No one told me coffee shops work differently in London. Here, you have the option of take-away (to go) or of staying and sitting in the shop. If you stay, they charge you a little extra and bring your coffee straight to your table (I still haven't figured out what I’m supposed to do with the plates after- do I leave it for them to clear? I take it up there? But where do I put them??).
Unfortunately, tired from over 24 hours awake and not enough food, I made the horrible dumb American mistake of sitting down. The waitress was gracious but made it very clear we were mistaken and needed to order properly next time.
I knew London would be different but I wasn’t prepared for the ways it has been different. I assumed that people would all be very nice (I don’t know why I just assumed that. This is what happens when you grow up in the south).
I assumed public transport would be horrible to navigate and that getting along with my housemates would be difficult. I assumed I’d easily hit it off with some local baristas like I can usually do at home. I assumed Hampstead (where our house is located) would be a quiet cozy corner of a big city. But, I never thought that coffee shops would be different.
After four days, I have found almost all of the things I was prepared for to be different. In some cases its good; public transportation is SUPER easy and google maps makes it pretty easy to get around.
In some cases, it’s a little more difficult. People are much more brusque and less friendly. Hampstead is not necessarily “cozy”... maybe cute? It is still very much a part of the city. Nature resides in small pockets between the brick and concrete, the streets smell different, restaurants are smaller, and people don’t meander: they’re city folks with places to be. What I thought would be easy, is not and what I thought I was unprepared for was a breeze.
That being said, it has only been four days, and I am still adapting. I have the luxury of living here for four months and that has allowed me to experience things more slowly and pick up on a myriad of details that I usually would miss in my rush to see EVERYTHING within the week.
Although this means I have to deal with all the discomfort and embarrassment that comes with adapting to something new, I will gain a much deeper and authentic experience.