curled up behind my laptop to fill you guys in. This time about London/ English/ British things. Customs and habits that are great and I have embraced, but also stuff I absolutely do not agree with.
Like how everything closes early here. Metropolis London. Over 8 million inhabitants, always something to do, to discover, where everything is possible. Well it isn’t. Do you want to have a quick drink at 1 in the morning on a Saturday evening? Too bad. All pubs have closed and you won’t be able to enter most of the clubs either. It continues to amaze me. While we are on the subject of pub-habits. The well-known last round, announced with a ringing of the bell. ‘’Great!’’ you think ‘’Just a quick last drink’’. Utterly pleased you sit down at your table again with your freshly draughted pint (0.568 liter). Until only fifteen minutes later the bartender comes over and kindly, yet in a pressing way, asks you to leave. Haven’t finished your beer yet?, what most likely will be the case, with any luck you get handed a plastic cup so you can finish your drink outside. And just like that the night is over. And you are in bed by one.
Or are you? Because tubes stop running at 23:30 or 12. So how do you get home? A lot of night buses, a cab or by foot (bad idea. Everything is far). So it happened two weeks ago that I was at a birthday party and left for home at half 11, but missed the last tube. And instead of being home just after twelve, it took me three buses, two hours more and a test of my patience to finally arrive home. Crazy night out in Landahn Town.
Then something that annoys me in traffic: drivers so often do not use their turn signal. So irritating! And not to mention, dangerous. Especially when they suddenly decide to pull over, just where I am cycling and I have no clue of what is happening (because no flasher).
Something else, very English what I absolutely cannot handle. The tea with mil. No no no. Just no. Also the habit of leaving the teabag in for ages. With a splash of milk. Ugh. And on the contrary the Brits around me look at my very light tea with amazement. It might seem like something small, but in a country where tea is such an essential part of the day, this is a continuous point of incomprehension.
Just like the other part of British culture ‘queueing’. The standing in line (queue) for e-ve-ry-thing. Getting into a jazzclub, queue. Brunch? Queue. Eat in this little restaurant. Queue. ‘’Is this the queue?’’ is now part of my daily vocabulary. The first time I went to the Breakfast Club (amazing place where they serve breakfast, what’s in a name, all day long and the food is so good!) I was very excited, hungry and ready for a good meal. Enthusiastically following google maps to the place to be, until I briefly look up and see a ten meter long queue. With, confirming what I was already afraid of, my friend who I was meeting right in there. All my Dutch instincts inside of me yelled to get out of here, to eat somewhere else where the food would probably good as well, but where we would be able to have a seat straight away. But then my other friend arrived as well and both of them were willing to wait, or queue as I should say. So there we went. Queueing for brunch. An hour and a half (!) later I was finally sitting inside. On one of those famous tables. Still in astonishment of what just happened. And then the food came… So. Good.
Three weeks later I was queueing again. Is this what they refer to as integrating into society?
But enough about things that I do not agree with, now the things I love. Like how everybody drinks so much tea here (let’s put the whole milk thing aside), all day. How it is okay to sit in a pub at 11:30 in the morning, or let’s say 11:30 in the afternoon. Having alcohol. Liquid lunch, like someone referred to it the other day. How pubs serve complete meals. And the Sunday Roasts. Marvelous!
How when it is your birthday people bake you a cake, instead of the other way around (like we do back at home). And why not?! Gives you that extra strong it’s-my-birthday-feeling right? And all the house parties. And how they are all BYOB. This makes it so much easier to throw a party. You buy a bottle of booze and you are ready for the night. Especially in London where everything is so expensive, this is the ideal way to spend your weekend. You get to meet new people, who you might otherwise not speak with in a club. Perfect!
The free coffee to-go from Waitrose, which helps me get through the days. And while we are in the supermarket category anyway: de discount stickers at the end of the day. Around 6-ish all fresh (bread)products or other products who expire that day are going on sale. And how. Croissants for 11p, a sandwich for 60p, a pizza for less than a pound. I am a big fan. Especially when I have to have ‘dinner’ at school again the microwave meals from Waitrose are most welcome.
What is really nice as well: the Lates nights in the museums. Almost all museums have these evenings. Where they open up once a month after closing times and have theme nights. With seminars, movies, workshops, games, DJs and music. The other day I was dancing in a silent disco at the Science Museum, in the space department underneath some space shuttles. How cool?! And the nights are for free! Also a great plus.
And to conclude, the way you pronounce ‘iron’. Where does the ‘R’ go?! I will simply not accept this. I cannot pronounce ‘iron’ as ‘ion’ or when I am ‘ironing’ I am saying ‘ioning’. No. Might be the way it is supposed to be. I will not accept. No.
That was it. A few things from me, written to you from my favourite corner of the couch, with a well-deserved (if I may say so) gin tonic on my free Sunday afternoon. I will try to write again soon. For now I will go back to relaxing and enjoying my good life here in London :)
Cheerio chaps!
