Just when you think you have seen it all

I have lived in London for four months and I am finally to the point where I don’t feel like I am on vacation anymore. With that comes a feeling of wanting to go home.

They say if you can make it past the first four or five months without bailing, you can make it all the way through.

It’s not that I don’t love London. The weather is amazing (don’t listen to what you hear), the parks are fantastic in the spring, you can’t beat the travel opportunities and the people are great. But, it’s not home. With that said I booked my flight for July 30th and will be in the good old US of A until August 5th.

I really wish that I could take the good in NY and mix it with the best parts of London. If I could do that, my life would be perfect. Where London falls short, NY does it right… and vise versa.

My perfect city would consist of the following:

- London parks and weather. The spring is amazing and it doesn’t get that cold in the winter
- London way of life and holidays. Work to live. Not live to work
- The location of London. Easy access to amazing destinations in Europe
- Nicer people – London
- Soccer - London
- The food in New York
- 24 hour subway – New York
- My family and friends – New York
- NFL – New York

A girl can dream.

The last several weeks have been pretty basic, but just when I thought I have seen everything weird London has to offer, I experience another wave of “are you kidding me?” Let me take you through some of this.

- The Bank: First of all, the bank doesn’t even open until 9:30 & what that really means is that they don’t actually get started until 10:00. Let’s also not forget that you have to make an appointment if you need to speak with someone. Oh and of course you can’t directly call a branch. (800 numbers only people). Putting all of that aside, I woke up early Saturday morning because I needed to make a transfer from my US account to my UK account. (God forbid I would be able to do such a simple thing online). Anyway, knowing that the bank closes at 12:00 (which really means 11:30), I sprung out of bed at 10:00 and went to the bank. I also made sure I checked the hours of operation online the night before. I get there and what do you know? Lights out! The door had a sign “Saturday 9am-12pm.” I then proceeded to walk a half of a mile to another HSBC. I get there and what do you know? Lights out! The door also had a sign “Saturday 9am-12pm.” I was so annoyed so I called my friend Bex to share my frustration. She says, (keep in mind, she is British) “Cindy, they probably didn’t open because it’s so nice out and wanted to take advantage of the sun.” Clearly no need to say anything more on this topic.

- The Sun: Speaking of nice weather, the Brits reaction to 75 & sunny is like our reaction to 110, humid, blast the AC, break out the sun dress and keep the dog inside situation. As soon as it hits 75, people start breaking away from work mid-day for frosty beverages and the clothes start flying off. It’s totally bizarre. It’s like they have never seen the sun before.

- Award Ceremonies: I heard a lot about UK industry awards ceremonies over the last several months. Fortunately I got out of the last two. Unfortunately I had no choice to attend the last one because my new boss thought I needed to be there. The Brits go wild over galas, award ceremonies and industry parties. We all like a good party from time to time, but these are over the top. It would just never fly in America. I went to an “awards dinner” titled “Target Awards-Excellence in Graduate Recruitment.” I show up and there is a red carpet, a camera crew, a celebrity host, the cast of Chicago ready to perform and 200 people in a room wearing their Sunday best. Did someone send out the Oscar’s invite by mistake? I was in the twilight all night and couldn’t believe how serious they were taking it. The CEO of my company was actually there for this and I walked right up to her and said these exact words “this shit would not fly in the States.” She laughed and agreed!

Weekly round up:

- I forgot to mention on my last blog that after four months, my boxes are no longer sitting on my floor. Mo put together my furniture when she was here. It took her about 25 minutes max. Thank you Mo!
- Thanks for all of my birthday wishes! It was so nice to hear from all of you as I was feeling a bit lonely on my birthday. A special thanks to my mom for sending me bubble bee tuna, among all of the other treats. Such a great surprise.
- Chelsea won the FA Cup! No soccer for 2 months. Chelsea is actually going on tour in the US during their time off.
- Wacko postponed his London appearances. I told you so. This news is killing the Brits.
- Next trip: Scotland for a weekend in July. $70 airline ticket and a free place to stay. Bex’s twin sister lives there.
- 60 days and I can see you!

Until the next one…