Warm Beer, Lousy Food, Bad Hotels
English sporting prowess never ceases to amaze. I was lucky enough to miss out on the collective hysteria of our European Cup campaign, though that Swiss ref did make a mistake. "Tiger" Tim Henman (who the hell thought up that moniker for him?) made it to the quarter finals and lost convincingly. Shame. Then our cricketing team who did so well in the last test series against the Kiwis, who are a good side and I don't care what anyone says, bitched-out in spectacular fashion against them and the Windies in the NatWest one-day series. All this as the Summer turned into end-of-the-world rain and storms.
It's a good job that I don't care much, apart from in the cricket as that is one sport that I enjoy. But it was nice to see that nothing ever really changes.
Coming back to the UK from abroad seemed normal at first though the amount of little things that I have noticed and took for granted before is large. I'm not talking of the obvious things like my own bed, non-lethal tap water, people that don't stare or say "Hello" to you, or even the temperate climate. I mean odd little things.
The amount of food that people eat is one thing. I always used to eat a lot. I like eating. But here in Canary Wharf where I am working again I go out at lunchtimes to the shopping centre across from my office and the amount of crap that people are eating for lunch is amazing. I guess I'm used to the sparse food that was available in Nepal of Rajasthan for example, but the odd thing about this is that I see women and men eating doughnuts, cakes, chocolate, and generally "bad" food all the time. This is not necessarily bad as they can eat what they like but they then spend upwards of £50 a month for gym membership just so they can burn it all off. Seems like a strange way to spend your wages. Don't get me wrong, I am not on some health-kick, it's just that my dietary habits have changed a little and I've got used to eating less. The scary thing though is that I now no longer crave chocolate. At the beginning of this year I would have these overwhelming urges to eat a chocolate bar. I would normally have one a day. I never went as far as hiding chocolate in the toilet cistern but it was close. Last week I had a small bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut and it was nice but I did not want another one immediately. Scary stuff. Now if I could only get myself off the scag I'd be fine.
The amount of coffee that is drunk here is phenomenal. I believe that people here drink more coffee than the Indians drink tea, and that's a shed-load. Coffee in excess is not nice. I did miss coffee and enjoyed my first good cup of coffee when I got back but I made the mistake of having three in the space of an hour. My sensitivity to caffeine has obviously gone up and I spent the rest of the afternoon fidgeting in my seat, laughing at nothing, and typing quickly. More powerful than cocaine I reckon.
Sitting in an office chair for most of the day is also bloody uncomfortable. I guess that after I left here my vertebrae straightened out and I started walking upright again. This is like the evolution of man that you see in textbooks and it was nice to be able to walk around without dragging my knuckles along the floor. I did not miss sitting down so I have taken to doing what every occupational therapist has been telling me to do and taking regular breaks and stretches. Gareth, my long suffering colleague and friend from work, doesn't seem to get distracted by the numerous grunts and cracking noises coming from my side of the desk. Actually he might just be too polite to say. I've not taken to doing lunges yet.
There is one last thing about London that I did not notice and that is how quiet it is. There is traffic noise, people talking, and things like that though here there is no shouting, no pestering, and definitely no sounding of car horns. London is a very quiet city especially when you take into account its size and the number of people who live here.
I left London in January with the express intention of never going back. Well, one good u-turn deserved another and now that I am back I realise what a nice place to live it is. I guess that living in Westminster now is a planet apart from Bethnal Green where I did live. I have certainly never missed that mainly because Tower Hamlets are sloppy and incapable of running anything unless it means they can skim cash off the top. With all this in mind I am going to make the most of my 5 months back here and try to be a sociable as possible which is most unlike me.
It's true what "they" say: travel really does broaden your mind. I'll still vote Tory though.
It's a good job that I don't care much, apart from in the cricket as that is one sport that I enjoy. But it was nice to see that nothing ever really changes.
Coming back to the UK from abroad seemed normal at first though the amount of little things that I have noticed and took for granted before is large. I'm not talking of the obvious things like my own bed, non-lethal tap water, people that don't stare or say "Hello" to you, or even the temperate climate. I mean odd little things.
The amount of food that people eat is one thing. I always used to eat a lot. I like eating. But here in Canary Wharf where I am working again I go out at lunchtimes to the shopping centre across from my office and the amount of crap that people are eating for lunch is amazing. I guess I'm used to the sparse food that was available in Nepal of Rajasthan for example, but the odd thing about this is that I see women and men eating doughnuts, cakes, chocolate, and generally "bad" food all the time. This is not necessarily bad as they can eat what they like but they then spend upwards of £50 a month for gym membership just so they can burn it all off. Seems like a strange way to spend your wages. Don't get me wrong, I am not on some health-kick, it's just that my dietary habits have changed a little and I've got used to eating less. The scary thing though is that I now no longer crave chocolate. At the beginning of this year I would have these overwhelming urges to eat a chocolate bar. I would normally have one a day. I never went as far as hiding chocolate in the toilet cistern but it was close. Last week I had a small bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut and it was nice but I did not want another one immediately. Scary stuff. Now if I could only get myself off the scag I'd be fine.
The amount of coffee that is drunk here is phenomenal. I believe that people here drink more coffee than the Indians drink tea, and that's a shed-load. Coffee in excess is not nice. I did miss coffee and enjoyed my first good cup of coffee when I got back but I made the mistake of having three in the space of an hour. My sensitivity to caffeine has obviously gone up and I spent the rest of the afternoon fidgeting in my seat, laughing at nothing, and typing quickly. More powerful than cocaine I reckon.
Sitting in an office chair for most of the day is also bloody uncomfortable. I guess that after I left here my vertebrae straightened out and I started walking upright again. This is like the evolution of man that you see in textbooks and it was nice to be able to walk around without dragging my knuckles along the floor. I did not miss sitting down so I have taken to doing what every occupational therapist has been telling me to do and taking regular breaks and stretches. Gareth, my long suffering colleague and friend from work, doesn't seem to get distracted by the numerous grunts and cracking noises coming from my side of the desk. Actually he might just be too polite to say. I've not taken to doing lunges yet.
There is one last thing about London that I did not notice and that is how quiet it is. There is traffic noise, people talking, and things like that though here there is no shouting, no pestering, and definitely no sounding of car horns. London is a very quiet city especially when you take into account its size and the number of people who live here.
I left London in January with the express intention of never going back. Well, one good u-turn deserved another and now that I am back I realise what a nice place to live it is. I guess that living in Westminster now is a planet apart from Bethnal Green where I did live. I have certainly never missed that mainly because Tower Hamlets are sloppy and incapable of running anything unless it means they can skim cash off the top. With all this in mind I am going to make the most of my 5 months back here and try to be a sociable as possible which is most unlike me.
It's true what "they" say: travel really does broaden your mind. I'll still vote Tory though.