Dutch Student Living in LONDON

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by TheMoses

That sounds pretty bad. I've been living here for over two years now and I've never seen a proper fight. A few scuffles maybe but nothing more. Perhaps I've been lucky.




I like that they show their unhappiness. I hate the whole fixed-smile-have-a-nice-day crap Americans do.

I think the main thing is we're all conditioned not to want to talk to anyone else if we don't have to. So when we are forced to interact to provide/receive a service we're all stilted and awkward about it, which frequently works its way out as being unhappy/impolite.

Yea I see what you mean. Though even a fixed smile is better than no smile at all. That's my opinion. And it's so weird that even some of my colleagues say they hate it and that it will never get any better in London. Though they say that people outside London are very friendly. I personally don't have any experience so I wouldn't know. I don't wanna step on anyone's toes either haha, I'm just being honest about what I've experienced until now.

[DaveF12]

amazing photos!
will be regularly checking this thread.

[Linguine]

thanks for sharing your fabulous photos from London....

[Jonesy55]

Londoners do have a bit of a reputation in the rest of the country for being a bit grumpy/not very hospitable and uninterested in talking to others as they go about their business.

I think it's just what people in big, work-oriented cities are like though, I get the impression that Parisians have a similar reputation within France, Milanese within Italy, maybe New Yorkers in the US too. If people in such cities took time out to speak to every tourist or new resident they saw they would never have time for anything else! Having said that I've never actually witnessed a fight in London, people just tend to ignore each other rather than actually be hostile. The drivers can be pretty aggressive though, and they often don't seem to signal or let other vehicles out in front of them like elsewhere in the country, driving in London can be stressful so maybe that's why.

Adding service charges to the bill automatically is annoying I agree, it seems very common in London whereas up here it's very rare. You are quite within your rights to refuse to pay it, I would normally try to avoid restaurants doing that in the first place as they are basically trying to scam their customers which isn't very professional.

[aclifford]

I work part time in a restaurant and the service charge that the company adds to the bill pays the wages of the supervisors. The waiter gets about 5% of it on top of their minimum wage. I' m always embarrassed to give the bill as most people are annoyed that it's just been added on but they are uncomfortable asking for it to be removed.
It's just restaurant companies squeezing the customer for every penny and making it harder for waiters to earn a liveable salary.

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by DaveF12

amazing photos!
will be regularly checking this thread.

Originally Posted by Linguine

thanks for sharing your fabulous photos from London....

Thanks guys!

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by Jonesy55

Londoners do have a bit of a reputation in the rest of the country for being a bit grumpy/not very hospitable and uninterested in talking to others as they go about their business.

I think it's just what people in big, work-oriented cities are like though, I get the impression that Parisians have a similar reputation within France, Milanese within Italy, maybe New Yorkers in the US too. If people in such cities took time out to speak to every tourist or new resident they saw they would never have time for anything else! Having said that I've never actually witnessed a fight in London, people just tend to ignore each other rather than actually be hostile. The drivers can be pretty aggressive though, and they often don't seem to signal or let other vehicles out in front of them like elsewhere in the country, driving in London can be stressful so maybe that's why.

Adding service charges to the bill automatically is annoying I agree, it seems very common in London whereas up here it's very rare. You are quite within your rights to refuse to pay it, I would normally try to avoid restaurants doing that in the first place as they are basically trying to scam their customers which isn't very professional.

You're making a legit point. I think this explains a lot. Though I have been in these cities you just named, I have never experienced such unfriendly waiters/waitresses. What aclifford says probably explains it.

Originally Posted by aclifford

I work part time in a restaurant and the service charge that the company adds to the bill pays the wages of the supervisors. The waiter gets about 5% of it on top of their minimum wage. I' m always embarrassed to give the bill as most people are annoyed that it's just been added on but they are uncomfortable asking for it to be removed.
It's just restaurant companies squeezing the customer for every penny and making it harder for waiters to earn a liveable salary.

Yeah that sucks.. Though they should take it out on their employers, not on the customers. I obviously blame the restaurant rather than the waiter/waitress that represents it.

