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July 18, 2002
Subject: England Trip - Letter #09
Thursday, July 18, 2002
Dear Friends,
Today was a great deal different from what I had planned. I
never made the journey to Wesely's Chapel due to the Underground strike.
Instead, I enjoyed things in the Kensington area of London near my hotel. I was
never able to get on any bus all day long. They would come by the bus stop and
be overflowing with passengers and not allow anyone to climb on board. The gates
to the underground are closed. Many of the little stores and sandwich shops near
the terminals are also closed.
I did quite a lot of walking through Kensington Park where
the Palace where Diana lived. I saw Royal Albert Hall (for musical concert
performances) and several other places. I spent most of my time at the British
Science Museum. They have both the historical technology displays as well as
hand-on activities for the youngsters (and those young at heart.) There were
many people there, and exhibits were quite crowded. It is a rather large museum,
not terribly unlike Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry (which I think is a
better museum). I took particular interest in their history of mathmatics and
history of computers. Regarding computesr, they are living about 50 years benind
the times. Their latest things were in the mid-1950s or so. I also enjoyed the
telecommunications section, but it was quite small. Perhaps they need to update
it with some of the newer telecom tools such as our software - TAP. My legs are
sore and I am glad to be back at the internet cafe and then to the hotel for a
little rest before dinner tonight.
The rest of my thoughts tonight will be sociological in
nature. I have made several observations about the British and will share them
with you. I would welcome thoughts from Carole Lane and Sue Coombs upon my
return, should they have any counterpoint thoughts. They are both from England
and friends in Denver at our church. These are my personal observations and
conclusions drawn from a limited exposure and a limited time frame, but I think
also quite interesting.
SMOKING and LITTERING
Smoking in public is much more widespread in London than in
the US. Although it is prohibited in most public transit places, it is very
prevalent in restaurants and with people walking down the street. Everywhere
seems to have ash trays. On one of my previous trips over I noticed they even
have ash trays in the back of seats in movie theaters.
In general the people seem accustomed to having someone
clean-up after them. I have seen no trash bins in any of the Underground,
sidewalk cafes, public shopping areas or large parks where many gather to rest
and share picnic lunches. I carried a trash bag from my lunch for about two
hours and finally placed it on the table of a sidewalk cafe.
Despite this, the environment is no more littered than we
would see in the US. Perhaps persons carry their litter and properly dispose of
it. There are quite a few cigarette buts on the ground everywhere in the
Underground, sidewalk and even in stores. I will try to observe when I return
and see if this is as common in the US as it seems to be here.
YOUTH
The behavior of the younger ones in strollers often again
reconfirms that all children in all cultures can perform the same shrieks of
outrage, hostility and individualized behavior, independent of their culture,
when they do not get exactly what they want when they want it.
Throughout the city you see groups of elementary and middle
school age youngsters out and about. A striking contrast to the US is that you
will see many of them wearing school uniforms. Some are plain - a white polo
shirt and black trousers. Some are fancy with the school insignia embroidered on
the shirt or blouse. Some schools have their young gentlemen wearing a white
shirt, trousers, necktie and dress coat. They appear to behave respectfully in
their groups, though with a adequate ration of enthusiasm and zeal. Their noise
level as they pass by is much less than one would expect in the US. Decorum and
respect for those not in their own group is considerably more elevated than at
home. There seems to be a much stronger sense of belonging and corporateness as
opposed to being so focused on one's individual desires and needs. I made these
observations while watching 15-20 groups over these past two weeks.
MULTICULTURAL
London is certainly uniquely British, but it has an
international flair that is completely different from Denver. Perhaps it is more
like New York City. You hear many languages and dialects spoken as you roam
around the city. Food servers can be from anywhere. Sometimes they find English
quite a challenge, having learned it in school elsewhere and they travel here to
learn it in the real world. Even though John commented to me that my American
dialect was less pronounced than most he had heard, I still have difficulty
being understood at times. I am hoping that is because many listeners' native
tongue is other than English. On two separate occasions, I have jumped into
Spanish to help tourists from Spain. They were quite appreciative.
CONCLUSION
Those are my thoughts this evening. It is now 6:30pm Thursday
evening and I am headed to dinner and back to the hotel. I would not want to
miss today's chapter of the Bach 48 Preludes and Fugues played on the piano on
the BBC. They have a 10 minute segment each evening for such priorities. Last
night I watched the BBC news for 35 minutes and it was followed by an
outstanding hour long program on Vivaldi and his most famous work - the Four
Seasons. I knew he was a Roman Catholic priest, but I did learn quite a bit. I
doubt that we will even see it on PBS.
This is my ninth letter on this trip. If you are missing any
and would like to have it, shoot me an email and let me know and I will send it
out. For some reason two persons did not received #5 when it went out, but do
now have it. Just let me know.
Hopefully, tomorrow will return to normal at least in the
transportation department. Only one more full day here and then I face United
Airlines on Saturday (through Newark).
Yours truly,
Larry
Return to
London Trip Page
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• Denver, CO |
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