I’m a Londoner

It’s so nice to have family visiting! My in-laws are here from South Africa. It was lovely showing them our little haunts. I found, however, that the visit did expose me for the pushy little Londoner I have become. It is shameful to admit, but I have been known to get on the tube before letting the other passengers off, and tutting to myself when the map wielding tourists are dawdling in front of me, breaking my speed walking momentum. I wasn’t always like this. I was utterly intimidated during my first weekend in London. The tube map looked like an undecipherable maze I was bound to get lost on; everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going and if you got in their way they simply pushed you aside; I had never used public transport before in my life and wondered how I would ever figure out exactly which bus to get on. I remember sitting on the bus on that first weekend and watching a woman run toward the stop so she could catch her bus. Horrified, I turned to my husband and remarked, “I will NEVER run to catch a bus, how embarrassing!” Oh how naïve of me!

I am a fast learner. When it’s cold and you’ve had to wait at the bus stop for over 20 minutes (because the busses are rarely on time in London), simply because you missed your bus; you will be very sure to run to catch it if you see it coming before you’ve reached the stop. You don’t care what you’re carrying; you don’t care that the boots you are wearing have heels; you don’t care that you have to hitch up your knee length jacket so you can get a good stride. When you see bus 164 turning the corner, you run as if the spirit of Usain Bolt has come upon you, regardless of who’s looking.

I was also unaware of the amount of walking I was to do in my new country of residence. Back home in S.A we had friends from England who had invited us one night to go out for dinner. We met at their house and they revealed that the restaurant was only 10 minutes away and suggested we walk.

Walk?! Walk? Why on earth would we walk when we could simply get in the car? Plus it was dark outside; who knew what dangers lay behind the blackened bushes. I looked at my husband beseechingly. Surely he would agree with me.

“Sure,” he said to the group, “let’s walk!” The traitor.

It must be known that I now walk, a lot. Why pay £1.30 to go a couple of blocks when you can take a stroll. After work we all make our way to the South Kensington station. When I first got here I could hardly keep up, almost out of breath at our destination. But now I’m just as speedy as the rest. Being a Londoner certainly does change you!

These posters can be seen in the tube stations. They're a good chuckle to read.