Mastering London's bus system... not so much

While the Underground (tube) system in London is very easy to figure out, the same cannot be said of the bus system.

I was highly motivated to ride the busses because there were times when I just needed to sit down, and the Underground trains were almost always standing-room only. Besides that, using the tube is great for speed, but it's like popping in and out of worm-holes, which leaves you with no context for how you got from here to there.

London's zones
Yet another reason: My 7-day Travelcard was only good for zones 1-2. That's enough to see most of London, but the Olympic Park was much further out. Even so, bus transporation was covered.

Even Rick Steves' London 2012, which is an excellent guidebook in most respects, did not adequately explain the bus system, implying that a map could be found easily and that a sight-seer could figure out how to get to the desired destination simply by learning to decipher the signage at the bus stop.

Neither of those proved to be the case, though the guidebook still provided a great deal of helpful information about London bus travel.

The locals try to be helpful, but...
Asking the locals isn't much of a solution either because Londoners, I concluded, do not know how to use their bus system. They only know their own familiar routes. Twice, I was given wrong information by people who really did want to help me. From time-to-time, I would ask a passerby or a patron at The Volunteer if s/he could explain to me how to use the London bus system. To my frustration, the answer was always the same: "Where do you want to go?", usually followed by incorrect information. All of this may just be owing to the nature of city bus travel, rather than bus travel in London, in particular.

My bus-system savvy didn't improve much even after I managed to get hold of a map from a manager at one of the tube stations. Even then, the maps were not out for the public. I asked, and he kindly retrieved one from his office.

A smartphone is the solution
Yet there are solutions... the optimum one being a smartphone that works in London. (Here's a column about that). Once you know where you want to go, all you need to do is plug the coordinates into the travel planner at tfl.gov.uk/Journeyplanner. That's what my friends Patty and Deigo did, and they had no trouble making bus-travel decisions on-the-fly.

I, on the other hand, had a laptop with a slow internet connection in a hotel room that was three flights up. Not all that convenient if you want to stay flexible about where you go next. However, by phone, I managed to reach a woman in some city office, and she actually told me that I was free to call her personally if I was out and about and needed to know where to make a connection.

Now that's hospitality -- and I have to say that I found no shortage of it during my six days in London.

For anyone who is actually interested in learning more about the London bus system, I can tell you that the bus stops are usually paired and near one another. The route is the same, but the busses go in opposite directions -- and it's very easy to get on the wrong one. What actually happens is that, when a bus gets to the end of its route, it turns around and goes in the other direction.

So, the London bus system won the first round -- but there will be a rematch if I have the good fortunate to visit this marvelous city again.

Signage reveals London's hidden psyche

Besides revealing as much about the message sender as it does the target audience, outdoor advertising also adds to the character of a locale in a way that no guidebook can.

In that respect, London did not disappoint.

Sushi to go
Londoners must take their sushi seriously. This signage sits on back of scooters parked outside a restaurant. Cool name for the business and a clever way to advertise as well as deliver.

Steering potential customers

This piece of cattle-sculpture stands atop a restaurant in The City, the oldest part of London.

Snake charmers allowed on the bus
Look closely at the wording beneath the sign.

The morning read
An add for The Guardian, a London news publication. The copy reads, "3 journalists, 4 chefs and 126 people with hangovers discuss the perfect fry-up." In case it's not obvious, the art is supposed to represent a fried egg.

Going green
London seems to be quite committed to progressive environmental policies.

Catch the next one

Guess no one was born knowing how to drive a double-decker bus...

An important message

This billboard is near Paddington Station, which is definitely not one of the more touristy areas of London.

Fire safety
Interesting because I've never seen anything like it in the U.S., where we have fire extinguishers instead of fire blankets. Oddly, this apparatus was in a restroom (not a kitchen) in a theatre on the West End.

The Volunteer: A London pub

The Volunteer became my favorite adopted-neighborhood pub while in London.

Located on Baker Street, it's just two doors down from the Sherlock Holmes Museum and a few blocks north of the Plaza Park Sherlock Holmes Hotel. It was also just a couple blocks over and up from my hotel room, which was actually more like a little kitchenless apartment.