[Ni3lS]

21. London Eye, Lambeth and Parliament

image hosted on flickr

BLUE EYE by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

22. Shot from Point Hill (Wide angle)

image hosted on flickr

London: The Distance Between Quiet & Noisy by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

23. Shot from Bermondsey

image hosted on flickr

3Color Haze - London by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

24. London Canary Wharf station

image hosted on flickr

London Underground: Canary Wharf by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

25. Canary Wharf from North Greenwich (fog)

image hosted on flickr

London Skyscrapers - Canary Wharf by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

26. Another shot from Bermondsey

Scroll >>
image hosted on flickr


27. Piccadilly Circus

image hosted on flickr

Diet Coke in a London Bus at Piccadilly Circus! by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

28. Tubestation Holborn

image hosted on flickr

London Underground: Holborn Escalators by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

29. Another foggy shot from North Greenwich

image hosted on flickr

FOGSCRAPERS by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

30. The Connaught Hotel, Mayfair

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The Connaught Hotel, MAYFAIR / London by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

31. Canary Wharf tubestation

image hosted on flickr

London Underground: Canary Wharf #2 by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

[Tellvis]

Incredible.....no other word. Your pictures should be published in a book, you should be making an absolute fortune with those photos.

[Ni3lS]

Thanks a lot.. The question is how.

[TheMoses]

Originally Posted by Ni3lS

You're making a legit point. I think this explains a lot. Though I have been in these cities you just named, I have never experienced such unfriendly waiters/waitresses. What aclifford says probably explains it.

Interesting. My experience of service staff in London hasn't been too bad. Not as friendly as back up north (where I come from), but ok.

The worst service I've ever had was in Paris. On one occasion a couple of years ago, I was in a cafe with my parents. A waiter wanted to get past my mum. He told her to move (not asked, told) and when she didn't move straight away pushed her out of the way. Another time I was completely ignored and then when after 45 minutes I pointed this out I was treated as if I was being unreasonable. As I left I overheard the staff making some, ah, pointed remarks about me being my being English and uncivilised.

Just so I don't seem to be Paris bashing, I should say I have had some very good service in Paris as well. Also the above is the only time I've ever felt unwelcome because I was foreign, unless you count the time I went drinking with a couple of French friends and they decided in their drunken state it would be hilarious to tell people I was some weird foreigner who was harassing them. Least funny joke ever. Also the reason I got to add Paris to my list of cities I have slept on a park bench in.

Also; awesome photos!

[SimsPlanet2]

Great pictures Niels! Saw some on your Facebook profile. Keep them coming!

[BringMe]

WOW!!!

Those pics are completely amazing! this thread goes to my favorites

Nice job

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by SimsPlanet2

Great pictures Niels! Saw some on your Facebook profile. Keep them coming!

Originally Posted by BringMe

WOW!!!

Those pics are completely amazing! this thread goes to my favorites

Nice job

Thanks guys!

Now I have to get everyone to like my FB page lol. So please LIKE me on facebook folks!!

[Smarty]

Originally Posted by R@ptor

However, be advised that some parts of central London as well as the entire Canary Wharf district are indeed private property so they are unfortunately fully within their right to disallow the use of DSLRs and tripods.

There is a way round this. Whilst the estates like Canary Wharf may be privately owned, if you stand in the road to take photos this is a public right of way that is publicly owned and managed and they can't stop you taking pictures. Of course whether or not the security guard knows this is another matter !!!!

Great pics by the way.

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by Smarty

There is a way round this. Whilst the estates like Canary Wharf may be privately owned, if you stand in the road to take photos this is a public right of way that is publicly owned and managed and they can't stop you taking pictures. Of course whether or not the security guard knows this is another matter !!!!

Great pics by the way.

Thanks!

Yea I will post something in an hour when I get home for people that want to take photos in the tube need to print out. I carry it around in my backpack.

[christos-greece]

Awesome, very nice updates from London

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by christos-greece

Awesome, very nice updates from London

Thanks Christos!

So what I did is I printed this out in size 20 (word) and I carry it in my backpack. I suggest anyone who wants to take photos in the underground keeps this handy. Don't let security fool you, make you delete your photos or take your gear. They don't have the right unless you don't live by the rules posted below.

this is directly lifted from London Underground staffs handbook:
Working Reference Manual, Section Sa109, Rule 10.1

which reads as follows : -

10. Photography on stations
10.1 Passengers can take photographs with small cameras for private purposes, provided
• flashlights and/or tripods are not used
• no obstruction or inconvenience is caused to staff and/or passengers.
10.2 Representatives of the media, press or photographic agencies and film companies, and other persons
taking photographs for commercial purposes must first get permission from the Press Officer. See
section 13 of this document.

[DWest]

great pics indeed. you're a pro.

[taxi]

number 26 is excellent, mate.
love it.

in ur thread, i saw for the first time at all, that is a lot of pink light at night in london, and it looks good.