Visiting London

[smoke]

I can't believe there hasn't been a post here...ever.
so here's my piece of advice for people visiting london...
if you mutter and talk to yourself whilst walking through london...people will leave you alone!

 

[Mycernius]

I think if you talk and mutter to yourself in most places they will leave you alone.

 

[smoke]

...funny thing...i dared my friend to bark like a dog whilst walking behing a sh!tload of people around shaftsbury avenue.
she in turn did...and not a single person looked round, how's that for british politeness and stiff-upper-lip-ness.

it was a bit of a lame ass bark though!!!

 

[Mycernius]

There is a story from John Cleese. When shooting The Holy Grail he was stood on Hampstead Heath in full Lancalot gear, about three hundred yards away from the camera. The public passing him didn't say a word or even react to the fact a six foot four man dressed as a knight

 

[Maciamo]

...funny thing...i dared my friend to bark like a dog whilst walking behing a sh!tload of people around shaftsbury avenue.
she in turn did...and not a single person looked round, how's that for british politeness and stiff-upper-lip-ness.

That's the difference between British and Japanese politeness. Japanese people would all stop and stare or chuckle. They just don't know that staring is impolite.

 

[Mycernius]

Have you ever thought that the English and the Japanese are alike in some ways?

 

[Maciamo]

Have you ever thought that the English and the Japanese are alike in some ways?

Yes, for being polite, hypocritical, having island mentalities and speaking a hybrid language (Latino-Germanic for Engllish, and Sino-Altaic for Japanese).

 

[Mycernius]

You forgot treating all foriegners as inferiors.

 

[dreamer]

You forgot treating all foriegners as inferiors.

Depends the situation...I met quite a lot of japanese students in Brighton and they were thinking that France is very advanced when it comes to art...
Just looking at them when I said that I came from Paris didn't made me feel inferior at all...
However as Maciamo stated yes there's a hypocritical behaviour of asian people ^^'

 

[Mycernius]

I think you'll find it more in their own country. I've seen English people be ever so polite abroad, but once they get home you are a 'Johnny Foreigner Type'. I suppose the Japanese are like this. Once they get home you are Gaijin. As Maciamo said, it probably an Island Mentality. Japanese see themselve as 'better' (probably not the best word) because they maintained their distance and isolation from the rest of the world for so long, and maintained their traditions dispite what the world wants. English see themselves as 'better' because they are chiefly responsible for changing the world to what it is today, yet still manage to be seperate from the rest of the world with our quaint customs.

 

[Maciamo]

You forgot treating all foriegners as inferiors.

This is common in many countries (the French probably look down on more countries than the British or the Japanese). I am not sure that the British treat other, say Europeans as inferior, anyway certainly not the way the Japanese think of their Asian neighbours.

Then, although the Japanese do feel superior, they tend to be complexed by many Western achievements, and by the fact that they lost WWII to the US. So I'd say that the Japanese clearly feel superior toward other Asians (or Africans), but have mixed feelings about the West which they often regard with awe (and don't hesitate to imitate). Why do you think Japan usually bends to Western (especially American) pressure to change some of its laws, system or whatever ? Why do you think so many Japanese learn English, or want to study of live in Western countries ?

 

[dreamer]

Yeah...but this is kind of confusing...for example I look chinese but I was born in France...I wonder what japanese people would think about something like me -_-

 

[smoke]

I think you'll find it more in their own country. I've seen English people be ever so polite abroad, but once they get home you are a 'Johnny Foreigner Type'.

on the flip side of that, i have seen british people be complete @rseholes on holiday (in the more tourist areas). demanding rather than asking, treating 'foreigners' as stupid because of the language barrier and generally being loud mouthed and boystrous...not saying that they aren't like this at home!!!
i must admit...the influence of alcohol usually acts as a catalyst!
at the start of an evening people may seem reserved and polite...but by the end of it (usually after a few drinks), the same people are abnoxious and rude.
Once again, i'm not saying that they aren't like this at home!!!

 

[Mycernius]

I've seen a lot of people be ar$ehole$ on holiday after alcohol, not all of them British. Though I'll admit in some areas of Spain, British torurists are getting themselves a bad rep

 

[smoke]

I've seen a lot of people be ar$ehole$ on holiday after alcohol, not all of them British. Though I'll admit in some areas of Spain, British torurists are getting themselves a bad rep

...and the media is all too willing to let everyone know this!
i also believe that this sort of behavior can damage the reputation of the area in which these idiots visit and disrupt.
Ibiza is a great example.
i have been visiting Ibiza on and off since the age of five. both with my family and with my girlfriend and never once have i made a pr@t of myself (not in public anyway ) even after numerous 'spanish' measures.

the response i get when i tell people i am visiting Ibiza is one that always makes me cringe. "oh, are you going clubbing then?" and the occaisional "Oh, you're going to Ibiza?!" with a polite smile that hides a "f***ing hell!!!"
the reputation of the whole island is marred by idiots in one small area of the island.

and i must agree...you don't have to be british to be a tw@t on holiday!!!

 

[mossko]

In London, you can pee in the street, nick a bike, break into a car or fall flat on your face in London and nobody would give a crap. People are so involved in their own lives that they would not stop for any reason that does not directly involve themselves.

However, if it's pub closing time and you happen to be on the same street, then you will find english people alot more talkative and friendly!

I've been here for a couple of years and have gotten used to the coldness of London, it happens in most capital cities.. You get sick of the dumb questions by tourists, beggars, assholes bumping into you and the usual troubles that come from just walking down the street.. People react to the environment. If the environment is opressive then people shrink into their shell, if the environment is sunny and warm and friendly, then people open up alot more to strangers.

British people on the whole are generally nice, its just the Londoners usually have the wrong end of the stick and are known to be cold and unfriendly because the way the city is. Cold, wet, dirty with lots of nasty looking kids in tracksuits spitting and swearing on every corner.

 

[Maciamo]

British people on the whole are generally nice, its just the Londoners usually have the wrong end of the stick and are known to be cold and unfriendly because the way the city is. Cold, wet, dirty with lots of nasty looking kids in tracksuits spitting and swearing on every corner.

Wow, we must not have lived in the same part of London (there are lots huge differences from one area to another, btw). I personally like London. Can a city get grander than that ?

 

[smoke]

lots of nasty looking kids in tracksuits spitting and swearing on every corner.

this isn't restricted to london...it's 'Chav Culture' and it has spread across the country like a disease.

but i think your generalisations of London are a little unfair. admitedly it's cooky, it has less-appealing arrears, it has a lot of homelessness and poverty and there are things and places that even 'locals' don't like about it.
but tell me a city which doesn't have any, if not all, of the above?

 

[Melusine]

London is a great place!! Went to Camden Market(s), and found the most incredible types of clothes, food, etc.,, and above all people!!.

Went to see the Chinese exhibit of the buried army and other artifacts, (next best thing to going to China, have not been their yet) .

Bought bus passes and got on and off all over the city where ever we saw an area or place that looked interesting, we pulled the cord or buzzer, got off walked about and then got on the next bus, knowing that no matter that we were tourists we would end up near our hotel.

Melusine

 

[Cimmerianbloke]

Great hindsight on japanese and british cultures. To be fair, the brits we have travelling around Europe in the last 10 years are all easyjet and ryanair-ferried, the lowest of the lowest, going to Spain or Greece for the cheap pints. Japanese people coming to Europe have to be of higher stock (sorry, I don't see another to put it...). For people interested in the chav culture, Le Monde Diplomatique september's issue has a good article concerning the chavs and brit society.
London is indeed a fantastic city, sadly just a shadow of her former self...