London

You do realize it's no different than any other major city in the UK right? It's just a bit busier.

Do you cry yourself to sleep?
 
Well the difference between past immigration and immigration today is the sheer numbers. People would have had to travel by boat in some cases on a journey that would see some people losing their life. Now they catch a plane or they arrive by train or bus. In fact I saw a bus load of immigrants arriving in london other day. Looked like I was back in south africa for a second. Just joking.

You do realise that you are an immigrant, right?

And props to the people posting the gifs in terms of ethnic choices. :D
 
lol London

I have been working in and out of London for the past 20 years however the longest I have lived down there in a single stint is 6 months, as I prefer to weekly communte if I have assignments down there.

You could call me a 'country mouse' as I prefer a quieter life in general. My biggest bug bear with folks down in London is the complete lack of eye contact and isolation during the commute from home to office - you will find that the 'non-locals' tend to be far more friendlier than the locals.
 
lol London

I have been working in and out of London for the past 20 years however the longest I have lived down there in a single stint is 6 months, as I prefer to weekly communte if I have assignments down there.

You could call me a 'country mouse' as I prefer a quieter life in general. My biggest bug bear with folks down in London is the complete lack of eye contact and isolation during the commute from home to office - you will find that the 'non-locals' tend to be far more friendlier than the locals.

I don't consider my groggy morning commute to work, or knackered commute back to be social events, and as such I shut myself away into a world of comics, music and tv shows.

That doesn't make me unfriendly, I'm plenty friendly when in a situation that being friendly makes sense in.

Shouting over tube noise to a stranger that is 7 inches from my face is not such a situation. :p
 
My biggest bug bear with folks down in London is the complete lack of eye contact and isolation during the commute from home to office - you will find that the 'non-locals' tend to be far more friendlier than the locals.

Why do you want to make eye contact with people? :confused:

And why do you need "friendly" people around you? I don't get people in this thread saying Londoners are mean and northerners are friendly. I don't speak to strangers in any part of the world unless I have to. Why would anyone want to speak to a random stranger unless you are in a social gathering? People do their own thing on the tube, like listening to music or reading a book - they don't want some stranger trying to start up a conversation with them. People in a pub here are just as friendly as anywhere else. And the tube is a means of transport, not a place to make friends.

Edit: Oh and people are helpful on the tube, people always help mothers with their prams to get them on/off the train or up/down the stairs, and someone always lends a hand to help old ladies on/off the train.
 
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Immigration only really happened after WW2 when people from the colonies came over to help rebuild Great Britain after the war, the country needed those select few but now we have all sorts of people coming over, many for the wrong reason.

Well that's a loads of rubbish. Speaking as a third generation immigrant (Russian/German) whose ancestors settled here around 110 years ago, I'm delighted to say that having been raised and currently living in London, only one of my group of friends (who've all been Londoners for 25+ years) is purely British. The rest are an amalgamation of Northern, Central and Eastern Europeans (not to mention Asians) whose great great Grandparents arrived in London 75-200 years ago.

The issue that some small minded people have now is that the majority of immigrants aren't traditionally white anymore, and certain demographics of this country just can't seem to deal with that fact. It's am mighty shame. Living in a culturally diverse area like Whitechapel, I reckon the area would be boring as hell if you removed all the immigrants and foreign cultures.
 
My biggest bug bear with folks down in London is the complete lack of eye contact and isolation during the commute from home to office - you will find that the 'non-locals' tend to be far more friendlier than the locals.

Eye contact aside, I always found Londoners very friendly. Had plenty of people offering to help when I was confused by tube ticket machines, or needed info about the next stop, or directions to wherever.

The one lesson I had to learn the hard way is that you don't talk on the tube. :eek:
 
The one lesson I had to learn the hard way is that you don't talk on the tube. :eek:
I chat with people on the tube. It's just that a lot of people in London are complete snobs / very antisocial.
It is understandable when you consider many of them tend to be a bit rude / antisocial in the office to get on with their jobs (especially in larger firms).

estebanrey said:
IMO, multi-ethnicity is great, multiculturalism isn't (although many confuse the two).
Spot on. You integrate into a society's culture and keep remnants of your culture. Seeking to replace and dominate native culture is aggressive and divisive - doubly so when the culture is clearly regressive in many ways (Full-body veils anyone?).
Let's keep it on track though, the majority of migrants do intend to fit in. They all come with expectations of a better life, and most do work very hard for it.
 
It's just that a lot of people in London are complete snobs / very antisocial.

Tosh, why should a person's commute be considered a social event? If you are tired either going to or from work, rushing or stressed, the last thing you want to do is chat to strangers. That doesn't make a person anti-social though.
 
Tosh, why should a person's commute be considered a social event? If you are tired either going to or from work, rushing or stressed, the last thing you want to do is chat to strangers. That doesn't make a person anti-social though.

Thank you for proving the point ! I don't think anyone has stated any circumstances regarding the of lack of acknowledgement of fellow travellers on the tube.

I would think there must be a few hundred thousand commuters each end of the day during the peak times, so your view is that every single one of them are suffering one of the listed symptoms. It is a true shame, don't you think ?

Like I said in the 20 years I've been down there, nothing has changed in relation to social courtesy other than the visitors being more socialable.
 
toshj, I live in Whitechapel too since 2 months ago or so. Go London!

Edit: On the commute, I tend to listen to music, and no one ever tells me anything... it be lovely to have a conversation with a cute girl though ;)
 
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