Unglam London

I absolutely love living in London but when I get together with other expats, we often talk about how people back home think we live this super glamorous life full of afternoon tea and celebrity sightings. That is definitely one side of it, but there is also a very unglamorous side of living abroad.

A lot of people have issues with their water heater and even more have general issues with their landlords. This photo comes from the time I had to boil water to take a bath when our hot water wasn't working for a few weeks. Sadly, I don't have a plug for the bathtub so I stuffed the drain full of plastic bags and washcloths. Super glamorous, I know. 

My friend, Kate, often talks about eating at Chipotle alone because you just need a Mexican food fix to cure the onset of homesickness. It isn't always lunch dates at fancy restaurants here. 

Kate at Chipotle

Even in London you still have to take your pet to vet or bring home oversize items. Instead of just popping them in the car like you do back home, you have to struggle doing all this on public transportation. And people aren't always very forgiving and nice about it. Another time I had to take a giant bag of popcorn to a party on the tube. Not a heavy item, but we got a lot of comments and strange looks from other passengers.

This is the closest grocery store to my flat. The building itself looks amazing, but the store is really small. They mainly carry just basic ingredients and lunch items. I've actually just stopped going to this store and walking farther to get to a larger store because the small one never has what I need. Thank goodness for grocery deliveries, though. 

A few weeks ago, a homicide detective came to my flat to ask me if I'd seen anything strange around the canal last week. It ends up that a body was found in the canal...inside a suitcase. I know crime can happen anywhere, but this certainly is an unglamorous part of living in London. Immediately after the detective left I (of course) went down to the crime scene and took some photos. I was promptly yelled at by another police officer who thought I was trying to cross the barrier, but it was totally worth it.

When we moved to London I had to get rid of a lot of my clothes because we only brought six boxes with us. Also our closet here won't hold all of my old clothes. One downside is that I wear the same clothes over and over again. At first I thought it was just me but some of my friends have said they also feel like they wear the same outfit over and over again. 

There are loads more inconvenient things about living in the city; these were just a couple of the unglamorous parts of everyday London life. The bottom line remains that the positives in London far outweigh the negatives.