How London made us....Brilliant Mate!

Brilliant! Yes that is a very prevalent expression in London,  I learned. A bit of hyperbole you may think, but it is sort of like "lovely". It just means "hey that's great", or "good job". I like leaning toward the positive extreme in speech, thought and everything else, so this was one of many things that the UK folks impressed me with. During our stay in Bloomsbury and Russell Square Linda and I were in the thick of things, rubbing elbows with the locals, so we got a good feel for the culture and the mindset. Working a full week with a melange of different nationalities at Nyse Euronext just added to, but did not contradict, what we learned while exploring and vacationing. While every day in our normal life is a lesson, mingling with people in another culture and country is a crash course in fun and discovery. What we learned:

1) Don't worry be Happy: We are way too driven. It is important to be ambitious and disciplined. But we take it to a negative, unhealthy extreme in New York. Come lunch in London the pubs are filled. People are friendly, out on the street, laughing, eating and drinking what they want. At work the meetings are relaxed, lots of  jokes, everyone polite and lots of smiles. Nobody dominating, brow-beating or insulting. Cool. For maximum success must we go to such extremes? I think not.

2) No matter no matter what color: Timmy Thomas had a song in 1972 that Sade covered so well that talked about the fact that no matter what color, you are still my brother. That is so out front in the UK. White, Black, Indian, Asian all are hanging together in groups, as couples, whatever. So much different than in my life, than in Massapequa. Although there is much more diversity in the workplace and,in general, I don't believe all races are accepted in the US. I did not get that feel in London.

3) Life is a walk in the park: An amazing, impressive aspect of London is the parks, or "squares". Forget about Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace, both of national landmark status. The local parks are just remarkable. Russell Square, Gordon Square, a park right across from Arran House where Kaila and I played frisbee. Wide expanses of grass and no benches, so we had the park to ourselves. Along the enbankment, Linda and I happened across an amazing square, in front of what looked like a bleeding castle that King Aurthur himself lived in. Amazing flowers, large statues, beautiful grass. We sat on a bench and caught some rays while others lounged on the grass or posed on the statues. No cops, nobody telling us to stay off the grass. Awesome.

4) Most polite and respectful I must say: The 2 weeks that we were in London happened to be bright sunshine and fairly warm. So that means the parks and all other outdoor venues were packed. Linda and I spent at least 3 days where we walked all over. Not once did we see an altercation, people playing loud radios, or people acting disorderly. On the tube I  did not witness anyone being harassed, bothered or having their privacy violated. Did they know the nosy Americans were coming, thus hiding all of their derelicts, homeless and criminals safely away? BTW compared to the subways the tube was very clean and much quieter.

5) Be yourself, you're lovely: Perhaps it was my imagaination, but undividualism is very noticable. Strange dress, business people dressing and acting much more relaxed and infromal. Plus everyone is just so affected by the historic and amazing musical past of London (or was it just me?) Just go to Camden Markets and check out the punks (many our age or older), and the omnipresent legends like The Beatles, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Smiths, Bob Marley, The Jam, The Rolling Stones. And Music is heard everywhere from Reggae to Soul to Punk to New Wave.

6) Watch your step: I believe the cabbies are worse than in New York. There was at least one time each for Linda and I where we thought we were going to be hit. Cars come from both ways, and don't forget about the bike and roller blading convoys. They travel in packs of 50 or more, and you don't want to cross into their lane as they will run you over.

Final Truth: Life in London is incredible just as in any culturally rich, thriving city. Can't wait to get back there. Hey Linda, what year will the grandkids be studying abroad?

Almost time for the Rites of Basil. Stay tuned and...

Keep the Faith y'all.