London is an expensive city but life is very convenient and enjoyable as long as you have means.
After we buzzed and were let into the building, we were greeted at the lift (elevator) by our beloved smiling professor who was very instrumental in planning our trip. He and our landlady, a friend of his, showed us the flat where we were staying, which was across the hall from hers. It was a one bedroom flat with a living room, a dining area, a small kitchen, a bathroom equipped with a shower over the bathtub, and a balcony. It is very similar to IU's family housing apartments on campus.
Even before entering the flat our professor began to apologize for the condition of the flat, but to us it looked very decent. We were so relieved to find there was a bathroom in the flat, because we heard in a lot of older buildings the bathrooms and showers are shared between the floors. In those B & B hotels the bathrooms are not provided in the room either.
Later we learned that a flat like this in London would cost as much as over half a million dollars or more . Anyway we were not house hunting in UK, but it won't hurt to offer some sympathetic remarks and at meantime congratulate ourselves secretly on our good luck being living comfortably on the other side the ocean.
After we settled in the professor showed us around the vicinity. He took us to the tube station which was 5 minutes walk and explained to us what kind of pass we should purchase. Then he led us to the neighborhood grocery stores. There were two within 1 to 3 minutes walk from our building. We could find numerous restaurants, sandwich shops, bars, cafes, bake houses (French style) on our street. According to the professor the ratio of them to human population in the area is 1 to 1.2.
Taking advantage of this convenience we would never worry about going hungry. Everyday we came back from sightseeing we would stop by the shop to buy what we needed. The fresh produce has more taste, The processed ones are less salty and less sweet than American food. We really had a feast on French breads and cakes, tarts, etc. The sweets are neither too sweet nor greasy. They are just right for our taste buds.
Actually a lot of things are small in size. The tomatoes, of course not the cherry tomatoes, are just as big as walnuts; apples are only half size of what we have in US, or even smaller. The largest milk jar is like our half a gallon one.
The people on the streets and tubes are very pleasing to look at: well dressed males in tires, busy talking into their cell phones; slender females, fashionably dressed, hurrying along with shopping bags. While every thing is getting super size in the US, people are getting out of shape and obesity has become a national plague to American population, on the other side of Atlantic people still look like what human beings should be, at least to me. The answer seems too simple. I just don't understand why Americans are so blind, why don't they just look to the other shore where the cure lies.
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