London Calling...

You know you live in London when...

Made it back last night after spending nearly 2 hours in the immigration line at Heathrow. After an 11-hour flight that was not the most pleasant introduction back into London. I then promptly fell asleep on the crowded tube ride home. Nice to sleep in my own bed again - although I woke up at 2:30 this morning. I have returned to another London heat wave and while I finally got out of bed at 5:00am, to find it is still nearly 90-degrees in the flat despite leaving fans on and windows open all night. I wonder if I can call in 'hot' to work?

California was great - so nice and a bit surreal to be back, because part of me felt like I had never left! Pictures and highlights to come shortly. It didn't feel weird to be back when I returned last night, so I guess that is a good sign I am settling in a bit. Below is a nice 'you know you live in London when...' list that really rings true. I have added one of my own to the end.

1 . You say "the City" and expect everyone to know which one.
2. You have never been to The Tower of London or Madame Tussauds but love Brighton
3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Shepherds Bush to Elephant & Castle at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Dorset on a map.
4. Hookers and the homeless are invisible.
5. You step over people who collapse on the Tube.
6. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multilingual.
7. You've considered stabbing someone.
8. Your door has more than three locks.
9. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
10. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a garden.
11. You consider Essex the "countryside".
12. You think Hyde Park is "nature".
13. You're paying £1,200 a month for a studio the size of a walk-in wardrobe and you think it's a "bargain".
14. Shopping in suburban supermarkets and shopping malls gives you a severe attack of agoraphobia.
15. You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the UK pay in rent.
16. You pay £3 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28p.
17. You actually take fashion seriously.
18. You have 27 different take-away menus next to your telephone.
19. The UK west of Heathrow is still theoretical to you.
20. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
21. Your idea of personal space is no one actually physically standing on you.
22. £50 worth of groceries fit in one plastic bag.
23. You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.
24. You don't hear sirens anymore.
25. You've mentally blocked out all thoughts of the city's air/water quality and what it's doing to your insides.
26. You live in a building with a larger population than most towns.
27. Your cleaner is Portuguese, your grocer is Somali, your butcher is Halal, your deli man is Israeli, your landlord is Italian, your laundry guy is Philippino, your bartender is Australian, your favourite diner owner is Greek, the watch seller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was African, your newsagent is Indian and your local English chippie owner is Turkish.
28. You wouldn't want to live anywhere else until you get married.
29. You roll your eyes and say 'tsk' at the news that someone has thrown themselves under a tube train.
30. Your day is ruined if you don't get a copy of Metro on the way to work.
31. You see your old car driving through the streets of London and can't believe how massive it looks (note that in the US it is considered a 'compact sedan'!)

posted by Eleanor @ 4:55 am