London

Lisa's on the phone with Corinne, so I'm gonna take this moment to check in with you.

1. I miss the 4G in the United States. Never mind the better data plan. I almost switched to my BlackBerry just for this trip, because iPhone e-mail is prohibitively expensive in the U.K. and Europe, especially if you get as much as I do. Anybody got any tips? Of course I turned off cellular data, but when I turn it on, when I can log in, which is rare, I eat up 3 MB every time, and it's $25 per 100 MB, which means I definitely can't leave it on all the time...

2. They were playing Damien Rice's "Cannonball" on the way in. How come the U.S. always has generic Muzak in public spaces, but in the U.K. they can own their heritage?

3. The chips! I can't even remember the flavor they served on the plane, it was a combination of cream and cheddar and vinegar and despite calling them crisps, the variety's better than in the U.S.

4. Oh, back to the 3G. I don't know how you people tolerate it on your iPhone 4 and 4s's. Here comes the hate mail! You get used to high speed. And they just don't have it over here.

5. The flight wasn't long enough. Not long enough to read my book, catch up on the newspapers and sleep too. That's what's better about flying to Asia, the time! There was no wi-fi on the plane, but I don't like to work in flight, I consider it a respite, me time.

6. I'm reading the VJ book. Positively riveting, because we lived through it, great to hear about it from the other side of the fence, even though I don't trust everything everybody says, especially Martha Quinn, who says she got an "F" in high school but still got into Vassar and Colgate...

7. It's cold here! I mean not rattle your teeth cold, but fifties. Spring has not sprung in the U.K.

8. I came through Dusseldorf. Bottom line, by doing this I only have to take two flights on the way back, I'm not gonna do twenty two hours and three. Couldn't see much in Germany, but I wanted to stay, wanted to investigate it, I've only passed through on the train previously. I think it's safe now. Although the in-flight magazine had me researching and I found out about this East German shot-putter who took so many steroids she decided to become a man... Man's inhumanity to man, all in the name of...sports victories?

9. In customs in Dusseldorf they wanted to know what I was doing in Germany. I said flying to London! The guy was nonplussed.

10. Speaking of customs, they grilled me in Stansted, where I had to land. And I had to wait half an hour just to answer questions.

11. How come the cabs are so much bigger and cleaner in the U.K? You're always worried about bodily fluids in the cabs in NYC, and you never even ride a cab in L.A.

12. The flight attendants on Air Berlin didn't know how to use the gizmos, didn't know how to turn the monitor off and lower the arm rest... A little more training is in order, but it was a good flight, despite taking off an hour late.

13. I feel inadequate not knowing the language. A woman was sitting across from me in the lounge in L.A., speaking English to her kids, and suddenly she burst into German to interact with an elderly gentleman nearby. Reminded me of how many languages Jackie O. spoke. She was my mother's hero, for being a worldly culture vulture, before she became an Andy Warhol and jet-setting staple. We all need someone to look up to, we all need aspirations.

14. Everybody on the plane from Dusseldorf to London was reading! Physical books, but they also gave away newspapers for free. Furthermore, so many had an element of style, the hairdos, the clothing... American culture is different. We don't embrace our outcasts, not until everybody else does and they become anointed. And if you're different in the U.S., you're doing it to be noticed, to become famous, whereas in the U.K. it's just part of your personal style.

Lisa's off, gotta go!


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