The lines were often long outside the museum, but The Volunteer -- despite its proximity -- did not seem like a tourist trap. Bar-area tables inside and out were populated with groups of friends, young professionals having a drink after work, and the occasional couple.

I could be wrong, but they all seemed like regulars.

A killer exchange rate
If you're planning a trip over and want to project how far your U.S. dollars will go toward food after conversion to Great British Pounds (GBP), The Volunteer's menus will help give you an idea. (Photos at bottom). The exchange rate when I visited was .57 of a pound on the U.S. dollar, which means that it took almost $2 (USD) to equal $1 GBP.

Pubs often have what they call a "fixed-price menu," which is similar to a list of daily specials. Sometimes, these match up with the handwritten menu on a board behind the bar, but you can also request a traditional menu.

To better put this in perspective:

One, two and three courses (appetizer, entree, dessert) from the fixed-price menu at The Volunteer were 7 GBP ($12.30 USD), 10 GBP ($18 USD) and 13 GBP ($23 USD), respectively. I chose, instead, from the traditional menu, and enjoyed a very delicious "mushrooms with stilton cream on rye toast," priced at 5.50 GBP (about $10 USD). The most expensive item on that menu was a 10-oz. rib eye steak with fries, confit tomato and green peppercorn butter for 16 GBP (about $28 USD). (Stilton is a cheese that tasted like bleu or Roquefort. Confit tomatoes are seasoned and roasted in oil). As a footnote, tipping in the bar area is not expected, though it is customary -- at about 10 percent -- if you dine in a pub's restaurant-service area.

Spirits
Alcohol, of course, adds to the ticket.

Apologies to my ale- and lager-imbibing friends. Selections were quite extensive and impressive as far as I could tell. But I just didn't pay any attention because I am more of an oakey chardonnay or sparkling water kind of gal.

Interestingly, British pubs serve wine in two sizes, a 175 mL glass, which is roughly equal to a U.S. standard pour of 6 fl. oz., and a 250 mL glass, which is about 8.5 fl. oz. Bottles are also available.

The least expensive 175 mL glass of wine at The Volunteer was a fruity chenin blanc from South Africa at 3.85 GBP ($7 USD), while the only oakey chardonnay (from Australia) was 5.10 GBP ($9 USD). The chardonnay was priced about the same as what you would pay for a Kendall-Jackson at our local Outback Steakhouse ($7.95), but it's more than the house brand at $4.95.

If you're starting to think that London is an expensive place to visit, you're also starting to get the right picture -- and we haven't even touched on accommodations yet.

Till then, here are a few more photos from The Volunteer:

Notice that the bar is similar to a counter. Unlike a

typical U.S. sports bar, the patrons don't dine there.

A very helpful and courteous staff member at The Volunteer

The view into the street as patrons start to gather after work

 

A primer on British pubs

British pubs are an entity all their own -- a type of venue that I have never encountered in the U.S.

Not exactly anyway.

Respite and refreshment
During my trip to London this past March for graduation, I enjoyed meals in five pubs and ducked into another couple for respite and refreshment -- so I'm fairly convinced that the commonalities I observed probably apply to London pubs in general.

First off, there's no crowd sitting on stools around the bar. At most, you may find three or four stools. But if they are occupied at all, its most likely by patrons who will head off to a nearby high-top table as soon as they give their food and beverage order to the bar staff and pay for it.

That's how it works...

The bar staff at a pub called "The Globe" on Marylebone Road

No tipping in the bar area
If you don't see anything to your liking on the handwritten menu posted behind the bar, the staff will give you a menu and you can have a seat, in which case you order at your table. Still, no tipping is generally the custom in the bar area.

Most of the pubs do have a separate restaurant area, where the service is more like what we are accustomed to in a U.S. pub-type establishment. There, tipping is part of  the service, and according to the guidebooks I read, 10 percent is fairly standard for sit-down service.

Because London is a city -- with space at a premium -- the various rooms within a pub are often on different floors out of necessary. If the establishment has a traditional dining area, don't be surprised if it's up a flight of narrow stairs. If you need to use the loo/water closet, it's almost always upstairs or downstairs, which is not great news if your feet and knees are aching from walking or if you have some other mobility issue. If you call it a "rest room," the British will know what you mean, but they don't generally use the term.

