My bank account is finally operational. So now I'll hopefully be spending money a bit more prudently now that I have to actually see it leave my hand again... as opposed to just hearing the flick of a card through a reader. (Not that I've been buying Turnbull and Asser shirts and staying at the Mandarin Oriental..but I've probably eaten a bit more sushi than I normally would).
Getting an account is ridiculously cumbersome here... HSBC (you know I love those Chinese), NatWest, and Barclay's all turned me down because I might be a terrorist without a permanent address in London. Lloyd's gave me an account based on a letter from the school confirming my address.
Lloyd's is an interesting bank. It is not the same company as Lloyd's of London (the insurer of J. Lo's buttcheeks) as I initially thought. But just as banks were deregulated in the US, banks here can be affiliated with insurers as well. Lloyd's is affiliated with one called Scottish Widows. They sell life insurance and manage pensions. Their advertisements are a bit... off. They feature sexy older women in small black dresses with black velvet capes on. I know that's the first thing that comes to *my* mind when I think of widows. Apparently they become vampires in Scotland. "Buy our insurance and when your husband kicks off, you'll become alluring yet mysterious." The actual ads in the bank are even sillier than the web page.
The branch of Lloyd's I go to is interesting itself. It is across the street from the Royal Law Courts. The exterior is covered by a facade of different shades of green ceramic tiling and dark engraved wood. The motif is a mixture of Greek columns, Islamic geometric design, and vaguely baroque sculpture.... Typical view of the colonial power towards the colonized. I think Edward Said could have had a field day with this. The "other" can be nothing but fantasy. That said, I do think it's aesthetically pleasing, and I DO have the mindset of the Westerner. In other words, it provoked the intended response in me. I DID think of of the palaces of Croesus, Harun al-Rashid, and the Medici when I looked at it. And I knew that's where I wanted my money.
Now all I have left to get is internet, which should be working in 7 days... then I can indulge myself even more.
I'm going to Dartmoor this weekend to go rock climbing. I've never even been on a climbing wall before...so I may end up like the boss in the Hudsucker Proxy. But it seems like a pretty cool place to go... and I might get to do some letterboxing.
Getting an account is ridiculously cumbersome here... HSBC (you know I love those Chinese), NatWest, and Barclay's all turned me down because I might be a terrorist without a permanent address in London. Lloyd's gave me an account based on a letter from the school confirming my address.
Lloyd's is an interesting bank. It is not the same company as Lloyd's of London (the insurer of J. Lo's buttcheeks) as I initially thought. But just as banks were deregulated in the US, banks here can be affiliated with insurers as well. Lloyd's is affiliated with one called Scottish Widows. They sell life insurance and manage pensions. Their advertisements are a bit... off. They feature sexy older women in small black dresses with black velvet capes on. I know that's the first thing that comes to *my* mind when I think of widows. Apparently they become vampires in Scotland. "Buy our insurance and when your husband kicks off, you'll become alluring yet mysterious." The actual ads in the bank are even sillier than the web page.
The branch of Lloyd's I go to is interesting itself. It is across the street from the Royal Law Courts. The exterior is covered by a facade of different shades of green ceramic tiling and dark engraved wood. The motif is a mixture of Greek columns, Islamic geometric design, and vaguely baroque sculpture.... Typical view of the colonial power towards the colonized. I think Edward Said could have had a field day with this. The "other" can be nothing but fantasy. That said, I do think it's aesthetically pleasing, and I DO have the mindset of the Westerner. In other words, it provoked the intended response in me. I DID think of of the palaces of Croesus, Harun al-Rashid, and the Medici when I looked at it. And I knew that's where I wanted my money.
Now all I have left to get is internet, which should be working in 7 days... then I can indulge myself even more.
I'm going to Dartmoor this weekend to go rock climbing. I've never even been on a climbing wall before...so I may end up like the boss in the Hudsucker Proxy. But it seems like a pretty cool place to go... and I might get to do some letterboxing.
posted by akrites @ 8:54 PM
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