The journey from Greenwich to oxford circus takes a while and if you have to stand up the entire time it's deathly.Though, finding a seat on the DLR isn't always that easy so when I finally discovered and conquered myself a seat, I felt like Columbus. It's a saturday afternoon and the underground is packed as usual. If our municipality already thinks that Antwerp is overpopulated they clearly haven't been to London yet. In comparison to London, Antwerp is an oasis of peace and tranquility. When I came out of the tube at Oxford circus I felt like Mufasa in the Lion King when he gets caught into the rush in the ravine. Trying not to get trampled we headed towards Trafalgar Square. It isn't that easy for a Belgian girl and a Scot to find their way around this massive city but thank god for smartphones with GPS functions! Despite the help of the smartphones we took a little detour but we didn't really care. It gave us the chance to look around. Striking to me were all different little bookshops you find. I couldn't help but think; I want those too in Antwerp! Arriving at Trafalgar Square we noticed that the place was packed with thousands of people. Apparantely the annual japan festival, called Japan Matsuri, was going. Trafalgar Square was covered in people, music and stalls where you could eat japanese food and participate in several japanese activities. After enjoying the japanese music we continued to Leicester Square.
One of the must sees at Leicester Square is M&M world, so that's what we did. The second I walked into the building my inner child came out everywhere I looked there were statues of the M&M characters, paintings, clothes, teddybears and off course lots and lots of M&M's in every colour of the rainbow to chose from. The place has a very disney like magic going on.
After that we walked back to the underground via picadilly circus, where I have seen the phantom of the opera earlier this week, and regent street. While I was walking down Regent street I felt like I dead and gone to fashion heaven, I walked by the Michael Kors shop, Karen Millen, Chanel really all the big fashion designer are there. Even the H&M store looked more glamourous than the one we have in Antwerp.
When I came home at the end off the day I had the feeling that I had shared ths experience with a lot of people but in reality I only had really shared it with my flatmate Ryan. Even though you are surrounded by thousands of people you walk the streets alone. In a way it gives you the feeling that you are not alone in the world but when you think about it you are. While I was looking around in awe of the beauty of the city I was in, the majority of the strangers around didn't even notice that beauty anymore. I realised then and there that beauty is transitory after a while it's just a city. And no matter how many people surround you, in the end it is just you.
money money money it's so funny in a rich man's world
Don't we all dream of being millionaires and billionaires! A lot of people say that money won't make you happy and they are right in a lot of ways but it does make life easier. Our society is obsessed with money, we live for profits, big numbers, sales and so on. This resulted in the fact that you can't get anything for free anymore, except for the air we breath and the sunrise in the morning.
When I was still at home the only things I had to pay for myself were my clothes and the drinks on a night out. It is now when I have to handle my own budget that I realize that I took a lot for granted back home. Untill now I never realised how expensive the basics in life are and the shops don't make it easy on you. Marketeers will make sure you definitely notice the chicken that will cost you six pounds but have to search for the chicken that will only cost you two pounds.
In modern societey we all are materialists and everyday we get confronted with things we really would like to have but cannot afford. Do we hate that feeling? Absolutely, it sucks! It seems pretty stupid though to desire things that are out of our reach but it's perfectly normal. The entire day we hear and see nothing but things that we don't have, take facebook for example, I have dozens of friends who write about doing things or having things I wish I had. Social media, advertising and television work as a constant reminder of what we don't have in life in comparison to others.
When I arrived on Monday the 17 of September I didn't meet any of my flatmates, it took me a day and a half to see someone in the kitchen. I didn't really mind because that day and a half gave me the opportunity to be a real tourist and explore my new campus and village. The first one I met was Ryan. He looked a bit dazzled when he suddenly saw me cooking in the kitchen and he thought I was french but it worked out eventually. He lives right across from me and he is from Scotland. I don't know about you guys but I secretly have a crush on Gerard Butler ever since P.S.: I love you came out and the main reason I have a crush on him is because of his super sexy scottish accent.
That night he asked me whether I wanted to come with him to this kitchen party and after that to whetherspoons. I immediately said yes. I had so much fun that night, I met so many people from different places in the UK. I mean there were girls and boys from Canterburry, Essex, Basildon,... The funny thing was that even though everyone came from different cities and even countries we all knew the game 'Never have I ever' (Ik heb nog nooit).
Since that first night I got to know people from Sweden, Finland, Spain, Germany, France, Brasil, you name a country and it will be represented at the University of Greenwich. There are almost 5,000 international student at the uni, pretty amazing isn't it? You know what's even more amazing, everyone gets along with each other, respects each other and is really hospitable. I mean I'm here for only two weeks now and I already got invited by Ryan's sister to have dinner at her home after seeing her once. 9 went wednesday and when I walked into their appartement She immediately gave me a hug and a kiss and showed me the entire flat because they just moved in. t really touched me because they really make you feel as if you are a part of something here.
When I got off the train at St. Pancrass station in London I didn't know where to go, so I decided to go with the flow. It was as if I had been dropped into an anthill where everyone knew what to do except for me. When I walked into the hall of the tube all I could see were men and women in black and blue suits walking around towards different directions. When the wirlpool of suits around me calmed down I went looking for the nearest ticket window to ask for directions. The lady behind the desk was really nice and she gave me a map on which she indicated which tubes I had to take. First line was the northern line to morden, get off at bank and then take the DLR to Lewisham and get off at cutty sark. It was like I had fallen into a rabbit hole like Alice not knowing where I was or where I was going. Thank God for me that in comparison to Alice I was able to simply follow the arrows on the wall. When I was sitting on the DLR towards cutty sark I was actually really proud of myself, everything had gone smoothly. Seeing that everyone else was listening to music I put mine on too and relaxed a little. When my stop came onto the screen I took off my headphones and when to one off the doors. I was almost there, yes! When suddenly a female voice announced that the escalators at cutty sark station were broken and I had to take the stairs. When I got off the DLR and got to the stairs I just stood there for five minutes desperately looking to the thousands of stairs. After that I said to myself; "Come on Astrid you can do that, one staircase at a time but you can do it!". I was in the middle of the second staircase when a man in a fluo vest came down and saw me struggling. He offered to carry my suitcase to the top. Now, that was the best welome present a stranger had ever given me!
