Week 8 Impressions by Julia Calhoon

For my entry this week, I would like to write about a subject that is very close to my heart: Food. Food has been a central theme to my experience of London, starting from before I even arrived here. Back at home one of the top comments I received after telling someone that I was spending the semester in London was "Oh, you know that the food there is horrible, right?". After living here for seven weeks, I would like to announce that no, people, the food here is not horrible, but it will cost you approximately twice as much as it does back home, which has made for some pretty interesting culinary adventures. See, the per diem that is so kindly provided to us by Tom every two weeks comes out to 13 pounds a day, which is 26 American dollars. I know, you would think that this amount would be sufficient in keeping us properly nourished. You would also think that after three rounds of per diems I would have figured out how to sufficiently ration out my money over the two week period. But alas, here I am with more than a week to go, and just thirty pounds to my name. I guess it could have been that $10 gin and tonic I bought last night, or maybe my three recent shopping excursions to H&M, but whatever the reason, I have gotten pretty good at feeding myself with little money, even if it does mean eating nothing but crumpets and tea for a few days, both of which I have discovered to be dirt cheap.

There are actually several affordable food options available to the poor desperate college student in London; you just have to know where to look. One of my recent discoveries has been the Portobello Road market, which occurs every Saturday in Notting Hill. Three days ago I set off to Portobello Road with my roommate Diana, with the intention of purchasing massive quantities of produce and other edible market goods for little dough. Walking through the stands, we were amazed with the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, all of which were being sold at seemingly to-good-to-be-true prices. Our most amazing purchase of the day was a box that contained about fifty plums for one pound, a steal that we heartily congratulated ourselves on, only to later realize that about 85 percent of the things were rotting. We did manage to make it back home with about nine bags of various other non-moldy food items though, so our trip was anything but a failure.

Another thrifty meal choice here can be found at the late-night hot-dog and sausage stands that litter the London streets at ungodly hours every night. These stands are craftily located right next to every bus stop in the city, taking full advantage of hungry drunk club-goers on their way home. The first night that I encountered them, I judged these stands to be very sketchy and downright unsanitary but the smell that wafted up from the sautéing of onions and sausages was one that I knew would eventually break me. Sure enough, I finally caved and bought a hot-dog late one night when coming out of a club with Meg and Lauren. After giving the old vender man a ten pound note, he claimed I had only given him a five, and refused to give me change. Apparently I can be pretty scary at 6 am in the morning when extremely hungry and tired and agitated with all of humankind in general, because I started yelling at the poor guy and he forked over my change. Anyway, the thing tasted pretty amazing, although we later decided that it was probably made out of dog meat.

As for the more traditional British food items, I have experienced a wide range of highs and lows, from the best fish and chips of my life, to disgusting warm beer, to a very strange thing called the "full English" breakfast that consists of eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, toast, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. I’m not sure who decided that baked beans would be an appealing or appropriate breakfast food item, but let me tell you, they were way off. London is also home to the most skilled tea makers in the world, an activity that the people at my work delight in, and seem to take part in more than they do actually working. This city has also produced the worst coffee I have come across in my lifetime, and apparently has no appreciation for the wonder that is Mexican food, a realization that that has put certain members of our trip on the verge of depression. If Indian food is your thing, however, you could eat at a different restaurant on Brick Lane for every day that we were in London. Or, if you wanted to spend your entire per diem in a matter of minutes, you could stroll into the amazing Harrods department store and buy exotic fruit, fine cheese or gourmet Belgian chocolates, although just going to look was likened by my roommate to a trip to Disneyland.

Back in our flat, I have been quite impressed with the range of culinary endeavors taken by my classmates, especially considering the fact that our kitchen is roughly the same size as my shower. Some people in the group have taken to making elaborate dinners of chicken fajitas or stir fry. Anything that Lauren H. makes looks like it came out of a gourmet organic cookbook, and Andrew has been consuming pita and hummus like it’s nobody's business. Oh yeah, and Lauren B. eats a whole lot of Special K and toast. I mean…she eats a whole lot of vegetables, don't worry, Lauren's Mom. As for me, I can't say that I have had the healthiest of diets since I have been in London, but it has definitely been a culinary experience to remember. At the end of the day, I think that my body will forgive me for the greasy pub food, the beer, the dozen or so Cadbury eggs and erratic eating schedules, and be thankful that it got to come along for the amazing ride.