An Insubstantial Blog

Yesterday, I arrived in London with two way too heavy bags and managed to make my way on the pub with public transportation.

Today, I sorted out paperwork, opened a bank account, found tax forms. I should've been more social at the meeting. I mean, I was social but then failed to get contact information. I met a guy who did the same pub placement program I did and it would have been nice to have that connection. He's working in a pub on Picadilly circus and is a midwesterner from Minnesota. Oh well...

I shouldn't be too depressed. The pub accommodations here are large. In fact, it's exactly what I wanted. Too small would have been constricting. My only complaint is that the area of Holborn is a business area which means everything shuts down around here at about 6. So no cheap eats but then again, I get free food at the pub. The free food is mainly left overs but I'm not sick of it yet.

Yesterday, on a search for a cell phone, I stumbled into Trafalgar Square.

I'm unsure about my job and meeting people. I work with mainly Australians. Is it just me or are they always so damn outgoing? I always feel kind of weird around them like I'm not being crazy or social or "hey I LOVE DRINKING" enough around them. Most, however, are quitting in the next few weeks to go places for Christmas. It's an odd time of the year to come as it's a big switch over. It doesn't feel like Christmas to me.

What I am completely sure about is the city. Everyone told me it was dark, rainy, dirty, expensive, and not a place they would ever want to live again. I told them Denmark was dark, rainy, dirty, expensive, and not a place I'd ever want to live again. So far, this holds true. The first few days in Denmark I was horribly homesick. Every simple task seemed so hard to do (like finding goddamn hangers). Everything here has been so easy. It's a bit dark, a little bit rainy and for a big city, not that dirty at all. The exchange rate is better but regardless, here I can afford to eat out a bit. At $10-15 a meal, it's reasonable. At Denmark's $20-30 for the same thing, it's not.

But food aside, I love the city. I love the architecture. The street I live on features high rise cubicle filled glass window buildings and 18th and 19th century pubs. They are smooshed in together without that terrible Paris effect (like the Pompidou but more glaringly seen on the outskirts of the city). Some of it is ugly but it's a gritty city kind of ugly and I'm ok with that.

Most of all, it's alive. Copenhagen always seemed so dead. As one girl put it, suburban. And it was a culture I felt totally alienated from. The obsession on fashion, weight. The often closed off personalities. Pickled herring. Some people fell in love with it, but not me. I almost went to London but chose Copenhagen instead. At the time, there were some good reasons. Also, what the hell did I know about Copenhagen?

Here I know I'll be ok if I don't meet people right away. I won't feel isolated in a completely dead part of a not too lively city. I can walk to the river, St. Paul's, the British Museum. I can still indulge in silly American things like Subway and the English language.

I should also mention the BUNAC program was very inviting. When I first enter Copenhagen is was disconcerting with lots of confusion and only going to school with Americans. With this program, I have places to meet other Americans but I don't have to be there all the time. They also offer super cheap trips. I plan on getting my birthday off and going to see Canterbury. I had planned on going myself and spending a bit longer there but the trips are so cheap. And honestly, I'm sick of traveling alone.

So, just to be lame and put it out there. I really wish I could meet someone. It would be very nice to have a boy to travel with. Not all the time, and not overly serious. It would be fun and nice for a change.