The ties that bind..
Hi Jiae, I really enjoyed your last post. Just like you, I’ve never liked commuting. At the moment I’m working quite near where I live so fortunately I can get 2 buses which aren't too crowded. When I used to work in central London I had to take the tube every morning and evening at rush hour. I hated it – crammed into a carriage like a tin of sardines, your face wedged into someone’s armpit. It drains your energy and makes you feel like a robot, part of some great big, meaningless machine, going endlessly back and forth...
I think what you say about cities is true. People are anonymous. We often don’t know our neighbours, and we spend most of our time surrounded by people we have never met and will never meet again. I don’t think it means we are selfish, or even indifferent. I would say that it's a kind of 'survival instinct'. If you behaved as if you were in a village or small town, said ‘hello’ to everybody, left your front door unlocked, walked slowly and so on, you wouldn’t survive very long. I grew up in London, and I’ve always lived in cities, so it’s not really new for me, but I agree that it can feel a bit inhuman sometimes. Worldwide, the number of people living in cities and urban areas is now greater than the number living in rural areas. The question is, how do we, as humans, adapt to this way of life? Are there any solutions?
Recently, an event called 'The Big Lunch' was organised by the Eden Project. (By the way, did you have a chance to visit the Eden Project while you were here?)
The Eden Project
Here’s a paragraph from their website. What do you think? Is it a good idea?
Most of us are shy, many of us lead single lives and even when we are together often go our own way. Ninety-seven per cent of neighbourhoods are more fragmented than they were 30 years ago. We just don’t gel the way we used to. Isn’t it crazy that 10 million of us are networking regularly online yet we barely know who lives next-door? Yet, inside almost everyone there is a notion that despite our differences, the ties that bind us are important. The Big Lunch is your excuse to cut loose. You’re all invited. Every man, woman, child, cat, dog and bird from every type of community, from best-kept hamlets to inner city estates to prisons and hospitals, all are welcome. All we ask is that you come as you, open-minded and up-for-it.
fragmented - consisting of many different parts
gel - in this context, 'gel' means to form relationships and connections with each other
networking - communicating with lots of other people, part of a network (like the BBC LE community)
notion - an idea or belief
the ties that bind - the links which connect us, for example family or community
cut loose - another way to say this is 'to let your hair down'. To behave in a less controlled way than usual, relax, stop being so formal
hamlet - a very small village
up-for-it - willing to try something
The idea was simply to get people all over the country to have lunch together outside in their street. It seemed to work quite well in some places, although I must confess that I didn't see anybody having lunch in my street. Maybe next year.....
Cities are big, anonymous places, but just the other day, I was on the platform at King’s Cross station, waiting for my train, when somebody said ‘hello’. I awoke from my daydream and saw a vaguely familiar face grinning at me. A split second of uncertainty was dispelled when he introduced himself, and as he did so I remembered him. Akihiro, a Japanese student I had taught for a few weeks about 5 years ago! He’s quite a well-known football commentator back in Japan and I remember he often used to be away watching and commentating on Champions League football matches. (we were all quite envious at the time...)
So you see....it’s a small world!
Comments
Hello Jim. I really like the first paragraph you described about commuting. As for me, it’s really like nightmares when I take subway every morning from Monday to Friday especially on Monday. Like thousands of people, I need to transfer from Line 2 to Line 13, and the transformation from one line to another costs at least 10 minutes! You must walk a long way! I can always hear people complain about the design of the transfer station. But I must admit that I’m lucky enough because it takes me less than fifty minutes total from home to work and some of my colleagues even use one and a half hour! I hate commuting. I think many people have the experiences that we suddenly meet with someone that haven’t seen each other for years. Days ago, when I wandered along a street near my home to kill time, I came across with an old good friend. There is a big surprise on her face too. We talked for a while and it made me very happy that day. Yap! A small world! Take care and best wishes, Jingjing.
Living in a big city has it own advantages and disadvantages. It is easy to find a good job with high salary but the relationship with neighbours is terrible. I used to live in a big city, the density was very high but people hardly to talk with each others exept working and money. But now i am living in a small countryside, people are very friendly and I know where the place is i will live for the rest of my life. I'm new in this website. Nice to meet you all.
Hi Jim! You are lucky to spent minimum of your life on transport! There are many questions we need to answer to prove we are sensible society. We are propagating in great numbers and at a very quick rate, increasing poverty and misery. Once receiving huge impulse from the Big Bang we are rushing through the time like other animals and insects from the birth to the death hardly managing our lives responding only for short-term simple challenges. Poverty, overpopulation, urbanization are out of our control yet, cause we are reproduction-driven and profit-driven. We are far a way from the nature in the city, we need to stop unthinkable irrational global growth and personal enrichment and just enjoy ourselves and return to innocence ).
