London, yay!

Well ladies and gents, I am now residing in the great city of London. That's right, I have jumped the pond and now I get to hang out with those crazy Brits getting pissed and thinking things are brilliant. I have been here for 5 days now and some interesting things have occurred. First, whatever crazy European said that Americans were loud, rude, and obnoxious obviously never looked in the mirror. Well they arent really that loud here, but talk about rude. I think in 5 days I have had people step in front of me while I was waiting in line then like the rest of my life combined. I think perhaps it is due to my need for the American 3 feet of space. The Brits see that there is room for a person to sandwich in between me and the person in front of me so they think its ok to cut in line.
Also of note, Starbucks gift cards do not work in London. There are just as many Starbucks here as there are in the US (two within 2 blocks of where I live) but when I went to give them a gift card to pay for my latte, they got these very confused looks on their faces. They just couldn't figure out what they were for. Eventually I went to pull some cash out my pocket, and I think they decided that the gift card was some sort of employee ID card, cause they proceeded to give me an employee discount.
While Im sitting in here in Starbucks another things pops into my head. There is no such thing as To-Go here. Its called Take Away. That confused me at first because that sounds too much like the game Keep Away. Despite the apparent rudeness of some Londoners, I must give credit for the Tube. I had heard two very differing views of the London tube before I came, but I must say it gets the Brian seal of approval. Now it isnt as spotless as the Washington, DC subway, but it is in good condition and they clean it all the time. Its only shabbiness is the normal kind that results from heavy use. But there are no homeless folks and I have yet to get on a train that seemed unsafe. Now if only it wasnt so damn expensive.
And dont tell your British friends, but American fast food chains, of which there are 6 by my apartment, are totally ripping off the British. For instance, KFC (yes they have fried chicken, who would have though) has those little pocket sandwich things that are 99 cents in the US. Well here they are 99 pence, which sounds the same, but is actually almost double the value of 99 cents. The same goes for Pizza Hut too. They charge the same price, but in pounds that is so much more.
Well I better save some stuff for the future. I haven't done too much sight seeing yet, other than one brief trip to the British Museum, so all that info shall come later. I hope all is well in the States, and I hope you are as happy as I am that my Congressman Tom DeLay is going bye bye. Cheers