Just moved to the Big City, London, from the Big City, Los Angeles. I'm still wide-eyed.
I arrive in London feeling like a tourist, except for a vague notion of the English language I share with locals--even a previous visit to the Queen's homeland--I feel I am in a fish bowl. I am looking out of a glass ball, swimming in circles making tiny bubbles as I gawk at the large-contorted faces peering in, occasionally tapping on the glass, which send alarming waves. Then I go back to swimming around in circles.
I assume it is just the daze of traveling nearly 19 hours to get here and arriving to a flat, yes, a flat, not an apartment, full of guests. I used my frequent flier miles to fly at high season; so it took me from Orange County airport (AKA Santa Ana AKA John Wayne) to San Fransisco airport, then to Dulles in Washington DC, then finally into London. Add 3 hours of laying over in each city and you finally arrive at 19 total hours.
So, I am here, with Jeff my dear flatmate (just trying to fit in) and my dear girlfriend, Aaliyah; plus a good friend our ours from Kunming, China, Jen. Additionally, Jeff's roommate from college (not flatmate from university because it all took place in America), Triston and eventually Jen's friend from Americorp, Ibti arrives, to make one big happy family.
We go to the Tate Museum to find a fascinating exhibition on global cities, focusing on a select few mega-cities. My favorite is the comparison of how many commuters use public transportation to work in Los Angeles and city dwellers of Tokyo. My first thought is, "Why such an obvious extreme?" but it makes you wonder. 7% of Los Angelians commute to work and 78% of Tokyo-ians. Shame on Los Angeles for pretending to be a mega-city.
My next favorite comparison is on immigrants from other parts of the world into the city of Los Angeles and London. Picture two world maps with a number attached to each major country that represents the number of migrants within that city. It comes as no surprise that 1.5 million Mexicans live in Los Angeles, the highest number of migrants. As for London, the largest influx of migrants come from India.
The exhibition takes on the basic artful themed forms of size, speed, form, density and diversity. Taking these broad perspectives, another fascinating angle is the speed of growth. In Shanghai, 31 new people move from the country to the city each hour. Lagos, 41. Los Angeles, 9. London, 6. Nanjing, 4. That is why by this year for the first time in history over 50% of the world population lives in cities.
The whole exhibit is full of facts that will make you the smartest and most global person at the wine party. I recommend you get to London before August 27, 2007 or check out the Tate's Global Cities website; which likely will be taken down once the exhibition is over. The video, commissioned by Christian Grou, introduces the exhibits, be sure to watch it on the largest mode you have.
I could go on, but I won't. There is so much to report on.
Now, I am entering week 2 of my London time and I have to admit it is less daunting. I would bring a book on the tube, to look uninterested and studious, but I was just too overwhelmed by the people watching to even crack the spine. I have lost a little of the fish bowl effect.
Being in such close proximity to other people so different from me, exposes me to a wide range of openly spoken languages, that even I have to stop and wonder what is being said. I don't speak a lot of languages, but I can recognize most Asian, Germanic, Latin-based languages. I am constantly stumped with the Middle Eastern dialects and further thrown back by African languages. As my flatmate says, "It keeps me on my toes."
Coming from Los Angeles, the city is spread too thin to share a bus ride or walk through an ethnic neighborhood on the way to the tube, so I have no one to blame but the LA city planners that suburbanized my life and pigeon-holed me by class. London offers something close to New York yet more diverse. Here, neighborhoods are divided by ethnic background and class, but it is hard to avoid either of those when sharing public sidewalks and transportation. Outside of that, London just draws from a different region of the world than Los Angeles or any other comparable US city. Many former British colony patrons have settled here and Europeans from the East jump the boarder to have a better life.
Same story as Los Angeles but different players. It makes watching the game so much more interesting, even when you know the central plot. Although I will admit there is a tone of acceptance that is more obvious than in the US. I have yet to sort that out, but essentially, I feel more acceptance here. My American accent isn't a problem, my short hair isn't either. More on that once I figure out the why related to this tone of acceptance.
So all in all, I am settling in for the summer. I hope to make some time to film this cute little Vauxhall flat and the surroundings. I live a stone throw from the Thames River in Zone 1. Until then, learn more about our Global Cities exhibition and apply.
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