A New Year's Resolution (sort of)

Well, not as in January's "I'm going to the gym every day" kind of resolution, but my desire to bring you the unchronicled life, as you know it, of myself: an American ex-pat one year deep on London soil.

I'm around the corner from my 1 year anniversary of getting settled and sorted in this suburban metropolis (as I like to call it) so I thought I would do myself a favor and reflect on this year's past. Ladies and gentlemen, the Top 10 Rant and the Rave, London style:

Rant
1. Customer service: Has anyone ever heard that the customer is right? The UK could use a good heaping teaspoonful of hospitality.
2. Carpeted pubs: I've never understood this. There's a part of my mom in me that wonders exactly how clean it is and the last time it was vacuumed.
3. The accent: Posh and privileged, cockney rhymey, it kind of all sounds the same to me. By the way, it's parking lot, diaper, and shopping cart.
4. Teenage hoodlums: It's 3 pm. Do you know where your child is?
5. The prices: When was H & M ever that expensive?
6. Drivers: Yes, that thing on the right side of your wheel is a turning signal.
7. Taxes: I finally now fully understand The Beatles' song "Tax Man". DAMN!
8. Healthcare: Yes, it's universal but that's the last thing on your mind when you have the flu and have to wait FOREVER for an appointment.
9. Smoking inside: 1 heart July 1!
10. Member's Clubs: Pretentious. (Ok, unless there's a really long line outside and you happen to be with a member.)

Rave
1. My flat: Huge compared to my NY apt, great kitchen, and a view of the garden aka courtyard
2. Proximity to the rest of the Europe: Easy Jet here I come!
3. Pubs: They're not good for the heart, but they are good for the soul.
4. Pimm's: Yuuuuum!
5. Trashy magazines like OK and Star: My equivalent of US Weekly British Style. A definite guilty pleasure.
6. Music scene: London is lucky to attract the best of European and American acts and lot sof summer festivals
7. Selfridge's/Harrods: The food halls make them just that much better than Barneys.
8. Taxis: Clean, big, and the drivers are actually nice and knowledgeable.
9. Parks: I have the ability to kill any plant life in my care. It's nice to know there's so many places I can go in London for my dose of green.
10. The history: Yes, cheesy and grandpa-ish, but I certainly can't get this in the US.

There you have it, my first post and my first rant and rave in London. (Well, not really. There have been lots along the way!)
I'm sure I'll think of 1,000,000 other things, but think of it as an apertif to get started. London, here I come.