For the love of U.S. geography

Last night, we did not go to Piccadilly Circus. Instead, we went back to Betsey Trotwood. We've decided that's "our bar," since the bartender now recognizes us. The group consisted of me, my three other room mates, and some other CAPA students who live in the Gazzano building with us.

At some point when we walked in, we emitted American phermones. Within seconds, a group of British men were chatting us up (except me and another room mate - were casually trying to avoid them). It turns out that they were from about an hour northwest of London. They were here for a cricket match. So G.B. (That's not a real slang phrase, I just made that up.)

I talked politics and how people form political views with one guy. He was under the impression that London was bigger than New York City. He was desperately wrong. According to City Mayors statistics at www.citymayors.com:

-New York City is second behind Tokyo in terms of raw urban area population, at 17.8 million
-London is ranked No. 25 on the list, at 8.3 million
-In terms of core cities, NYC is No. 11 at 8 million (hence the One in Eight Million New York Times feature)
-London is No. 15, with 7 million

I'm glad I can win arguments about which cities are bigger. And also, he was about to tell me that the Globe Theatre was built in the 17th century, but I knew that the current one was only built recently, and by an American actor.

After Betsy's we went to Al's down the street with two of the cricket guys, who paid for our drinks (I protested - I felt that 178 pounds was not worth it). Al's is a lot less "authentic" than Betsy's. It's very modern.

I talked to one (Ross) extensively about U.S. geography. He sells safaris to ridiculously wealthy Brits, Canadians and Americans. I told him if he ever comes to the U.S. to go out west, because in my opinion, there is no where else like the American west in the entire world. We also talked about stereotypes. He said all the Americans he encountered were smart and educated, not uninformed. He was fairly informed himself. He named all 50 states in alphabetical order.

Not too bad. So far, many of the British people I met are reserved only in public and en route to work. Once you talk to them, they are very helpful, or very funny, or very nice.