Two and a half months later, but here I am again. The last few months I have been incredibly busy, but I did have quite a lot to tell. Now my exams are done and I have a Sunday afternoon off, so I curled up behind my laptop to fill you guys in. This time about London/ English/ British things. Customs and habits that are great and I have embraced, but also stuff I absolutely do not agree with.
Like how everything closes early here. Metropolis London. Over 8 million inhabitants, always something to do, to discover, where everything is possible. Well it isn’t. Do you want to have a quick drink at 1 in the morning on a Saturday evening? Too bad. All pubs have closed and you won’t be able to enter most of the clubs either. It continues to amaze me. While we are on the subject of pub-habits. The well-known last round, announced with a ringing of the bell. ‘’Great!’’ you think ‘’Just a quick last drink’’. Utterly pleased you sit down at your table again with your freshly draughted pint (0.568 liter). Until only fifteen minutes later the bartender comes over and kindly, yet in a pressing way, asks you to leave. Haven’t finished your beer yet?, what most likely will be the case, with any luck you get handed a plastic cup so you can finish your drink outside. And just like that the night is over. And you are in bed by one.
Or are you? Because tubes stop running at 23:30 or 12. So how do you get home? A lot of night buses, a cab or by foot (bad idea. Everything is far). So it happened two weeks ago that I was at a birthday party and left for home at half 11, but missed the last tube. And instead of being home just after twelve, it took me three buses, two hours more and a test of my patience to finally arrive home. Crazy night out in Landahn Town.
Then something that annoys me in traffic: drivers so often do not use their turn signal. So irritating! And not to mention, dangerous. Especially when they suddenly decide to pull over, just where I am cycling and I have no clue of what is happening (because no flasher).
Something else, very English what I absolutely cannot handle. The tea with mil. No no no. Just no. Also the habit of leaving the teabag in for ages. With a splash of milk. Ugh. And on the contrary the Brits around me look at my very light tea with amazement. It might seem like something small, but in a country where tea is such an essential part of the day, this is a continuous point of incomprehension.
Just like the other part of British culture ‘queueing’. The standing in line (queue) for e-ve-ry-thing. Getting into a jazzclub, queue. Brunch? Queue. Eat in this little restaurant. Queue. ‘’Is this the queue?’’ is now part of my daily vocabulary. The first time I went to the Breakfast Club (amazing place where they serve breakfast, what’s in a name, all day long and the food is so good!) I was very excited, hungry and ready for a good meal. Enthusiastically following google maps to the place to be, until I briefly look up and see a ten meter long queue. With, confirming what I was already afraid of, my friend who I was meeting right in there. All my Dutch instincts inside of me yelled to get out of here, to eat somewhere else where the food would probably good as well, but where we would be able to have a seat straight away. But then my other friend arrived as well and both of them were willing to wait, or queue as I should say. So there we went. Queueing for brunch. An hour and a half (!) later I was finally sitting inside. On one of those famous tables. Still in astonishment of what just happened. And then the food came… So. Good.
Three weeks later I was queueing again. Is this what they refer to as integrating into society?
But enough about things that I do not agree with, now the things I love. Like how everybody drinks so much tea here (let’s put the whole milk thing aside), all day. How it is okay to sit in a pub at 11:30 in the morning, or let’s say 11:30 in the afternoon. Having alcohol. Liquid lunch, like someone referred to it the other day. How pubs serve complete meals. And the Sunday Roasts. Marvelous!
How when it is your birthday people bake you a cake, instead of the other way around (like we do back at home). And why not?! Gives you that extra strong it’s-my-birthday-feeling right? And all the house parties. And how they are all BYOB. This makes it so much easier to throw a party. You buy a bottle of booze and you are ready for the night. Especially in London where everything is so expensive, this is the ideal way to spend your weekend. You get to meet new people, who you might otherwise not speak with in a club. Perfect!
The free coffee to-go from Waitrose, which helps me get through the days. And while we are in the supermarket category anyway: de discount stickers at the end of the day. Around 6-ish all fresh (bread)products or other products who expire that day are going on sale. And how. Croissants for 11p, a sandwich for 60p, a pizza for less than a pound. I am a big fan. Especially when I have to have ‘dinner’ at school again the microwave meals from Waitrose are most welcome.
What is really nice as well: the Lates nights in the museums. Almost all museums have these evenings. Where they open up once a month after closing times and have theme nights. With seminars, movies, workshops, games, DJs and music. The other day I was dancing in a silent disco at the Science Museum, in the space department underneath some space shuttles. How cool?! And the nights are for free! Also a great plus.
And to conclude, the way you pronounce ‘iron’. Where does the ‘R’ go?! I will simply not accept this. I cannot pronounce ‘iron’ as ‘ion’ or when I am ‘ironing’ I am saying ‘ioning’. No. Might be the way it is supposed to be. I will not accept. No.
That was it. A few things from me, written to you from my favourite corner of the couch, with a well-deserved (if I may say so) gin tonic on my free Sunday afternoon. I will try to write again soon. For now I will go back to relaxing and enjoying my good life here in London :)
Cheerio chaps!
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
