Country Mouse

Ever since I can remember, London has been my absolute favourite city in the whole world. Growing up, we went as a family to London quite often and I became familiar with the different sights and sounds. We also had a family tradition of going down to see a Christmas concert every year (which I appreciated more as time went by!).

When I met Harriet, I found in her a fellow Londonphile (is that even a word??), as she had been there a lot growing up and had a particular love for West End shows. A few times since then, we have been down there together and with others and it never ceases to impress as a city. It truly is a cauldron overflowing with culture everywhere you look.

The last time I went down there I stayed at the newly-found flat of a couple of very good friends, one of whom had yet to move in. As I rode the train, the tube and walked through London on the way to their flat, I marvelled at The Shard as it appeared above London Bridge Underground Station and made my way through dark streets (I went the scenic route) to where I was staying.

The Shard

The next morning, I walked towards Tower Bridge and past various other world-famous landmarks and revelled in the beauty of this grand old place. After walking all that distance and then more throughout the day, I realised something: I hadn't interacted in any way with anyone in this city yet - no words, not even eye contact.

Londoners have this canny knack of staying out of everyone's business in every way possible and there are various unwritten rules everyone sticks to:

• Do not make eye contact on the tube.
• Do not smile at people.
• Do not touch people. If this happens (most likely on the tube), you apologise profusely in the same way you would if you'd just accidentally shot their prize-winning poodle.
• Do not, under any circumstance, speak to anyone. This means you are a terrorist.

Being somewhat of a "Country Mouse", I have habits that must be strange to London-dwellers. When I walk past strangers in the street, I sometimes smile at them. This is a habit I don't intend to break, as I think it's nice and not quite mental enough to warrant sectioning.

This all got me thinking: how can this lack of human interaction happen in a place with a population of around 10 million people? If this is genuinely how things are here, how do people meet? How do people find their other halves? This in turn made me think that it must be so easy to fade away and be alone. I found that when I had my headphones in (another staple Londoner activity), I was in my own little bubble - my own world. I may as well have been wandering around by myself. Being an only child, this was in some ways appealing to me, but the more I thought about it the more I thought that this is only fun when temporary.

As I walked around further, I thought to myself that because it is so easy to be alone in a place like this, there must be a large amount of people there who have no-one. I then turned this negative thought into a positive one: I am so grateful for my family and friends. I am so blessed to have met the love of my life and to have been prepared for this by having such great parents and friends and others who cared enough about me. I am grateful that I am not alone!

Though I realise that this has all been a collection of my own personal thoughts based on one experience and is almost certainly not an accurate portrayal of life in "our nation's capital", I have still felt a re-commitment to my "Country Mouse" ways. I will continue to smile at people (even if I'm on the tube!), I will continue to interact in whatever positive way I can with others.

In all likelihood, my next post may come from the secure unit of a mental hospital...

Tower Bridge

The City of London at Night