Did I mention that I’m back in London for 2 weeks? I’ve been really busy since I got back, but I started writing this on Monday morning as I made my way to work:
This is the first time I’ve been back to England in a year. I landed less than 24 hours ago and already the contrasts with Brazil have been jumping out at me. Here’s how today started…
Duvet
Everyone in Britain sleeps under a duvet (sounds like DOO-vay). A duvet is a thick quilt, traditionally stuffed with goose or duck down, nowadays more commonly filled with cheaper artificial fibres. Outside the temperature is just a few degrees above freezing, so the single sheet that I used back in Brazil would be useless.
A duvet (AKA quilt). It keeps you cosy when it’s cold, but getting out of bed in the morning can be tough.
Morning Water Torture
Getting out from under the cosy duvet is really hard, but things get worse when you get to the shower. Of course the water comes out hot, but in older houses especially, the bathroom itself is often freezing! Back in Brazil I used love a long, cool, refreshing shower in the morning (and usually at least one more later in the day). Here in London it is like cold water torture…
Steam and Bobble hats
There’s no time for breakfast, so I make my way out of the house. My breath billows out in huge, steamy clouds in front of me and many of the buildings I pass are also venting thick jets of steam. There isn’t a cloud in a sky, just clear sunshine, but it’s still freezing! Girls walk past in bobble hats and ear muffs. People are using special scrapers to scratch the ice off their car windows. Why is everyone wearing black? I miss the bright, bold colours worn by cariocas!
How can it be this sunny yet this cold?
Pubs and Speed-walkers
There are pubs everywhere! I’m late, so I’m walking super-fast, but what’s this? People keep overtaking me! Back on the streets of Rio people stroll at an easy pace and I have to weave my way impatiently between them to get past. Here in London it looks like everyone else is late too.
Ah, pubs. I’ve missed these cosy drinking dens.
Tube Etiquette and the Deathly Silence
I reach the tube (metro station) and descend a huge escalator. This was the first underground train system in the world (celebrating its 150 year anniversary this year) and consequently they made a major mistake during the design phase – they built the tunnels way too deep. This makes it almost impossible to keep the trains cool in summer, but during winter the warm tunnels give welcome respite from the cold winds above. Despite its shortcomings, the London Underground system is huge and well maintained. I use Rio’s metro system daily – my only complaint is that I wish there was more of it!
As I approach the escalator, signs and announcements remind commuters to “Stand on the right, walk on the left”. I pity anyone who makes the mistake of standing still on the left side of the escalator – London rush-hour commuters are brusque and unforgiving! I squeeze my way onto the busy train and suddenly become aware of a deathly silence. The unwritten rule is: No talking or eye contact on the tube. This is deeply unnerving! I think back to Rio and the cheerful people on the bus who strike up a conversation or offer to hold your bag if you have to stand. Worlds apart!
These spoof signs started appearing on tube trains last year. This is a joke based on the unwritten rule that every Londoner knows. No eye contact, no talking.
Sandwich Heaven
As I get close to work, I stop in at a shop to pick up something for breakfast. There are so many varieties of sandwich! This is like sandwich heaven! For many Londoners this is lunch – just a sandwich, often eaten at their desk. For that reason the miserable sanduíche natural you see in lanchonetes in Rio wouldn’t cut it here. However, I have to ask myself who is the real winner – Londoners with their excellent sandwiches, or Cariocas who leave their office for an hour to sit down to eat a real meal with knife and fork? Give me rice, beans and farofa any day!
Sandwich heaven…
OK, that was my slightly ‘stream-of-consciousness’ account of my first day back in London. More to follow.
Hello, I'm Tom. I am originally from England, but now live in Rio.
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13 comments
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Ray
20/02/2013 at 6:29 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
HA, lol, Tom, come on!! You just made London sound miserable!!!!
I guess it’s not as fun to be a commuter in London as it is to be a tourist huh!!
I was never a commuter there, so I will have to trust your assessment!!
I tell you, I still enjoy your city a lot, and love it, I can’t get enough of it!!!!
Enjoy the rest of your time as much as you can….and try to keep warm.
Abracos
Ray
tomlemes
20/02/2013 at 7:29 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Oh dear! It wasn’t supposed to make it sound miserable here!
I’m having a great time! It’s very different to Rio, but I’m enjoying most of the differences 
It is quite cold here, but my first few days back have been lovely and sunny. Vive la différence!
Karin
20/02/2013 at 8:30 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
hahah i hate that, with the silence in the metro. it’s intimidating. i’m in copenhagen now and here there’s quite a good alternative: some parts of the train explicitly say: silence zone. win win!
hey, me and my sister are coming to london on march 14th. you won’t be there anymore, i suppose, right?
tomlemes
20/02/2013 at 8:32 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Ah yes, the Quiet Zone! We have them on our intercity trains too! Woe betide anyone who dares to make a sound in that carriage!
Aw, I’m going to miss you guys I’m afraid Karin. Babi mentioned that were going to be in town, but I head home to Rio on the 28th. Such a short visit!
Rachel
20/02/2013 at 11:12 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
I miss duvets! Of course I would melt and die in one down here… unless I put the air down to 17 degrees
tomlemes
20/02/2013 at 11:26 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Heh heh! I’m having to re-learn duvet temperature control techniques (if it gets too hot, stick a leg out!)
The Gritty Poet
20/02/2013 at 6:09 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Do you think it is possible that you have a bias towards Rio because it helps you to accept that it is your new home? And do you think it is also possible that this feeling is even stronger now since you comparing said city with your former home? A sort of subconscious encouragement so to speak?
Off topic: today I spotted an old Ford speeding down the road at around 140 km/h.
tomlemes
21/02/2013 at 9:46 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Hey Gritty – I think that’s entirely possible and probably a fairly natural reaction. Despite the slightly provocative title, this post wasn’t really meant to answer “Which city is best?”. But it’s impossible to resist making comparisons.
I’ve been having a brilliant time since I’ve been back, but I wonder how I’d feel if I was coming back to live in London permanently. I expect I would have very mixed feelings.
The Gritty Poet
21/02/2013 at 11:36 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
“Despite the slightly provocative title, this post wasn’t really meant to answer “Which city is best?”. But it’s impossible to resist making comparisons.”
I don’t think the post read at all like a competition; despite the title: I just got the impression that you are at a place I was once before. The funny thing is that at the time I never noticed myself rooting for my status quo until someone suggested it, and then it suddenly came to me (or “a moeda caiu” as they say in Brazil) and I concluded said person was right. What was, and I still find astounding, is how the whole thing was so blatant to everyone, but me.
Guy From England
20/02/2013 at 6:47 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
I liked this post! It was fun to read. I wonder how I’ll view the same experience, one day!
tomlemes
21/02/2013 at 9:50 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Thanks GFE! Has it been a long time since you’ve been back? I am OD’ing on salt and vinegar crisps and drinking real ale at every opportunity! It’s funny because I was never a real ale drinker before I left, but now that I’m back here it seems wasteful not to.
Guy From England
21/02/2013 at 2:30 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
I haven’t even left yet!
It’s two weeks until I move there (other half is Brazilian). And who knows how long until I come back again!
tomlemes
21/02/2013 at 2:34 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Exciting! Good luck with the move!