Hello again from London! I have now been here for two weeks, and I feel like I’m really starting to settle in and get more comfortable, both with living in the city in general, and with living in London specifically. While I’m here this semester, I am doing an internship, which has been a really great experience so far! Notre Dame’s buildings are in Zone 1 of London, in the center of the city, while my internship is in a neighborhood in Zone 3, a little further outside of the city center. This means that I spend a total of two hours each week on the tube commuting, which to my surprise, has actually been quite fun. After only two weeks of being a London commuter, I feel like I have learned quite a lot about the tube, and so I thought it would be a fun topic to write a blog about. So, here are a few things that I have learned from my commuting experience so far!
1. Confidence is key.
Tube stations can be very confusing and overwhelming, especially during rush hour. There are hundreds of people all streaming towards the escalators or the Southbound Bakerloo platform, and they’re all walking with extreme determination and speed. The only way to survive is to match that energy and push your way to your destination. Any hesitation after stepping off the train will result in fifty commuters wearing suits pushing past you to get through the doors before they close. As long as you walk with purpose as soon as your feet hit the platform, you’ll be fine.
2. Always know whether the train doors are going to open on the right or the left.
I definitely learned this lesson the hard way. I was making my way back home from work at the end of my first day, and at roughly the halfway point in my commute, I was feeling pretty confident. I had been walking with purpose and avoided my fear of getting lost in the station while changing lines. Since I have a kind of backwards commute, where I work in a more residential area and live in a more commercial area, the beginning of my commute home in Zones 2 and 3 was pretty quiet. Then, as soon as we crossed into Zone 1 and stopped at King’s Cross, the crowds came out of nowhere. I was jammed into the corner of a carriage, feeling as if I was doing a good job of blending in as an experienced tube rider, when suddenly, the train stopped, the doors opened, and I realized that I was directly in the way of traffic. With nowhere to go, I just had to push myself up against the wall and wait for the rush of people pushing both off of and onto the train was over. There were no serious issues, but as a result, I always make sure to move away from the doors when the train is stopping.
3. Have your Oyster card ready.
The Oyster card is used on all London public transport, including the tube and buses. It’s really very convenient, all you have to do is tap it on the sensor as you’re entering and exiting the tube, and it opens the gates for you to get through. At rush hour, however, those gates are absolute mayhem. Everyone is trying to go through as fast as possible, and so if you hesitate for even a second to get out your card, an enormous traffic jam will result. It is an absolute necessity to have your Oyster card out well before you need to use it.
4. Be wary of the seats.
Do I sit down on the tube basically every time I get the chance? Yes, of course. However, I have again learned the hard way that it is very important to check the seat before you sit down. There is nothing worse than standing up to get off the tube and realizing that the seat you just got out of has mysteriously left your pants slightly damp. Nothing.
5. Have fun!
For all the struggles I have faced on the tube, commuting to work has really been one of my favorite parts of living in London so far. My friends can attest, I am a bit irrationally obsessed with it. I am on a mission to get to know each tube line, because they are truly all very different. There is just something really special to me about that little part of the day where I feel like I have some time just to myself. I love getting the chance to sit down and listen to music and unwind from the day. Also, there is truly no better place to people watch than the tube.
There’s also something about the anonymity of public transportation that I find really interesting, and even strangely beautiful. You really feel like you’re a part of something much bigger than yourself when you’re surrounded by hundreds of other people with their own stories going about living their own lives. Each person is sitting there in their own mind thinking about what they’re going to have for dinner or reflecting on what they did that day or daydreaming about a vacation they want to go on next month. It’s amazing to me to wonder about who each person is, and to know that they could be wondering the same thing about me.
Anyway, that’s probably enough existential reflection on the tube for one blog. I haven’t gotten a chance yet to try out the bus system, but I have heard that it’s its own very special experience, and so I’m hoping to do some exploration and try out some bus journeys soon. Maybe there’ll be a part two to this post once I get acclimated to the bus! Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in my next update!
Eileen's London Semester 