Next post: Pub fare and pricing

More photos from The Globe:

The bar area "The Globe" looking out onto Marylebone Road

Delicious open-faced seafood sandwich with chips. Notice that the chips are wide,

 similar to what we know in the U.S. as "steak fries." The seafood medley included

baked salmon, cod and tuna salad. Nothing wrong with the tomatoes. I just don't like tomatoes.

Hyde Park and Speakers' Corner

Hyde Park was on my list of attractions to visit in London, mainly because I wanted to see whether anyone was really trying to rally a crowd at Speakers' Corner.

No one was, possibly because I went on a Monday, and the soapbox oratory that supposedly goes on there happens on Sunday afternoons.

So drat!

According to Rick Steves' London 2012, anyone who has something to say and wants an audience can gather one on Sunday afternoons at Speakers' Corner. Apparently, speakers climb step-ladders, wave flags, wear sandwich boards and do whatever they can to attract attention and listeners. (A few days later, I did see a guy standing in The Thames playing an electric guitar, but we're not there yet.)

London's Central Park
Hyde Park is Londoners' version of New York City's Central Park. Its 600 acres of lush greenery and broad lawns were originally Henry VIII's hunting grounds. My friend and unofficial guide Steve and I took a stroll through part of it on an uncharacteristically cool-but-sunny day that he described as "tropical" by London standards. Actually most of the week was like that, but I don't doubt the veracity of those who say that it's usually raining.

With two and half days of sight-seeing about to wind down, the reason for the trip -- graduation -- was just hours away, scheduled for the following morning.

Steve and I would be among eight graduates receiving a master's in organizational psychology, though about 400 bachelor's and master's candidates from all over the world would be participating in the ceremony at the Barbican Center.

Coffee, conversation and OP
As much as I enjoyed the sight-seeing, it was even more fun to actually converse in person with a fellow student and graduate. OP has been around for along time, but even though I live in a city with three four-year colleges, none of them offers it -- and having studied through distance learning, I'd never actually met any of my fellow students. Although some close friendships had developed during conferencing and emailing, being able to sit down and have a conversation about OP with a kinsman was an experience I'd been imagining for the past five years.

Steve and I would walk for a while as he shared his knowledge of London and England, then we'd decide it was time for coffee and sit-down conversation -- and a coffee shop was never far away. London is like that. Looking for a pub? Start walking... Need to buy a postcard? Start walking... Need to find an Underground station? Start walking...

We never ran out of things to discuss... courses we enjoyed or didn't, our experiences with various tutors (i.e. professors/instructors), and our OP areas of interest. Steve is intrigued by non-violent conflict and e-learning, among other things, while I am focusing on cross-cultural psychology.

The comparison may be lost on readers who are not Star Trek fans, but meeting my OP pals reminded me Deep Space Nine's Odo and how he felt when he found his home planet.

Below are a few more photos of Hyde Park. In case you haven't noticed, the slideshow at right includes all of the 34 photos I've posted so far. To view them as a slideshow, click on the photo, and you'll be taken to my flickr page. There, click on the "action" menu at the top of the page, and then choose "view slideshow."

Playing to lose and In-Group Collectivism

Whatever the reason, eight Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian badminton Olympians played so badly – intentionally – that they were disqualified on Wednesday.

CNN online reports explained the strategy as "playing to lose in order to face easier opponents in future matches," without really explaining how the strategy would lead to facing "easier" opponents.

According to a different CNN report, disqualified athlete Yu Yang wrote in her on-line blog that she and her teammates were trying to save their best efforts for an upcoming – and more important –match.

The playing-injured defense
An excerpt: "We were injured before the match... We were using the rule to give up the match to be better prepared for the knockout round. Do you know how much pain we suffer when we athletes get injured and still have to compete?" Yu Yang also announced that she is quitting the sport.

To U.S. audiences, this sort of strategy is quite acceptable among "Survivor" contestents, but we as a culture expect more from Olympic athletes.

And apparently, so do Olympic officials.

