Revisiting Tourist London

(Photos: The first image was taken on my phone just before writing; the second was taken shortly after.)

It’s strange. (Though maybe I use that word too much – “strange” – especially as a word interchangeable with “weird” and “surreal”. In any case, it’s nothing ordinary as a matter of chance for my life up till now.) To explain: The reflection on this glossy screen of a laptop is not that of a bedroom or an office. The view behind me is of the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, the Thames, Scotland Yard, and the quintessential postcard sunset of London melting over the jagged peaks of some roof or another. There are street performers on the sidewalk behind the bench that I’m now seated on; directly behind me, there’s a “headless” man in a black suit with a skeletal umbrella, and more to my right there’s a street musician playing an electronic keyboard. (I’m not sure what she’s playing… I’m listening to my iPod.) Tourists are lining up to take their pictures. I’m right smack in the middle of Tourist London. The last time I was here I was with my parents and Claude & Kathy, taking pictures – at this same time of day, come to think. I’d captured a picture of a sunset just like this one, which later became one of the most-viewed of my London/Germany gallery on Buzznet. I sat on a bench then, too, but it was facing the other way. I’m facing the lawn at the moment.

By the way, I can’t believe I’m getting a wireless connection here… There are precisely 16 connections available, most of which, of course, are secured. But I managed to connect to one called “something wireless” with a very good connection (3/5 bars).

Truthfully, I’m killing time here. I’m not bothering to spend the extra £3 to make an extension on my rail ticket – since I bought it after the rush, I got it for cheaper, which puts conditions on the times I use it unless I spend the difference. I’ve got about 40 minutes till I need to be on the train.

[Note: I’ve just now tried to use the connection, and drat it all, it’s a pay-for connection. I’m trying a different one now. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t really matter. It’d be kinda nifty, though.]

But, I digress… (Sorry.)

What I suppose strikes me the most strange being here, typing on this bench, is the realization that I’m not really here as a tourist. Of course, I’ve only been here for little more than a week, but I’ve gotten a taste for the annoying, desperate feelings that go with looking for a job and a place to live in London. Today was no real gleam of hope. True, I’m not sitting on a bridge in tatters with an empty cup in my hands (I saw a few of those on the way here) – I’ve got funds, a place to stay, friends, and an exit plan, if necessary. (My apologies to anyone who’s ever felt that way, but I’m not exactly Victoria Beckham, either. I’ve got a right to be frustrated, right?)

I’ve started to look at some of the more smartly-dressed people on the Tube and at all the nice Georgian brownstones and felt a twinge of envy and resentment. How on earth did they get a job? How do I get a nice flat like that? Surely not on Gumtree! What am I missing??

Today, my day went as thus: Barely made the 10:17 bus from Wheathampstead, took the train to Farringdon, perused the listings at BUNAC for an hour or two (saw Nicole there for a bit), made some phone calls/texts, and then had some lunch at the British Library whilst utilizing their free wireless internet for as long as I could (at one point it just disappeared!) before taking the long Circle tube route to Embankment and realizing that it was too late to go to Carphone Warehouse and the bank as I’d planned. Then, I ended up here, mainly for lack of any other ideas.

How many of the people here are here to sightsee? I guess a show of cameras could answer that question easily. There are just a few couples scattered across the lawn, either holding onto each other or just chatting… I can’t tell much more from this angle, sitting like this with my back facing the Eye and everything else. I must look too comfortable to fit in, sitting like this with my nose in a laptop. When I was walking across the bridge from the Embankment station I pictured in my mind the scene of Bridget Jones walking across that very bridge, lost in her thoughts, as the picturesque views of London were lost to her. (God, now I really wish I’d found that DVD before leaving California… I searched EVERYWHERE!!!)

Now I’ve gotten to rambling, so it must be time for me to finish and leave. I’ll take in the views a bit and head back to Embankment so I can take the tube to Blackfriar, and then back to Wheathampstead. The remaining evening will probably result in a mix of comfort (mainly because of the food – hot dinner, tea, and biscuits… m’mm) and self-inflicted guilt-tripping, resulting in a mad flurry of Google-searching and emailing.

[Closing note: No joy on the wireless connection. But I didn’t try all that hard.]