Random Observations of London (Part 1 of likely many)

[Warning--long post ahead. If you want the Cliffs Notes version of my Random Observations, here they are:
--London fashion for women is solely centered on leggings and tall boots.
--Tesco is a delightful grocery that has food and tights (i.e. lightweight leggings).
--I am obsessed with chicken curry.
--You too can be a volunteer constable.
--I don't know what dim sum is.

Ok, so here's the real post now]:

I'll admit from the outset I am almost delirious so if this seems like an incoherent ramble, well, it probably is. Feel free to skip this post if you like, I won't be offended, I promise.

We are almost done with the official Week One of classes and house life, etc. Overall, I would say all is going well. Other than a few lockouts and a student who had a hometown friend tragically die in a car accident on Tuesday (poor John!), it has been a pretty good first week. We are slowly getting to know each other better and get into the 'rhythm' of the house. There are lots of rules and various procedures here that at times can be viewed as kind of random (until you hear the story about why the rule became a rule in the first place. Case in point: no food or drink is allowed in the Common Room (i.e. living room) because someone spilled some stuff one time and totally ruined the TV). That kind of thing. We have also learned that Sylvia, our house manager/cook, likes us to officially set the table at dinner (many of us, including me, were scratching our heads for a bit on remembering how to do this, if we were even taught at all. Unrefined Americans). Students have been pretty good about understanding why we can't use the huge oven/stove here--it has to be lit a few times with a few different sizes of matches, etc. and if anyone knows my history of kitchen incidents, you know that I am not going anywhere near that thing. Besides, yesterday at the Museum of London we learned that The Great Fire of 1666 (the fire that basically took out most of London) was started by a baker (though of course, other people/things were blamed for the fire in the end, including Catholics and the many sinners of the city). But the baker story works well as a cautionary tale. Now when I leave the students here on their own I simply say--"Don't be like the Baker and cause The Great Fire of 2010, please"). So far, so good on that front.

I'll go into some more about what we have done as classes and whatnot another day. I have random thoughts on the brain so what better time for me to spew them out, right? I really find one of the most enjoyable aspects of travel (and, in this case, living) in a foreign place are all the random observations made along the way, about anything and everything. I love pondering the issue of "Why do they do things this way?" along with its counterpart, "Why don't WE do things this way?" Good times. I am sure there are many more riffs to come, in lots of categories, but here's the inaugural installment of Random Observations:

1. Fashion: I can't get enough of people watching on the streets and on the Tube, constantly observing how women here dress (I watch men too, and how the men dress here...well that's a longer post for another day). I was in Paris this summer and was in awe, once again, at how amazingly chic Parisians (of all genders) seem to look, and how they walk everywhere with the craziest, most uncomfortable looking shoes ever. Now, while I have seen this at times in London, I would say it is not to the extreme in the same way. Surprisingly, female Londoners seem to have embraced the idea of relatively comfortable footwear. I mean, sure, there are some heels here and there for the obviously going-out crowd, but there is seriously a uniform for London women these days, and fortunately, it mostly consists of flat or wedge boots. Ok, so the uniform is:
A coat (therefore almost always blocking my observations about shirts/tops).
A long tunic or short dress/skirt
Leggings. Always. Always always black. I don't think I've seen a pair of jeans since Christmas in Iowa at this point.
Tall boots, sometimes with heels, often not. Sometimes Ugg boots. (I thought those were out of style though...or maybe I have lived in a warm climate too long to know one way or another).

I am not kidding when I say that approximately 2/3rds of the women (at least women in the younger half of their lives) are wearing some version of the above outfit. The good news is that it is not impossible for me to semi-fit in, at least in terms of my clothes (because, there's no way in hell I'm wearing heels to walk around London), and as long as you are in black, you're good to go. I mean, today I had a breakthrough, as a British woman approached ME asked where the grocery store was. Like I was a local. (Unfortunately, I actually didn't know what the heck store she was looking for, so it didn't take long to sound like a tourist again).

Anywho, at the end of the day, I must say I thought I would find some more intriguing fashion variety here. Maybe I need to get to different parts of town. I mean, where's the punk and all that subculture stuff they are always talking about around here, huh? I am also sort of underwhelmed by the style I have seen on most people (and no, I am NOT holding myself up as the gold standard here...my clothes are simply, well, super stale overall, but that's cuz I am a relatively boring dresser from the Midwest) but as Carrie and I talked about, either London is adopting a more relaxed style or Americans are getting more stylish, since the whole look here is apparently going on in America too--(well, according to Carrie in Minneapolis. Leggings and boots do not apply in Florida, ever. So, well, hmmm.

