Half time: Time to summarise

 

What have you thought about London? Did you had any prejudice? I did.
What I knew, or I thought to knew, was that in London nobody cares how you look. It’s a giant city(more people live in London than in Switzerland), there’re red busses everywhere, you have to be very polite otherwise the people would be upset. It would rain a lot(and if it doesn’t it’s foggy), and all the rest of it.

Let’s start to prove and disprove these jaundices.
When I arrived here, I didn’t really understand what I should think about the appearance of people. Some of them wore suits and very good looking clothes and others were really bad clothed. I won’t tell you more because some of the stuff was really disgusting. But all in all i think London people care less about how they look then people in Switzerland or at least people in Chur.
The city itself is much bigger then I excepted. By car it takes more than one hour to cross it. To get you a better picture of the size. The distance between Chur and Zürich is similar.

Something you CAN’T miss are the busses here in London. And they really are all red.  You may think they still look the same as in the older pictures. Like that:

Some of these are still used. But they mostly replaced the old ones with new busses. And some of them are nearly brand new and have a hybrid engine. And they look now like this:

 

What did you thought about the politeness of British people? I was disappointed how impolite some of the Londoners are. They seam very cold and not very interested in your problems, even if you nearly force them to help you. BUT some of them are really good-mannered and open-minded. For example if you ask for the way, they are really keen on helping you. But still some of the people are even worse then I was used to. I won’t tell you details but what they do is very disrespectful.

The thing with the rain isn’t that easy to answer. It rains less then in Switzerland but it’s mostly cloudy and the weather can change any minute. There was never a day which you haven’t seen any cloud all day. But all in all I don’t like the weather here. It’s very annoying to think about rain every minute. And sometimes it’s down poring. Yesterday for example I went out the house and I haven’t even reached the house next to me, but I felt like somebody threw me into a lake.

You see, London is different than you thought. Maybe it’s still not the same than other countries but it’s not what we think about it.

Liverpool Street & Tower Bridge

Liverpool Street is a  famous train station here in London. It’s very old and stuff, but that’s not the purpose of my post. We were at Liverpool Street to go bowling. It’s called All Star Brick Lane around Holborn.

It’s quite small but the staff is very friendly and it was great fun to play there. It’s more like a local bowling place instead of these huge ones in Switzerland. But we still have a lot to learn about bowling. At the end it was almost a tie and at the last game, since I didn’t knew that you have the possibility to play three games, I’ve played the 3rd game for my friend and unfortunately, for me, it was almost a strike.

We haven't just played there. As I was hungry the other ones where forced to come eating with me. Luckily there is a restaurant in this building. They serve traditional American food. Like burgers or wraps and stuff. But it was definitely worth it’s price. For 9 £ you could eat a enormous plate, after it you won’t touch any food.

 

After out bowling trip we actually wanted to go home. But as we saw the bus to London Bridge, we just decided to go there, and it wasn’t a wrong one. It was so beautiful to walk along the Thames and looking at the wonderful lights. We took amounts of photos, but I still can’t copy them on my computer because you see just pictures from the internet. But it’s still wonderful

That’s enough for today. hope you enjoyed reading my posts. See you next time.

Visit at Nando’s–Sorry for my long absence

This time I really have an excuse for not writing for almost four weeks. I had to move due the old flat was just to expensive. That's the short version of the story. But I had a lot of trouble in the new one so it took some time until I got familiar with my homestay

However, that’s what I did the last four weeks.

We discovered a marvellous chicken-steakhouse(it’s calling itself like this but actually they just sell chicken), it’s called Nando’s. I’ve made a few pictures, but I’m not able to put them online so I just show you pictures of other people.

I don’t know why, but here in London there are so many restaurants and take-aways which are selling chicken. But nowhere it is as good as at Nandos. The chicken is just made after you ordered it. Nothing artificial and nothing is frozen. With each meal you can choose two sides or one “Fino Side”. That means just something special, I’ve never tried it. And best of all. On every meal you order, you can choose the spice. If you want it rather mild or extremely hot. it’s just up to you. The sides are also awesome. I have tried the creamy mash and the chips yet. But I’m sure I won’t be disappointed by the rest. Even the stuff I usually don’t like I’d like to try there.

If you managed to eat your meal and you still have space in your stomach, you can get some deserts. And this is the icing on the cake. There are either bottomless frozen yoghurt, which means that you get a mug and you just can eat as much as you want, or you order a cake. I won’t tell you what they’re like but it is the best cake you’ve ever tried.

That’s the end of my short post, you’ll get more to read soon. At least tomorrow.

Living in “The Big Smoke”

First of all, sorry for not-writing anything last week. It was really busy. Because we have to search a new accommodation. We realized that we are paying too much. But the only thing we have not thought about was, that in London most of the contracts are made by a minimum of six months. That means, we would have to stay here for six months. That’s definitely not what we wanted and we can’t stay here so long anyway. We must go to school etc.

But I won’t bother you with my problems. I have made a new “experience”, i went to Oxford Street.

For those who don’t know what’s this street like, it is a really long shopping area, with very much sorts of stores especially clothes. The paradise for every woman. I went there with my friend and we went to Primark. It was the biggest clothes store I’ve ever seen. It was as big as one gym and it had two floors. And there where many many people. And it was even a weekday around three o’clock.

 

But we weren’t just at Primark. We were also at some other shops, like a super drug store, it’s a little bit like a pharmacy but it has some cosmetic stuff too. And, my friend said, everything is so cheap. It’s not comparable to Switzerland.

