First day in London turned out to be sunny and pleasant. I woke up to a blue sky and modest November sun was cheerfully poking through my hotel window. Whatever they say about weather in London, don't believe it. It can be sunny and it does not always rain here. The only thing is the weather can change between warm and pleasant to rainy and gloomy and back in a mere hour or so, but I can live with that, can't I?
As soon as I was done with my British breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, refried beans and bacon I did not want to waste any minute and ran outside to experience my new hometown.
The experience started on the first street light. Huge double-decker buses zoomed by me with a threatening speed and cabs seemed like they were trying to run over every pedestrian who dared to cross the road. All that was nothing for someone experienced with a chaotic driving in Ukraine. I merely laughed to myself and looked for a pedestrian light...Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was none... I was standing on the crossing road marked for pedestrians, with lights for drivers and no lights for those walking. I am not talking about a tiny road with four stop signs somewhere in Fresno, California, I mean major intersection of central London with a non stop flow of vehicles and pedestrians...
I was lost for the first time in my life. I thought that after growing up in a big city and all the experiences in different countries, after surviving Kyiv drivers and New York cabs I was prepared for everything...Apparently I wasn't. The funniest part was that everybody else crossing that road seemed to have no problem at all. They all proceeded carelessly and I decided to do the same, as they say when in Rome... What happened after is a bit blurred for me now. As a matter of fact, my post yesterday could have been the last one if it was not for my friend who literally pulled me back to the sidewalk
before another double-decker almost smashed your dedicated writer...I was standing there trying to comprehend what actually happened or almost happened to me when I realized that I looked left before crossing that road instead of looking right, like you are supposed to do in the U.K. But of course, they drive on the left side of the road! I have learned this lesson the hard way. I think I was not the only one and for many other it might not have ended the same way as almost every intersection in London tells you whether you should look left or right before crossing.I am pretty sure I will get all these rules sooner than later and will be laughing at my current post, but so far I have not found an answer why to go through so much trouble as to write on the road where pedestrians are supposed to look and not to install a simple light... Of course not all intersections are like that, some of them are no different from what you can see anywhere, say in New York City but those that are different are still beyond my understanding, at least for now. I promise to learn and of course to report to you the outcome!
Earlier in this post I mentioned four stop intersections so common in the United States. When you arrive at such intersection you are supposed to stop, look around and whoever got there first has a priority over others to proceed. I find it truly amazing. One of those things that are possible only in America. I remember how surprised I was to find out that such intersections actually work and people do not end up in constant accidents arguing who had a right to go. Respect you show to others in a daily life is very well demonstrated by your driving
habits. Similar respect but in a very different way you also have here in London. I guess it is all beyond the point of this post. The fact is we can still be surprised with such a small thing as road intersection and driving rules...So, hurray to surprises, only pleasant, of course, and welcome to the United Kingdom!
:)
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