Clearing up some confusion

I leave London in two weeks. This sucks, dude. Even though I am really, and I mean REALLY excited to move to New York, I am really sad to leave London. And also to leave Britain's NHS which is, let me tell you, pretty damn awesome. I don't necessarily want to spark yet ANOTHER healthcare debate, because that's what my Facebook status is for, apparently. But I have to tell you, it is just a little bit odd that I have had wonderful health coverage for absolutely free here in Britain (I guess I do pay VAT, but it's only 5% more than the sales tax in LA) and now I have to buy stupidly expensive health insurance when I move back to my native land.

One of the worst parts of this whole debate has been the scare-mongering that has occurred wherein people who have never ever lived abroad invoke Canada or Britain's health care system and are like, "OMG IN BRITAIN EVERYONE DIES BEFORE THEY ARE 40 BECAUSE GORDON BROWN KILLS THEM ALL WITH HIS DEATH GAVEL TO SAVE ON HEALTH CARE COSTS!!!"

It's irritating to me as an American, and it's even more irritating to Brits, who ... okay. Here's the thing about Brits, and I don't claim to be an expert, but after living here for a year, I have learned a little about the people.

They aren't a very patriotic people. Not like Americans. Once when I told a group of Brits about the Pledge of Allegiance they kind of freaked out about how all Americans are obviously brainwashed. Brits don't natter on about how they're proud to be British. There isn't a Union Jack flying from every corner. They aren't obsessed with being number one. In fact, the Brits are charmingly self-deprecating about how they lost the empire.

Brits save their patriotism for football and tennis when Andy Murray is winning. (When he is losing, Murray mysteriously goes from being "British" to "that Scot.") Outside of sport, the Brits are pretty mild-mannered.

Until you attack the NHS.

Let me try and explain this in American terms. Britain doesn't have a constitution. But the NHS does. To attack the NHS, is in a sense, to attack Britain at its core. It's like attacking the Bill of Rights. And the NHS continues to be one of the most popular institutions in Britain. One of the studies I read for my exams rated its popularity at 80%.

I can't think of anything with an 80% popularity rate in the United States.

Institutions are not so beloved if they are crap. The NHS has its faults, no doubt, but many of the charges being levied against the NHS in America are beyond ludicrous. Which makes the Brits angry, which makes them attack us, and it becomes a vicious trans-Atlantic cycle that is REALLY, REALLY annoying for those of us Americans living in the UK who might want to do something that doesn't involve arguing about healthcare in the pub and whether or not the Pledge of Allegiance has turned Americans into zombies.

So, please. I implore everyone. Stop the madness. Nye Bevan did not kill Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking, is, by the way, BRITISH, not American. The Queen does not preside over a death panel. Even waiting times have been greatly reduced.

I don't think, ultimately, the NHS is the right system for America for various reasons. But just because it's not the right system for the United States doesn't mean we need to hurl unnecessarily invectives at a system that has done a damn good job in Britain for the past 50 years.

God Bless the Queen, the NHS, and the inventor of Pimms. I'm gonna miss you all.

Living Car Free Should Not Be Challenging

So, the other day Beth, who all of a sudden is going challengicious on everyone's ass, challenged people to live a week without a car and then blog about it.

Now I decided to rise to her challenge because I am hard-core like that.

Heh.

But it is true that I have been car-free since September. And guys, I have to tell you, it's so freaking awesome.

But here's what's really awesome about being car free in London. It's not a challenge. Not even a small one. Not even a teensy tiny challenge.

Because the truth is the fastest way for me to get to school is ... to walk. There's no other faster way. Not kidding. I've tried the bus, I've tried the tube. I haven't tried biking, but given how long it would take me to park my bike, walking still comes out ahead. Walking is simply the most efficient method for me to commute. It's fantastic. I get some fresh air, I get some exercise, and it's about as carbon light as you can get!

Of course, any time I need to get anywhere further away, I rely on the amazing system of public transit that London offers. The tube is beloved by many, and it is a wonderful system (except for the frickin Victoria line. Don't ask me what's up with that line.) But, personally, if I have the time, I prefer to sit atop a double-decker bus and watch the city go by.

So, for me, not driving a car is not much of a sacrifice. In fact, driving a car, that would be the sacrifice, given the insurance, parking, and congestion fees that I'd have to pay. (If you want to drive in Central London during work hours Monday through Friday, you have to pay what's called a congestion charge.) Not to mention the traffic. If I had to drive around in Central London every day, I'd probably go mad. (Well, to be fair, I'd probably die before I went mad because I'd end up driving on the wrong side of the road. But, you know what I mean.)

