It’s been 2month and 2 weeks since I arrived in England and it’s slowly shaping this new person I’m becoming. And even though everybody who decides to move to a new country needs time to adjust to their new environment, I’ve noticed that some changes are merely accepted overnight (like no fans in your bedroom) while some take awhile (like bundling up for all kinds of weather) But here are some habits I’ve lost in the interim:

1- I stopped taking the rickshaw/uber everywhere. I now find myself walking anywhere between 10mins to even 60 minutes without complaining.

2- I stopped waiting until 5 pm There’s really no reason to wait until 5 pm to grab a drink. I’ve walked into Wetherspoons at 9 am for a full English breakfast and noticed people having a pint to accompany theirs. Still not drunk a though, I stick to 4 pm 😉

3- I stopped taking my tea with milk in it. Always on the side! Adding just the rightful dash to off-colour a black tea.

4- I stopped eating fries. It’s Chips here!

5- I stopped getting takeaway and home deliveries. Because it’s easier to walk-in and collect!

6- I stopped taking architecture for granted. One must always stop and stare.

7- I stopped cursing in my dialect or using words like haan! and accha? No one gets it.

8- Stopped taking my shoes off before entering someone’s house or my own. Because face it, they’re usually spotless clean!

9- Started using toilet paper. Most difficult thing to adjust to and no you don’t need the details for this one.

10- Stopped complaining about traffic. Their sense of true traffic is really a joke compared to cows, elephants and everything else you can imagine on the streets of Bombay. In fact, the only way I can tell its a traffic jam is if the fiance starts cursing :p

11- Stopped hugging every person with Indian origins. Cause face it, there are a lot, can’t be working out on my arms extensively.

12- Eating with my hands unless its pizza. Because that with a fork and knife is so wrong.

13 – I stopped saying “thrice” it’s only properly understood if its three times.
14 – I’ve stopped depending on a maid. Getting domestic help in England is ridiculously expensive, so my weekly chores now involve dishes, cleaning, laundry, cooking etc

15 – I no longer detest taking the trains 🙂 I really love where I live because of how easy it is for me to get in and about in London within 20mins. And kudos to everything Transport for London does to keep it so organised!

Are there any habits that you’ve lost while travelling or living abroad? I’d love to hear! Leave them as comments below? Here is another interesting post on the inevitabilities of dating outside your culture.