A List of Things I Find Odd About London

There are pigeons without any green on their necks (or anywhere else). In fact, there are many pigeons that have a great deal of white feathers. I wasn't sure they were pigeons at first.

The fine for taking public transport without a valid pass/ticket is twenty pounds. The fine for spitting your gum on the sidewalk is eighty pounds. Priorities much?

The street signs are large (about 2 feet by 1 foot) and posted on the sides of buildings. The signs that look like street signs in Canada are direction signs telling you which way to go to get certain places. For a while, before I found the street signs, I knew where I was going, but never where I was. It was confusing.

There are many places that seem to do two kinds of business: sell souvenirs and unlock cell phones. I have no idea why these two things go together so often. Also, I'm not entirely sure why networks lock cell phones to start with when it's so easy to unlock them, especially when it comes to pay as you go phones.

Speaking of phones, the cell phones here are much cooler than in North America. You'd think that the states, at least, would be gadget-crazed enough to sell more of these, but it's not the case.

Some people don't understand my accent. I called to register my phone with Orange, and the guy I was talking to had to have me spell out my post code using the "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc" alphabet. There are some people I don't understand, but that's largely because they omit half the syllables in what they're saying--I'm not entirely sure how someone who's fluent in English wouldn't be able to understand me.

All of the service vehicles and garbage trucks and the like are Mercedes Benz. I knew this before coming here, but there's still a little moment of cognitive dissonance every now and then when I see one.

Considering how much you hear about "Tandoori takeaway," I was surprised to find out that the chain called "Curry's" is an electronic store, much like Radio Shack or The Source. (They have really nice power adapters that are more compact than the ones I bought at home, in addition to not buzzing and being cheaper.)

People here love musicals. Like, cheesy musicals, like Andrew Lloyd Webber. If everybody who went to a musical more than three times per year changed one of those trips to the opera, I suspect the income of the opera would more than double.

I think that is all for now. I'll actually tell you what's been going on in my life in a couple of days, when there'll hopefully be something of substance to share. ^_^