I think it's great that Beth is challenging everyone to go a week without driving. But from an urban policy perspective, my opinion is, if you live in a reasonably dense area, and it's a sacrifice to take public transit, then that means the public transit system isn't designed correctly and it needs to be fixed. Personally, after living in LA, and attempting to commute via public transit, and then moving to London, I do not think that taking public transit should be challenge worthy.

Fixing public transit doesn't have to be expensive either. There are plenty of examples, like Curitiba, of very inexpensive but well designed public transit systems. What is required is innovative urban planners and some political will. Los Angeles has one line (the Orange Line for the Angelenos in the hizzouse) through the Valley that mimics the Curitiba plan. But, frankly, in my opinion, LA could stand to have a few more rapid transit bus lines in the city. I'd probably add rapid transit bus to Sunset, Wilshire, La Cienega, Sepulveda, and Vermont. You could do that at a fraction of the cost of the planned subway to the West side, and if you had rapid bus transit on those five streets, you could get from Los Feliz to Santa Monica in half an hour. Villaraigosa, do you hear me?!

Anyway, forgive me for rambling on about rapid transit buses like a rapid transit bus maniac, but in the end, here's my basic take away point. Colin once wrote a very nice post about how living sustainably should be like falling off a log. That's how I feel about public transit. Taking public transit, should be like falling off a log.

To paraphrase former Bogota mayor, Enrique Peñalosa, we can design cities to support people not cars.

All it takes is our will to change.

P.S. If you are car-free in general, or willing to go car-free for a week, please do join in on Beth's challenge, and blog about your experiences.

Rude Americans?

I never used to buy into the idea that American travelers were rude and obnoxious until I moved to another country for an extended period of time.

And then I realized something.

It's not that Americans are bad people, per se. But we are an "in your face" people. We are loud, we are obnoxious, and by global standards, we are rude.

It's just who we are as a people. We are louder and ruder than most. Sure, individual Americans can be quiet and/or polite (though not this individual American), but as a society, we are bred to be demanding and loud. Whereas the Brits are just ridiculously polite, as a people.

The great thing about living abroad, is that you are really able to learn about another culture in a way that you cannot begin to process in a couple of weeks.

And one of the things that I have learnt, living in Britain, is that life is pretty nice when everyone assumes a base level of politeness.

People actually SMILE at each other on the street here. In LONDON. (In the North, they carry your suitcase up a flight of stairs, and call you 'love.') And if you dawdle on the street, you're not going to get people angrily pushing past you the way you would in New York. If two people get to a seat at a crowded bar at the same time, they will both deferentially apologize and then you'll have two minutes of awkwardness as each insists the other take the chair.

Now maybe on the inside, the Brits are angry, angry people, and are just waiting to explode ... but I don't really think so. Instead, I find that my blood pressure rarely rises as high from every day aggravations.

And it makes me realize, that simple things like smiling, can really make a difference. It seems silly, doesn't it, to think that we can change the world, one smile at a time, but ... it couldn't hurt, could it?

I Need an English To English Dictionary

In general:

I've noticed that Brits are very fond of the word "loads," as in, "I have loads of reading to do." I've never heard an American use that exact phrase per se, but we do say, "I have s**t loads of reading to do." Is that because we are more crass than Brits?

Today, at a convenience store:

Me: Hi, do you sell chap stick?

Shopkeeper: No.

Me: Oh, you don't?

Shopkeeper: Chopstick?

Me: Chap stick.

Shopkeeper: Right, chopstick, like the Chinese use?

Me: Uh, no. Chap ... you know like when your lips (gesturing to lips) are chapped (imitate rubbing chap stick over lips)? Like ... lip balm?

Shopkeeper: Oh! You mean Lipsyl!

Me: Oh, okay, lip...syl. Yeah .... I think so.

Shopper: Yeah, we call it Lipsyl or ... er, Vaseline. 

Me: Okay, I get it, we just call it chap stick because it prevents chapped lips.

Shopper: Well, some places do sell chap stick, but it's not the general term. It's Lipsyl.

Shopkeeper: It's okay, she's learning now.

Lesson learned. Lipsyl. But now I know what to ask for. In other news, today I had to give a half an hour presentation, and I kicked its ass. Take that abusive boyfriend.

Kicking Riot 4 Austerity's A**

Well, after a month of traveling, living with relatives, and generally being subject to the whims of others, I have a place of my own. For the past month I've driven in cars, or not, I've eaten organic, or not. I've recycled, or not if my relatives didn't. Essentially, I've tried as much as possible to be as amenable a house guest as possible.

But now, I'm finally settled (well sorta) and it's time to start getting back in the enviro-groove, and start kicking a little riotous ass.

Now, as I'm in a dorm where electricity, gas, and water are all included, I'm not going to be able to do anything but a rough estimate, but, frankly, I'm not too perturbed. After all, for all the downsides to living in a room the size of a postage stamp, the upside is that it's incredibly sustainable.

