In case you are interested..

..but you didn't know what you were missing. In London, there is a square-mile area known as "the City" that primarily consists of the financial district. Within the city are wards, and my primary office is officially in the Billingsgate ward. What this means exactly, I'm not sure. I do know that I can say I work in the City and not be lying, and that's a start.

Outside of the City proper is what is known as greater London. It IS London (not like the greater San Francisco Bay Area isn't really San Francisco) but it is divided up into Boroughs. My current flat is in the Lambeth Borough, but the area known as Clapham is divided between the Lambeth and Wandsworth Boroughs. What does this mean for me, the city dweller? Well, the borough is the entity that determines the "council tax" which is basically property tax than then pays for community services.

Different than the States, where landlords bundle the property tax into the rent, in London you pay it separately like a bill, and it goes straight to the tenants (me). The council tax across the street can be more or less than yours depending on the Borough boundaries (and I assume there is some connection with the value of the property, but I'm not sure). I do know that because I am in the Lambeth borough, I put out my orange recycling bag on Tuesdays for pickup and that Wandsworth isn't on the same system. And if you ever see me write about council housing, I'm referring to what we would call the projects.

Also, once I get my NIN (National Insurance Number), I need to register with a Doctor's Surgery (sounds like a regular doctor's office to me). Basically, all regular care needs to be routed through this office, and it makes sense to pick one close to where you live. I have a list, and I will walk around and check them out one day, and then will just pick one to start. I mean, really, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am just trying to get official. In the past week I have completed so many forms, repeating the same information for different audiences, and yet, how is it that my multiple requests for something like a reference letter (that is supposed to be commonplace) is so difficult? Don't get me started. And I still don't have my US Citibank ATM card, over 12 days after reporting it stolen.

ANYway, tonight I made a sidetrip to the local Woolworth's on the way home. A friend had recommended it as a good place to get some home basics, which they did have. It also had the air of a run-down Rite-Aid but only containing the aisles with the kiddie toys, Halloween costumes, cheap home supplies, and the random DVDs (I mean, who buys those?). But nevertheless, I was overjoyed. I purchased a can opener, measuring cup, peeler, kitchen scissors, bath mat, glass pyrex bowl, and small cutting board - all of which allowed me to prepare my first real meal (the chicken I prepared on Sunday was with a premade marinade, so that doesn't count). I made a cauliflower curry, which required coconut milk. (I went to all three local markets last night, and finally found one with coconut milk, only to come home to discover that we had no can opener!).

The curry turned out decent. I added chicken, and didn't use all the spices they recommended (a combination of Tesco not having them all, and me not wanting to buy them all separately) but since it called for premade curry powder, I decided the tumeric was really the only other non-negotiable ingredient. I tripled the amount of supposedly 'hot' curry powder I purchased though, and I'm still not impressed. I guess I really should make the entire curry powder from scratch, as I am used to doing.

I also enjoyed my meal with a few glasses of store-branded white wine from "Odd Bins" the local, well, wine store. It's a chain, and doesn't necessarily carry all the best stuff, but when you want a drinkable bottle of wine for a reasonable price, it's better than relying on the Tesco. The wine was decent, a £4 screw-cap white blend from Sauv Blanc, Muscat, Chardonnay (NON-oaked), and I think there was some Viogner. It's from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France (where Nimes is, where I lived during university) so I basically picked it from that criteria...and because the guy working there told me that the Pouilly-Fume I picked up for £5.69 (after putting down a too-expensive £10 bottle) was 'terrible'! Hey, I appreciate honesty in wine.

Speaking of wine, I have seen a ton of wine bars in the City around the office, and I am dying to check some of them out. Alas, I am not going to go alone, and my social life still consists of hanging on to other people's plans as I try to meet people through my small set of contacts. I am looking forward to the point where I can call someone up and say, hey, I saw this place the other day, want to go check it out? With the predominance of the pub culture here, I haven't had my decent wine fix, and have mostly been subjected to (good) but often bottled beers, not trusting the wine list of the establishments I've been to so far. All in good time...