In a recent post, I wrote about a cross-cultural variable called "societal cynicism" and how it helps us understand why some societies believe that the world is so ruthless and evil, that it's OK to be manipulative and deceitful in order to get ahead. China and and South Korea rank quite high in societal cynicism among societies studied, while the U.S., the U.K.and Indonesia rank quite low.

To better understand the above-mentioned match-throwing strategy, we need to look at a different variable – "In-Group Collectivism (IGC)" – which comes from the mega-cross-cultural research initiative Project GLOBE. Essentially, IGC refers to loyalty to one's in-group, which could be one's family, work-group or national Olympic team.

It "does go on"
Former British badminton Olympian competitor and manager Andy Goode was quoted by CNN as criticizing the disqualified players' strategy and commenting that it "does go on... especially in countries where the team ethic is very important."

He is describing In-Group Collectivism, and this is what it looks like when you graph the U.S., England, China, South Korea and Indonesia, using Project GLOBE societies.

What's also interesting about IGC is that those of us in the U.S. desire more of it, while China and South Korea want less. It's difficult to interpret that, but my spin on it is that Chinese and South Korean respondents wanted to be less constrained by conformity to the norms of their in-groups. Regarding the U.S., one explanation may lie in work-family balance. Perhaps U.S. and U.K Project GLOBE manager-respondents wanted to be able to devote more time and energy to their families and in-groups – but felt that they could not, due to excessive and conflicting work demands.

An opportunity awaits

A related point is that the Chinese, South Koreans and Indonesians – clearly – did not understand the ramifications of their decision to lose matches on purpose. This is a good example of why cross-cultural psychology should be a valued competency for any organization or business that interacts internationally.

Just because a particular decision makes sense within the context of our own societal norms, values and beliefs, we cannot assume that it will be perceived the same way by individuals and groups from other countries.

So far, neither U.S businesses nor our government seem to be acknowledging this, but in time maybe they will grasp the importance of the application of cross-cultural research. To quote cross-cultural researcher Mansour Javidan, Ph.D:

"... we do not think it is hyperbole to suggest that the future of our planet depends on better understanding and acceptance among peoples of different cultures."

Sutton Hoo Exhibit is a Must-See at the British Museum

Not only is the British Museum one of London’s must-visit attractions, admission is free, though a donation is appreciated.

There’s no way to see it all, so your best strategy is to find a good guidebook (e.g. Rick Steves' London 2012) to get an idea of what’s there – then, choose a few galleries that you know you want to visit. Even with that strategy, expect to be tempted away by nearby exhibits.

Fortunately for me, my unofficial guide and British friend Steve had been to the museum often. He recommended an exhibit that I am really glad I didn’t miss.

Sutton Hoo

If the image below looks familiar, that's not too surprising. Over the years, it has come to symbolize the famous Sutton Hoo exhibit, an Anglo-Saxon burial ground, first excavated from 1938-1939. Located about 90 miles northeast of London, the site and its hoard date all the way back to 625 A.D.

The central feature of Sutton Hoo is a wooden burial ship, which is where the battle helmet (above) was found shattered into tiny pieces. The helmet was reconstructed and has "become possibly the most enigmatic and well-known image of Anglo-Saxon Warrior Kingship," according to the official Website of the Sutton Hoo Society.

The Sutton Hoo Shield (below) was also reconstructed in form, with its guilded dragon and bird-of-prey emblems being the only actual surviving artifacts. 

The same gallery housing the Sutton Hoo exhibit is populated with other artifacts that are so old it's difficult to imagine how they could have been fashioned with the technology available at the time.

The Great Torc

The image below shows "The Great Torc," the most famous object from Iron Age Britain. It was buried around 100 B.C. near Snettisham, which is about 110 miles north of London. Torcs were designed to be worn around the neck, and this one weighs a little over 2 lbs. It's made of gold mixed with silver, welded into metal ropes.

The gold cape (below) is even older, dating back to the Early Bronze Age, roughly 1900-1600 B.C. Found crushed and surrounding pieces of bone fragment, the cape was restored by the museum, with some of the missing pieces recreated from gilt copper.

If an in-person visit to the British Museum isn't in your immediate future, a virtual visit to the institution's Website is the next best thing.