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Between London, Melbourne and Washington-1

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Tamildownunder, Nov 14, 2007.

  1. Tamildownunder

    Tamildownunder Bronze IL'ite

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    Between London, Melbourne and Washington-1

    Last few years I had the fortune to live and work in London (U.K), Melbourne (Australia) and Washington (U.S.). often people ask me which city or country I like most. of course, the circumstances and personal experiences cannot be generalised. Still I attempt to bring out my experiences and a comparison here.

    London:

    In 2003, I went to London to do a post-doctoral assignment at the National Physical laboratory located at Teddington between Hounslow and Twickenham suburbs and closer to Hampton. Being my first stint aboraod I was excited, anxious and thrilled.

    London, I can say as the most cosmopolitan city in the world and there are people virtually from all over the world. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Srilankans all look alike and it is difficult to tell the nationality. Even amongst Tamils, there are Sri Lankan Tamils and Tamils from Tamil Nadu. An interesting question was put to me once. 'How do you identify the Tamils?'. I said, 'if the spoken Tamil is pure and with many new words to me I identify the person as from Sri Lanka and if it is mixed with lot of English words then the person is from Tamil Nadu'.

    I had many surprises as I had imagined that English people are religious. They go to the churches for Sunday masses, tell prayers before going to bed etc. I found most of the English people being protestants do not go to churches and many churches have been converted into supermarkets and even Hindu temples since the maintanance of churches have become a problem.

    English peole love soccer and rugby more than cricket. Twickenham has a big rugby stadium where many international tournaments are conducted. Since I was staying closer to Twickenham on rugby days the traffic hurdles used to be a headache. Worse part is the drunk hooligans returning after the matches hooting and teasing the people on the road. Once, as it was raining I carried an umbrella which happened to be a ladies' umbrella my wife gave to me when I left for London. The hooligans coming behind me must have thought I am a lady and started hooting at me. Only when they neared me they realised their mistake and I was saved as they put their heads down and went away.

    London public transportation is the best I have come across. In fact, London Metropolitan buses used to advertise that 'the buses are your second cars'. The bus roots are well linked, very punctual and the double-decker buses (familiar to Mumbaities since the BEST in Mumbai have bought these buses and run them) are excellent. They have special buses to Heathrow airport where one can keep their luggages in an enclosure and relax. I was surprised to see people leaving their luggages in the enclosure down and go upstairs and sit. Perfect safety is there. I was forced to recollect how my friend lost his suit case while drinking water at V.T.

    To be continued.....
     
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  2. Vandhana

    Vandhana Silver IL'ite

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    TDU Sir,

    Wow, it will be really very interesting to read your experiences living in all these countries. I was on a short stay in London a few years back and loved the TUBE ( as it is so fondly called). Just amazed with the system.
    Waiting to read more about your experiences.
     
  3. SupriyaDinesh

    SupriyaDinesh Silver IL'ite

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    Hello sir,
    I totally agree with u . I stayed in London for 9 months.I simply loved to stay there.People are very friendly and the buses and tube r so reliable.The NHS serves people very well.Children have very good time pass activities for free of cost.Would love to read about your experience in these three places.
     
  4. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

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    TDU sir,
    Nice writeup about experiences living in London . To get the true perspective one needs to live there. I havent been to London yet except for the occassional stopover at Heathrow. That city is in our agenda or rathers son's agenda, And he wants to travel the chunnel! Waiting to read the comparisons and the other places.
     
  5. Tamildownunder

    Tamildownunder Bronze IL'ite

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    Thanks, Vandana for suggesting an interesting topic to me and I am going through nostalgic memories of my stay in these three cities.

    Regards,
    TDU
     
  6. Tamildownunder

    Tamildownunder Bronze IL'ite

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    Thanks, Supriya Dinesh and Anand Chitra for visiting my blog and posting your valuable comments.

    Regards,

    TDU
     

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