At the ending I went to Burger King, what else, and I had the most delicious burger I've ever had. A Bacon Double Cheeseburger. It was really the best burger that exists.

First View–Hampstead

Today I was in Hampstead for some reasons. More precisely I walked down Finchley Road. One of the reasons was to have a look at the O2 Centre. I excepted a Mall like Stratford Centre(which I mentioned a few days before). But when i entered the building I was very surprised. At my right was a “Nando’s” on my left was a furniture store and some frozen yoghurt stuff. I walked ahead on the same floor and soon I came to some moving stairs. Downstairs was only a Sainsbury so I walked back. I went to the second floor and there where just a cinema and some restaurants. I was a little bit disappointed. So I went outside. Then I continued to walk down the road.

But this day I almost did nothing. Yesterday we bought some Pizza’s. Actually there were three of them. I knew that Pizza’s in the UK are made different than Italian Pizzas, but i didn’t knew that they first make some bread and then put the cheese and tomato’s on it. Of Corse this description is carried to far. It is no bread. But it’s thick like half an inch. But now I have to eat two 15’’ Pizza’s and I can’t eat more than a half of it at once. So it’s calculable when I have eaten the last piece of it. I hope the pizza is good till then. 15’’(inch) is like a medium laptop screen by the way. I’m sure that I won’t eat Pizza for a long time until then.
I can’t write ahead because I have loads of homework to do. Until next time. Wish you a nice rest of the day.

First week in the megacity

Last Saturday I have arrived here in London. First I was very surprised. Because I’ve never been to a big city like this before. I couldn’t even imagine the size. Not even now. My daily journey takes about 1 hour from Stratford to Finchley Road(see the note below). But one after another. When we arrived here, we had an appointment with someone who shows us a couple of flats. The first he showed us was the dirtiest place I've ever seen. Everywhere hair and dust on ever part of the room. This wasn’t very comfortable. The second one was much better. But there is only one room in the house. So I have to share my room with the couple. This was not what I wanted. So I started to search for solutions to share two rooms without disturbing anyone. But there wasn’t much time to think because school started one day after we arrived in this flat.
The first time we went there we totally went the wrong way. I thought our school is opposite the King’s College. It wasn’t. So we went to south London instead of Northwest. When we recognized that we where half the way there and we had to change the underground etc. When we arrived at the station we had to walk about 30 minutes because we walked around the school not directly towards it. So we were nearly too late. At the second day I thought I knew where to go and which stop or station we have to go. Another mistake. Our journey contains first driving with the bus, get off at Stratford Station, taking the Overground to the station nearby our school and walk or take the bus to the school. I was sure about the way to Stratford Station because we went there twice before. No way. We missed the station and then we didn't even recognize that. Three passed stations I looked out of the window and I saw a store which i never saw before. So we had to walk back and that took us about half an hour. So it was already 9 o’clock. The school starts at 9.15. So we were late again.

Show a bigger map (Sorry that is just a part of my schoolway, click on it to see the whole way)

But the rest of the week was much less stressful. We’ve got used to the city and it’s size and we are now know the locations where we can buy what we need.
At school we have morning and afternoon lessons. In the morning our teacher is Suzanne. She is small, has curly grey-brown hair and a British accent(I wonder why). She is a funny person and a good teacher. In the afternoon lessons we have Mike. He is one of the best teacher I've ever had before. He is very, very funny and he know how to teach the students. He’s always interested in getting knowledge about other countries and cultures. And his lessons are that kind of lessons you need in the afternoon.
I think it’s enough said today. Next week I will be able to read more than last week, and you definitely will hear more from me.

Pre-Travel experience

The 9th July is a very special day. At least for me. I'm going to London for 3 months. But this won't be just holidays. No I will learn English as much as I can. But if I'm already there this is a good opportunity to explore another country at myself. And I will share this with you as much as I can. I will start with my gained experience with packing my luggage. Just read this story:
The maximum of weight i may take with me is 20 kg(about 40lbs). Although I'm not a woman it is very hard for me because i have to take even an airbed with me. The reason for this is that I am going with two friends in our apartment and there is only one double bed. And these two are a couple. So it's better for me not to sleep in the same room as they do. Back to my airbed. This bed is about 8kg(17lbs). And the rest of my luggage is over 15kg(33lbs). Counted together this would be heavier than it should be. I thought, no problem i will pay a little more for this couple of pounds. But not a chance. The price per 2 pounds are 20 British Pounds. Too much for me. So I had to find another solution. Maybe I could send it by mail, i thought. But how could I send something to myself when I don't even know in what part of the city I will live. When I realized that I phoned the hotline of the mail service in our country. I knew that it would be possible to send something here in Switzerland to a "Pick Post" location. Where I could pick up my packages and stuff. Maybe there is something similar in Great Britain. But...no. There is no service like "Pick Post". BUT it is possible to pick up the package at the post office itself. I just had to find a mail office near my home. Difficult with no address. Finally I choose the Royal Mail office at the Kings Cross Station. I thought if something is called "Kings Cross", then the service around there must be also royal. I hope so... I sent it yesterday and the young lady said that it will arrive next Monday. Let's hope the best.
You see that travelling with a big luggage is not only a problem of women.

So i wish you a good afternoon and hope to see you soon on my blog.

P.S. Here you can watch my luggage now. It had to be pressed very strong.

Blog re-opening

Hello my loyal follower

It was a long time. But maybe this blog will be contiuned soon. If your are just a little bit more patient.