p.s. Lillywhites

Lillywhites is this incredible sports shop that sells England footie jerseys for cheap and Diadora tennies for only £8.99! If the word 'exercise' was in my dictionary, I'd go there for all my athletic wear.

Lillywhites

I was sat in the men's shoe section today on the ground floor of Lillywhites waiting to meet a friend when I heard a chirpy little voice with a Scottish accent say hello. I wasn't sure where the voice had come from but I turned and looked up to find nobody standing there. I then looked down and realised the friendly greeting had come from a little girl sitting next to me. Rebecca, aged 7, apparently had been to America only two days ago. I later found out from her older sister that they had gone to Euro Disney, not Disneyland. It's funny that I spoke to another 7 year old not too long ago that thought Paris was in America, as well.

I don't know what it is about kids, but for the most part I find them to be so endearing. Take for example this Rebecca. She still has a very limited concept of time, place, age, etc. She told me her mum was 20, surely, because her dad was 23. You might read that and think, wow, her mum got pregnant when she was 13?! Well, not really, as Rebecca also told me that her eldest brother was 15. So actually, her mum had only recently turned 42 or something. When I told her how old I was, she looked shocked and said, "But you look so young! You look like you're 90...no, I mean 19!!!"

I found the whole situation to be quite funny. Because two seconds later she asked if I had kids, to be shot down by her sister,"Rebecca! You've just met this lady and you're being so cheeky!Say you're sorree. And don't you dare ask if she's got a boyfriend, cause that's personal!" Sure enough, Rebecca turned to me and giggled, "I'm sorree! So, do you have a boyfriend?" My sides were starting to ache from all the laughter.

It's days like this that fill me with a warm glow--nevermind that the sun sets at 4pm and it's soon to be -10 degrees outside, because I've just spoken to the sweetest little girl and laughed until my cheeks hurt.

Fortnight In London

Today marks two weeks since I set foot on British soil. To my surprise, the weather has been pretty decent the entire time I've been here, and I think the nice weather has helped me maintain good spirits, as well as lessen the anxiety of settling into a new place. Having said that, everything that you may have heard about London weather is true. It's terribly fickle and changes every 20 minutes, so I'm always either too hot or too cold.

I'm yet to do some proper sightseeing and am thinking about hopping on one of those double decker tour buses. Hah! I'm sure you can picture me clutching my granny handbag, ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the sights.

One thing that I've found a bit odd (and am a bit disappointed by) is that I haven't been hit with any real sense of awe. I don't feel like I'm in England. I'm constantly hearing tidbits of French, Italian, Japanese, etc. But maybe I'm feeling all this because I'm not really in England--London is *such* an international city that it just feels like I'm in just that. Obviously there are these great sights that make the city unique, so I guess I am just going to have to wait and see. Could this be culture shock in disguise? Surely, there must be *something* here that'll make my eyes bulge with wonder!