London calling

Being in London, for whatever reason imaginable, is exciting. A friend of mine refers to London as the (current) capital of the world (current, since he believes the status of world capital will, sooner rather than later, shift to China, but that is world politics, in which I have no particular interest, at least in this post). Oh, and, by the way, this guy is French and for a Frenchman to say anything which offends France and/or places any other country in a better position than France, then it must be true! After having been here for over a year and a half, in many ways, I think I have made up my mind as to whether this is a valid statement or not...

London is truly a cosmopolitan jungle. Brits just make up some 30% of London's population and the remaining 70% are virtually from every part of the world. I was amazed (and still am) by the diversity of nationalities I encounter here. Imperial has students from every corner of the globe (is that a valid comment since the globe is a sphere and spheres, by definition, have no corners?) Beyond the campus, there are millions of people who visit or live here and contribute to making London society such a colourful one. Going for a walk or a ride on a bus or on the Tube will just give a glimpse of the variety of Londoners: the languages you hear, the dress code (if any), the literature being read, food being eaten...and this brings up the next point.

Of course, many are residents here and have families with their own culture, backgrounds and requirements. The communities of people from different nations felt, over time, that they have common needs which need to be satisfied and, since it is not convenient to travel back to the country of origin to (quite literally) "feel at home", then if Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed. Thus, you find here in London areas which are associated with different ethnic groups. China Town is the most obvious example: bi-lingual (Chinese and English) street-name and shop-name signs, Chinese food outlets, Chinese pagodas, Chinese newspapers, Chinese talk, Chinese music and, of course, Chinese people. You go up to Edgware and you are amazed by the Jewish and Muslim presence there. Moving eastwards to Brick Lane (or Banglatown) and you are forced to doubt whether you are still in London: curry houses, Bangladeshi street names and shops and anything which does not make you feel like being in an English city. I could go on and on pinpointing different zones and its particularities.

The beauty of all these different cultures is that they are all concentrated within the same city, within a few square kilometres, sometimes within the same blocks sharing even a postcode! Take China Town, for example. One minute you are in Gerrard Street and your brain is seduced to think you are in Beijing then cross Shaftesbury Avenue and land in Soho with all its neon signed shops and teasing girls at club entrances! You can stroll down Brick Lane and the market there, ending up smelling wonderfully of curry and spices and, by the end of the trail, find yourself in Bishopsgate and the financial district of Liverpool Street, with its stainless steel clad buildings and high-tech finished office towers which are state-of-the-art exhibits of 21st century architecture. Or consider Embankment, where virtually all the London landmarks - the Thames, the Eye, Big Ben and HP - are found and then you go down to take the Northern line from Embankment station, travel northwards within the bowels of London and surface again at Camden Town station; a cultural shock is possibly the most diplomatic way of describing the sheer difference between the last time you saw daylight at the start of your journey and now that you landed in one of my favourite London areas: the totally liberal, Bohemian life of punks and fellows who choose to lead a more alternative lifestyle.

(Not to mention the beauty of being in a city where one minute you are amidst crowds of people who are willing to walk all over you simply to make it to work or a department store during the sale season, and the next minute you are in any one of Regent's, Holland, Hyde, Green, St. James, Greenwich or Richmond Park and find yourself immersed in an oasis of peace, away from traffic noise and fumes, and enjoy nothing but greenery).

A picture is worth a thousand words but, even better, a first-hand experience of London will, by far, exceed in any way whatever I tried to say, but I think I have made my point. So back to our original premise: London is the capital of the world, or not? In London, there are people from all over the world and, within this city, they all find a place they can call "home" (except us Maltese - blessed will be that day when I will come across a place selling pastizzi and/or Kinnie!); this city is a magnet which attracts people to travel to it, for one reason or another, and find in it a haven, a niche where they are comfortable. So I can safely say that my French friend's presumption is, indeed, correct and I, too, believe that London is (albeit not permanently) the capital of the world!