translations

One of the interesting things so far in our stay here is that we've spent nearly all of our time South of the river Thames. Having come to London before, primarily as tourists, we've been familiar with spots in the center of the city -- Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Squre, the West End, etc. -- and we've ventured onto the South Bank to see shows at the National or exhibits at the Tate Modern.

But now, we're really living in residential London neighborhoods. We've probably taken buses and "overground" trains more often than we have the more familiar London Underground (i.e. the Tube). We'd previously determined that living somewhere in South London would probably be the most convenient for the two of us to get to our respective schools, so it was entirely in the South that we looked for flats.

As recent New York transplants, we were able to process these new and unfamiliar neighborhoods by comparing them to comparable areas in NYC. For instance, we're currently staying with friends near Peckham, and we walk to the train through a bustling market street crowded with a mix of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian immigrants. Signs line the street declaring "I Love Peckham" in various international languages. Sounds a lot like... Jackson Heights?? You be the judge:





Meanwhile, upon visiting Brian's school, Goldsmiths, which has a very artsy focus and is somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city, being located at New Cross in the city's southeast corner, it felt a bit like visiting Pratt in Clinton Hill.

Here are a few other equivalencies. Maybe some people familiar with both cities could weigh in on the accuracy?

London Bridge/Borough - Financial District/Tribeca
Bermondsey - DUMBO
Vauxhall - Chelsea
Kennington/Oval - Hell's Kitchen
Camberwell/Denmark Hill - Park Slope
Brixton - Bed-Stuy
East London - Williamsburg

These are just preliminary impressions, of course, and not completely accurate, but they're helpin us get our bearings!