01/21/2006
London- pros and cons
So I just spent three weeks in London and my friend Neha and I were discussing the pros and cons of Londons. Here is our list. Let me know if you think of something I've missed.
British accents are hot. - Pro
They think American accents are cute and the minute they find out you're an American they are super nice, especially if you are a girl. - Pro
All of their writing is better and more interesting to read. I mean the chick magazines, the editorials in the newspaper, even the bloody TV guide has well written interesting articles. Even the signs are interesting. - Pro
There were quite a few white British people we saw behaving crude, like the equivalent of white trash. Before you get offended, I don't mean all of them, just more than over in the States. We saw this one woman punch her daughter in the arm, the kids were a lot ruder to their parents in public, and just in general..I don't know, it was weird. Plus they're not as attractive as Americans in general (except for the desis, British desis are hot). - Con
There are a lot of desis every where. - Pro
There are A LOT of desis every where. - Con
The desis don't seem intergrated in to society as a whole. I mean, even in the States you have some people like that and it is annoying when desis overreach to where it seems like they are almost ashamed of being Indian, but COME ON! It's terrible over there. Also it's not like the States where until very recently you could only get a visa if you have a skill set that the States needed, like a doctor or engineer or something, and very few visas were done on a lottery system for Asia (even though the lottery system used for other parts of the world, but whatever, the inherent predjudice of the American visa system is a whole different discussion). Instead I think the Brits just gave visas to whoever wanted one. So lot of the desis over there seem to come from villages or Kenya and bring with them all the backwards village nonsense. Its highly annoying. - Con
They have Indo- Chinese food, the best Chinese food EVER! - Pro
The subway system rocks. - Pro
Everything is super expensive, even comparing London to NYC. - Con
They imitate a lot of American stuff. So I saw a bunch of people wearing Yankee hats and I was like, oh you guys like the Yankees and they were like, uh... We like New York city.... and then people were wearing Dodgers hats and all sorts of other stuff. And they seem to copy a lot of things off of rap videos, but they don't fully understand what they mean. It was weird. And so in the metro we were reading all the posters of the plays that were in town. The were: Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Mama Mia, and then like 2 other American plays. What happened to British theater? - Con
Mind the gap. - Pro
London looks beautiful at night. - Pro
London looks not so beautiful in the day, and the weather isn't so hot either. - Con
They have the smart car!! Plus they seem to have a wider array of car choices in general. And they have Peugots. -Pro
Being called a Paki. In all fairness, I was never called one but it seems every desi Brit you meet has run into some predjudice. Apparently the Brits aren't too fond of desis. - Con
Cheap flights to other countries. - Pro
Eastern Europe is even closer. - Con
Innit? - Pro, hilariously pro.
bAnAnAs - Pro
Next, Zara (it's better than the ones here), Monsoon, and the cafteria in Harrod's - Pro
Double decker buses. - Pro
A-levels. Their education system in general seems really stressful. Plus you can get a bachelor's in medicine and law. I don't want a guy with a BS cutting me open or my trial depending on some kid! - Con
British TV - Con
Metro closes at midnight and cabs are ridiculously priced, plus in bars and all there are these signs that say "Every month 10 girls are raped by taking unmarked cabs". Scary! - Con

A lot more fights break out in bars/pubs. - Con
They fight with their fists and maybe a knife, but no guns. -Pro
Tony Blair. - Pro
So that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
All in all, London was a lot of fun. And I came expecting it to suck, mainly because this is how our discussion for a family vacation went:
My parents: Let's take a family vacation.
My sister Pallu: Ooo how about Paris?
Me: How about Dubai?
My parents: We just went on that cruise and were in Paris.
Pallu: How about Finland?
Me: NO! Guys, we can do Western Europe when we're old! Let's save western Europe for when our immune systems can't take the rest of the world!
Pallu: How about London?
Me: How about Malaysia?
My parents: Ooo we have some family and friends in London we could visit too!
Pallu: Oh and I have some friends in London too!
Me: How about Argentina?
My parents: But won't London be too cold right now?
Me: Yes! London is too cold. How about a nice African safari. We have relatives in South Africa too!
Pallu: But it's cold here. We'll survive. Let's do London.
Me: Or how about Nepal?
My parents: Yeah, London sounds good.
Me: How about the Maldives? They are sinking every year. They won't even exsist in another 50 years.
My parents: So let's get online and start looking for airfare.
Me: How about China? A nice cruise down the Yangtze River? Or Bhutan! Or Bangkok. Hong Kong! Guys? Hey, where did everyone go...?
So in the end we went to London, and I had a blast. In fact, I LOVED it and am now much more willing to travel to Western Europe. Maybe Spain would be nice. Or Bulgaria.
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