Let's go to the categories shall we:

Transportation: This one should be super easy for me. I'm planning to walk to school most every day, so really, I'll only ever be using the bus or subway when I'm going somewhere else, or coming home late at night. And considering the price of taxis, I am probably almost never going to get into a car! I have a feeling that I can get this down to 10% usage.

Electricity: Like I said, I won't actually know how much electricity I'm using. But seriously. What is going to be using up much electricity? There's a mini-fridge. Some lights. Maybe the TV and the laptop and the cell phone now and then? One of the super-cool things about England is that as far as I can tell, most outlets have switches so you can turn the outlet off and on. It's an easy way to save that electricity without having to keep everything unplugged. Anyway, like I said, no way of knowing how much electricity I'll be using. But considering I was down to 10% in my palatial-by-comparison apartment in LA, I'm guessing this should be at or less than 10% usage.

Heating & Cooking Fuel: The stove and oven are electric, so I think we're only talking about the radiator here (which I'm assuming is gas.) I figured out how to turn off the heat in my room, and have kept it off ever since. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it off all year, but for now, the ambient heat from the rest of the dorm is more than enough for me. I mean seriously. I'm in a long sleeve tee-shirt right now and I'm hot. I'm guessing I'll be at 10% or less, at least until it starts getting much colder.

Garbage: This one is not so hot right now as I am awash with all the crap they give you when you start school. I'm hoping this will go back to normal levels soon enough.

Water: Again no clue, but considering we're talking about showering, washing dishes, flushing, and cooking and drinking, I'm guessing this will be fairly reasonable. The huge advantage to having my own bathroom? I don't have to keep the toilet flushed at all times for other members of the household.

Consumer Goods: This one will be uphill for a bit while I get settled. I've so far only bought used stuff, but eventually I'm going to have to buy some of the things new that I can't find used. I *still* haven't got pillows yet, so I've been sleeping on a balled up sweatshirt. No fun.

Food: Well the good news is I found a little organic foods store about five minutes away from my dorm! And the woman who works there is suuuuuper nice. Seriously. When I couldn't find any fair trade sugar, she went ahead and ORDERED some for me, and told me it would come in Wednesday. Sweet! Literally. The bad news is that there aren't any bulk bins in the store, so right now I'm buying food in plastic packaging. Also, even if there were bulk bins, I don't have any empty containers to put food in, so I guess I better finish off the organic yogurt fast. Hopefully, I'll be able to check out the farmers' market this weekend. Luckily they run year round in London!

And that's it. All in all, I think I'm well positioned. But let's see how I do. I'll let you know in a month or so.

Dear Blog

I have a lot of things to catch you up on. Like, hey, I'm not homeless anymore! I managed to get a "studio apartment" in a dorm. It is costing me a bajillion dollars, and it's the size of a very, very small hotel room, and it FEELS like a hotel, but I can walk to class! I "moved" in yesterday, and I say "moved" in, because literally, I have a sheet on the bed, a comforter, and a few pairs of underwear in a drawer. 

Now I'm trying to deal with how to find dishes and pots and pans and hangers and all that other brilliant stuff.

It is SO tempting to just go to a giant Tesco and buy all of this stuff and have it done with. But, I'm not. At least, I'm not right now. Ask me again in six weeks when I'm still searching for knives. 

Instead, I've signed up on Freecycle. I'm scouring Gumtree, and I'll probably hit up my local Oxfam store when I figure out where my local Oxfam store is.

The thing that I've been missing the most lately is Trader Joes. Sniff. Because frankly, I have no idea where in London I can get my eco-Soaps, dishwashing detergent, etc. Trader Joes, why do you only exist in the US?! Okay, probably what keeps you awesome is that you are a relatively small non-multi-national company but still. 

Speaking of multi-national companies, the first day I arrived in Britain, I went to Tesco with my British relatives for groceries. And when I walked in, I was kinda amazed. Like here was this store with clothing, and books, and electronics and stuff, and it also had a FULL grocery section. "Wow," I thought, "This place is like a Super Target only BIGGER than Super Target!"

Heh. What I didn't realize until I started reading The End of Food by Paul Roberts is that Tesco is basically the UK's version of Walmart. Of course, I didn't think to compare Tesco to Walmart, because shockingly, I've never actually been inside a Walmart. (Once, on a trip in an RV, we slept in a Walmart parking lot, but I didn't venture in the store.) Sadly, that claim to fame is now ruined, since I've been to Tesco like 10 times in the past week. 

Anyway, I'll try and be back full time next week, though it's the first week of classes and I still have no clothes hangers, so I shouldn't make any promises. If anyone knows anywhere I can get eco-dishwashing detergent and such in London, please let me know! And those of you in the US, give your Trader Joe's a big fat kiss on the lips for me.