BES Journal #2

I am becoming more and more accustomed to the city as each day passes. What used to seem confusing and more importantly, intimidating, are now familiar to me, almost building a sense of home.

I have found it quite beneficial to have wondered as much as I have here for a few reasons. First, I am more confident that I can get back to Bloomsbury without issue. What I mean by that, is that I now know of a few landmarks which I can take to get me at least close to home. For example, Sunday I went to Hoxton to see if they were having their market and to stop at Poundland/Iceland. Once all of my shopping was done, I was waiting at the bus stop and couldn't remember if I get on the 242 or 243 bus to get back to Holburn. I guessed I needed the 242 (I was wrong). This was a slight problem, but one I didn't realize until I looked outside and saw Liverpool Street. I told myself that I needed to figure it out because I wasn't going to take a tube or another bus home. I started looking for clues as to where I was or where I was going. On the bus stops, it said Holburn, so I knew I was heading in the right direction and then it clicked- the bus terminates at Tottenham Court Road. Crisis adverted.

Building off of that, I did notice that the bus on Sunday (this bus did run through the heart of downtown London) was how many tourists were on the bus. They were very chatty and the people walking on the streets seemed to almost walk in front of a car at every light. It could have been multiplied based upon the fact I was sick, but I just felt like there was a difference presence in the types of people around.

Even after a night at ULU, I am still comfortable with the layout of the area. After Burns' Night, some friends and I wanted to stop and get some food, so we meandered over to Tottenham Court to find some food. Once we got our food, we noticed we were pretty far up, but I took lead and started trekking home. I thought we were going in the right direction, and I got confirmation by passing a building that I saw earlier in the week.
-Why this building stuck out to me was because I was walking up in that neighborhood when a Polish student asked me for directions to ULU. Luckily this was one of the few places I knew, so we both figured out how to get to ULU from the building.-
It was very comforting and relieving to know that after a few drinks, I can still navigate myself around Bloomsbury.

Finally, this week I want to set a task for myself. I go every weekend with Joey and Matt to watch some football matches in a pub. My task is to talk to a patron in the pub about football (obviously who are not Joey or Matt). I did it a little last week, but I struggle when I don't understand what they are saying (thanks to the combination of their accent and the noise in the pub).