Rantings of an Overseas Bobcat
By Jackie Zimmermann, Staff Writer
May 11, 2007 | 11:11 p.m.
Someone asked me the other day how quickly I would pack up my life and move to London. My response: in a heartbeat.
I am completely enthralled with this city. While the numerous artistic and cultural events keep the intellectual gears turning, there are so many beautiful parks and relaxing little restaurants to keep me from feeling overwhelmed.
Besides the intense fight home during rush hour traffic, sometimes I don’t even feel like I am in a major city. Unlike many urban areas in the U.S., old buildings are not torn down and replaced with steel monstrosities. Buildings here are renovated so that the original architecture is still around. This makes London seem less like a concrete jungle and more like a comfortable place to live.
I am finally starting to get used to cars driving on the opposite side of the road, kind of. I guess you can say I just look both ways a bunch of times to make sure one isn’t coming from somewhere unexpected, a lesson I learned after an unfortunate experience at an intersection without a crosswalk. No worries; I wasn’t hit, but there was honking and running involved.
Even with this added element of danger, I have managed to get most of my touristy trips out of the way. I took a turn on the London Eye, a 130-meter high wheel with glass compartments for viewing the city. It was slightly unnerving, but the view of London at sunset was worth it. I also went to the Tower of London to catch a glimpse of the crown jewels. Surprisingly, I still haven’t made it to Buckingham Palace yet, but I have been on the lookout for the princes… so far no luck.
Though I haven’t seen the newly single William and his adorable brother Harry, I will hopefully end this trip with at least two celebrity sightings. I saw the back of Helen Mirren at the National Theatre and will hopefully be catching a glimpse of Kate Moss modeling her new line of clothes in the windows of Topshop, a trendy store found here in the U.K. For someone who has always lived in a relatively small town, that’s not too bad.
Despite this incredibly important yet not necessarily academic workload of spotting celebrities, I am pleased with the amount of out-of-classroom experiences we are having on this program. Many of our assignments include going out to view performances and attending gallery openings. I know, I know, it doesn’t really sound like much work. But to be completely honest, learning and appreciating a different culture is a huge part of this trip. Instead of being cooped up in a classroom all day, we are actually getting first hand experiences.
Good, I have successfully rationalized away all feelings of academic inadequacy. Now on to the weather…
After having a record breaking hot and dry April, I am finally experiencing some true “London” weather. Random spurts of rain have caught me off guard a couple times, but that’s not even my biggest meteorological enemy. My arch nemesis is now the wind. Even though Chicago holds the title of “The Windy City,” I’m sure that London is only a few miles per hour behind. Rain is one thing, but fighting to keep your umbrella from turning inside out or from pulling you this way and that on the already small sidewalks makes the experience that much worse.
I mean honestly, how am I supposed to spot the princes when I am fighting with the elements?