Day To Day Living As I See It: Getting To Work

I'm learning very quickly all of the little cultural differences that I need to be flexible to.  It's been a lot of fun being an observer of the British culture and trying to figure out how day to day life is done.

Being from Orange County, I have very specific ways of doing life.  I know that it takes me roughly 12 minutes to drive to work depending on how the lights are down Harbor.  If I need groceries on the way home, I may stop at Trader Joes to pick up a few things.  If we realized that we were low on paper towels or other essentials, I may drive to Target.  Yep, Target was across the street.  I barely got out of 2nd gear getting there.  Life is very routine and comfortable in Orange County.

London isn't far off from what I'm use to but my life, in the short week that I have been here, feels extremely uncomfortable because I can't pick up some corn salsa and black beans from Trader Joes on the way home.  In fact, I'm still learning the names of grocery stores... or "stores" as they commonly call them.

Getting to work has been the most interesting change to my daily routine, in my opinion.  I miss my civic and I miss racing down Harbor.  Walking to Starbucks 2 blocks away from the office was definitely a "long walk" for me.

Nonetheless, I have a lovely "stroll" into the office now.  I thought it would be interesting to document my process of getting into the office and grabbing a spot of tea.  Enjoy the lovely sequence of events from my front door in Manor Fields...

First stretch is down Putney Hill.  This is like Main Street in Putney (They call it High Street) and it leads to the bridge that crosses the Thames.  Everybody power walks and it's as though you're passing somebody in the fast lane when you come across somebody not high stepping it.

The glorious entrance to East Putney Station.

I was told this was a mellow morning at the station.  You'll see a theme of everybody on their phones or reading a magazine/book.  Some days, it will be hard getting onto the first approaching train.

Everybody loves an action shot of being on the tube.  Notice headphones.  Definitely fitting in.

I get off at Notting Hill Gate and switch from the District Line to the Central Line.

Definitely got a little crowded on the transition to the Central Line.

The journey to the middle of the earth to get the Central Line.  The tubes are all layered on top of each other so this one is pretty far down.

Notting Hill Gate. A few more minutes to get the next tube.

Mind the gap... or you will be hit by a train.

The next stop is Bond Street where I get out of the earth and pop up onto Oxford Street.

To finally get my first cup of tea as a UK citizen... or worker.  Door to door: 1 hour.

And this is the office.  Modest, but functional.  Paul to the left and Felipe to the right.  Both extremely excited to see me of course.