Its been a great first few days in an amazing city. My family here have made me feel very welcome, as always, and I've gotten to know London from a different angle, even in this brief period. While my home situation here is as easy and enjoyable as my place in Florida (thankfully with much less possessions), I started a couple work commutes into town (for separate offices) that millions here must do also, whether it be by foot, bike, bus, tube (aka Underground, Subway), teleportation, or floo powder. Ok so the last two options aren't true (yet?) and one may be a Harry Potter reference, but the point is I have been absorbed into this mass of commuters, vigorously elbowing and stiff-arming my way around town.
On the first commute route, I start with a nice 15 minute walk, a common activity indigenous to Europe yet noticeably absent from Florida and most of the US due to sarcastically fantastic urban planning/land use, to the closest tube station that I've used since childhood (East Finchley). From there I take a Northern Line, the busiest of the 11 London tube lines, train to King's Cross Station, a busy passage also home to national and international rail services to areas beyond London. From Kings Cross I change tube lines to head to Baker Street Station, which is located on a few different lines as well. This station is one of the oldest in London and the world, dating back to the 1860's, and provides an inspiring transition to the area above, especially for this history-buff, known famously as the base of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes' adventures. In a word, this station is historically beautiful (whoops that was two). I take a short walk along Baker Street and a turn to Paddington Street and BOOM I'm there.
My other commute is quicker, simpler, and surely less descriptive...just a southbound Northern Line train from East Finchley to Leicester Square station (the drop off point to where my family and I have successfully ventured to for Chinatown meals in years past), and then a quick walk. Covent Garden (a district home to the second office) has a tube station also, but it's on the Picadilly line, is just a 5-10 minute walk from several other stations, and has an excruciatingly long spiral staircase to get out that I may be over-exaggerating but am not willing to go back to endure more suffering.
While doing a tube journey, I find myself in a webbed tangle of Londoners trying to beat everyone else to the next escalator or train. It's almost as awkward as crossing your way around a cramped American high school hallway, except you fortunately don't know everyone who you constantly bump into, hence the almost. I'm decently tall, so it's easy to see my surroundings, and I usually put on a big city scowl in which my face attempts to tell people: I'm a local who knows what I'm doing and where I'm going so get out of my way and don't piss me off. My insides would probably tell you something like: Wow I love pretending to be a brisk-paced local...wait nobody's looking at my swag-walk and me...damnit! However, it's nice not to be one of few brown guys (in my case Sri Lankan) walking around so I'm just happy to fit in between the locals and tourists.
The office located near Baker Street (first listed commute) is home to a company called Business of Culture. We are (I say "We" rather than "They" because I just got my new company email so I feel very legit right now...maybe too much so) basically a consultancy that attempts to bring greater investment into various cultures and emphasize culture's essential importance in todays world. BOC has many different projects and clients and they are the interim managers of a cultural centre (Note the Brit spelling) that I will be stationed at for the next couple months, called the Africa Centre.
The Africa Centre is based in Covent Garden (second listed commute), a lively, vibrant, somewhat touristy (being a decently knowledgeable tourist myself) district of Central London, and has been located in the same building since the early 1960's. The AC lost a lot of government funding several years back and is trying to devise new ways, those headed by Business of Culture, to stay alive as a cultural hub in London and the UK. It hosts occasional African cultural events, from those involving literature and film to fashion, theatre, art and music. A project that's ongoing is to make the AC a meeting point and social club for African competitors during the Olympics, something I believe is very possible due to the central location and rich history of the building and surrounding area. So to the many outstanding African athletes who are undoubtedly reading this blog, contact us! All joking aside, we're trying to spread the word as much as possible before and during the Olympics and Paralympics (which run until September 9th I believe) to ensure the future success of the AC.
It's an exciting and challenging project that I'm excited to contribute towards, using my youthful experience and knowledge on modern social networking and leaving the professional advertising and marketing to the big dogs here. BOC and I are still figuring out the fixed days and times I'll be working at both offices in the future but I'm sure I'll soon have more book-like additions to life outside work in this great city to follow....Stay tuned! (Yep phrase kinda fits)
The "Historically Beautiful" Baker Street Tube Station. Dating back to 1863 during the origins of underground travel, it would surely fascinate most.
Sherlock Holmes Statue outside the Baker Street Tube Station...nice pipe big guy
No comments:
Post a Comment