OVERSEAS BRIEFING

Author: Amanda Goodwin

LONDON - I am finally on terra firma in London. This is a comforting statement because my abroad experience had a rather inauspicious start when my flight out of JFK was delayed for three hours due to the original aircraft's being struck by lightning. The arrival at Heathrow was also less than ideal. Since our plane was significantly delayed, the London transit authorities were not anticipating our arrival and neglected to assign us a gate. Because of this minor oversight, we were asked to deplane on the runway and cram into the buses they provided. However - another minor oversight - they underestimated the number of passengers on our monstrous 777 aircraft and provided too few buses. Crammed as sardines, I could not help but wonder how the same situation would have unfolded had I been in a country where showers are, let's say, culturally optional.

Despite such a cozy and unfortunate introduction to the city, I have found the residents of London to be rather efficient - at least in concept. Nothing exemplifies the Brits' emphasis on efficiency like the infamous "queue." There is great truth to the quotation, "An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one." People queue at stores, in cinemas, on tube platforms, and there are even divider bars on many sidewalk corners so that people can queue while they wait for the light to change. It is an incredibly orderly gesture that maintains a sense of patience and organization. While admittedly queues sometimes destruct their primary purpose by allowing order to overshadow efficiency, they seem to typify an attitude that is sorely missing in the United States.

The British ideal of efficiency is applicable to the manufacturing of smaller items as well. Upon arriving to my room, I was flabbergasted by the small size of the bed. I would describe the mattress as 70 percent the width of its American counterparts, and slightly shorter. It is so strikingly narrow that I think the company should refund the hall residents for "missing mattress!"

Not only are Londoners efficient, they are also incredibly fashion-savvy. In London, fashion reigns supreme and at any hour people are impeccably dressed. Just as jeans and a T-shirt are a staple of American clothing, British clothing revolves around the blazer. It is worn over tanks and sweaters, designer jeans and slacks, ballet slippers and boots, in warm weather and in cold and is made of cotton and of tweed.

There are still some things I need to figure out - such as the proper way to say thank you. "Thank you" is a distinctly American phrase, and while I feel uncouth saying it, I also feel disingenuous trying to pass a British phrase - "Cheers" - as my own. Also, if you've decided upon "Cheers," there comes the dilemma of deciding whether to say it with a British or American accent. Essentially, it may be a lose-lose situation. Either you sound like an American or someone pompously trying to sound like a Brit.

Nevertheless, if you sport a blazer and care for queues, you will fit in perfectly.