(Ok, to the men and/or uninterested who have happened to read this far, I'm moving on to a new topic now that that riff/report is complete. You can wake up now).

2. Tesco: Tesco is a main grocery etc. chain here. And it serves as a lovely segue from fashion into food. See tonight I was wearing a skirt, some tights and my tall boots (see above), and already ripped my tights. Whatever. But I stopped by Tesco to get a few things and I kid you not, the place is basically a grocery store only, but low and behold, there is this total section devoted to tights. In several colors and thicknesses (is that a word?). Like, just stuck in an aisle next to the cereal or something. How random is that? I mean, at the big grocery stores in the USA (and of course, in a place like Target/Super Walmart, etc.) of course there are non-food items, but tights are not the centerpieces there, they are thrown in with all kinds of other clothes and accessories, right? Yeah, not at Tesco. It's tights galore, then food. It's like the Tesco gods were reading my mind and voila! I was able to pick up sour cream, cheese, and tights in the same trip. Someone's looking out for me.

3. Food-related: This will clearly be a theme of these posts I think, because my project of exploring London's restaurants/foods is an ongoing, open ended one. I mean, London is not France, but man, I'm finding some pretty good eats here, and random things about the food. First off, I am basically eating some variety of chicken curry almost everyday--in stands, sandwiches, in the ready meals, etc. I love it and cannot stop eating it, at least for the moment. I have had amazing Indian lunch already and the rest of the restaurant food I've had is OK, but not necessarily great. I'm saving hitting the super-good fish 'n chips place for when my visitors come to town. Anyway, one thing I LOVE about London grocery stores is that they are chock full of ready meals (as they call them). Basically, think like a Lean Cuisine that is not frozen, or something from a grocery deli type deal. It's amazing, because not only are they pretty cheap, but also pretty good considering you just warm them up. And PERFECT for our situation at the house (which is microwave only for food we cook ourselves) but especially for me, the non-cook. I love this stuff and it makes me so appreciative of the London grocery stores. I don't feel so alone now, because at least it seems as if everyone in London is eating like this--I'm convinced no one really cooks here. It's just a warm-it-up culture. Nice.

4a. Annoying things on the Tube: I think I finally understand the idea of 'hooligans'. There were some drunk ones on the Tube tonight that were about 30 seconds away from me freaking out on them, they were so annoying, loud, and just acting like they were five, hitting each other and generally acting stupid. One almost pushed the other onto the train track. Way to go. I guess it would have made my Friday night a little more exciting.

4b. Weird things on the Tube: So I keep seeing this poster all over the Tube that says something like "Sign up today to volunteer for the police force." Like, apparently you can be a 'volunteer constable' around here if you commit to 25 hours a month. Seriously? First off, 25 hours a month, in any volunteer position, is admirable but hardcore (and not realistic for most people, unless you're unemployed I suppose). Second, the more important issue, is why would anyone 'volunteer' (I assume they don't get paid) to be a police officer? It's like, "Hey, would you mind signing up to help us, to deal with crazy people and people with weapons that may hurt or kill you--for 25 hrs a month? That would be great. Thanks!" And come on, if I'm in a position where I need to call on a policeman, I'd a prefer a professional, instead of Joe-Schmoe-I-am-volunteering-to-be-a-constable-so-I-can-be-on-a-powertrip. Wouldn't you?

Ok, my apologies for those that have hung in with me this long, I realize I'm halfway to writing War and Peace here, and I've only done like 4 observations (oh, wait, make that 5 since #4 was the two-parter). I guess I am known to be a bit windy. Anyway, I have loads of these things on the brain so I'm sure Random Observations will appear again shortly. And hopefully in a shorter form.

I am super slow on pics and I SWEAR my goal this weekend is to get some pics up of the house so you can see were I/we are living and the cuteness of it all (my other goal this weekend: stay awake for at least the first half of the Superbowl). But I need to clean up my bedroom first, as well as look up exactly what dim sum is all about, since I'm going for dim sum tomorrow in Chinatown (hey, I grew up in Iowa people, we are a little slow on these things...like dim sum). Hopefully I can deal with a meal that does not revolve around chicken curry....