Hello, Jim! I’ve just come back from a spa, where I spent a few days relaxing, swimming in a swimming pool of hot water ‘cause there is a spring of hot water. The whole time I was trying to hold back from laughing too hard. A friend brought along her six-year-old daughter, Ana, whom we taught how to swim. Apart from swimming lessons that we tried to give to her, Ana surpassed us in all other skills. She made friends with the kids of all ages. She never played or spent any time alone, all the kids wanted to be with her and when she saw me and her mother sitting alone, she came to us and sat with us ‘cause she didn’t want us to look sad and alone. Having just one person like that in your neighbourhood can make the whole neighbourhood connect. I’m lucky ‘cause the people in the building where I live are traditional, I mean that in a good way, in a sense that we visit each other to drink coffee and ask about health and family.
Hi Jim, There must be some difference in rural area in India and Britain. At the same time there is some unique natures of oneness in both the areas. The main occupation of the rural area is agriculture. The agriculturist from these areas depends upon their occupation based on the weather. If one monsoon fails they will be facing starvation. (I am talking about majority of the ordinary farmers not landlords) people start to migrate from one place to the place where the employment opportunities of plentiful than rural areas. They think that they will have a plenty of job opportunities in the modern urban cities irrespective of their educational background. They won’t consider their facilities of housing, water and health. They will be ready to meet their expenses what ever the amount they earn. I am sure that it will be difficult time for them to meet out the expenses with the amount they manage to earn. And they will be peaceful and satisfied with the meager amount they earn in the rural area. Another important point came to my mind why people go the cities are they want to give their children to get good education. You find it difficult to get good education in the villages, so affluent people in the villages send their children to the urban educational institutions. They won’t get a feeling to come back to their original villages once they finish their education in the cities. Altogether the cities will be crowded and congested and villages will be peaceful and serenity.
Hi Jim, When I read you blog it reminds me about my neighbours. Oh it's true, I even don't known their name at all although we have lived there since i was teenager. I have lived in London for one year but before that i lived in HoChiMinh city (Vietnam). I come to London to study English as people in my country often say ''it's one of the keys to open my future''. Of course, i don't come here because people say that. I come here because I am attracted by your country (Language, culture and people) Last month, I had a chance to visit a small town which called St Ives. Suprisingly, peolpe are friendly than i though. When i was walking and met local people they often say 'hi' that makes me feel i am home. Foods and sighseeing are also wonderful. After thst trip, I have sometime wondered does my communication skills have problem??? Why sometimes say 'hello' is so difficult...
Hello Jim, It's time for me to give a little bit of my time to you by saying hi to you. First of all, I would like to thank you for the great job that you've done for us for the last two months. One thing I'm sure about is that you will always have an influence on our English. I know you've got a big heart, and you're very kind and friendly as well. I wish I could be an actual student of yours if you know what I mean. As you know it's almost at the end of July, so this comment is kind of appreciation. I hope that you will pop in the BBC LE website some time in the future. That would be great. On the other hand, if I tell you a bit about myself, I'm from Somalia, and it is a great pleasure for me to now right to you. I consider it a very great pleasure to have met you over the internet. Best wishes to you and your family, Abdisamad
Hi Jim! I think I'm a lucky guy because here where I live the buses aren't full all the time and I can get to the University in 15 minutes even on foot. I would hate to lose two hours every day in crowded buses or stuck in the traffic. In my city, the traffic flows normally most of the time, but the traffic infrastructure cannot compete with the growing number of cars and in a few years they will certainly clog the streets unless something dramatic is done. My city is quite small (around 700000 people) so it's easier to people know one another, although they get more and more isolated as time passes by. Now and then I see familiar faces by accident in the streets, and it's a good sensation. Regards.
Hi Jim! I live in a hamlet and close-knit community. People in the town are so friendly and are always up-for-it to help each other. I get on with them so well. Anyway, I hadn’t seen one of them for a while so I had been wondering how she had been. I was on the way home from the town and I joyfully bumped into her on the street. I was too overjoyed to notice her change at the start. We gave a big hug each other and began having a chin-chat and small talk. Somehow I spotted her hair was really short. So, I offered her my liking of her new hair done, but unexpectedly, she was in tears and informed me she had a cancer but it’s been treated and she and her family are anxiously waiting for the result. I was knocked all of a heap and I literally lost words. To cut a long story short, I made a hang basket with colourful flowers and my son and me went to see her a week later. When my son presented the hanging basket planted the flowers to her, her eyes were watering with joy and she thanked us from her bottom of her heart. Jim, I am the nutcase, who always break the ice whenever meet a new person or people because I feel many people in the town are more reserved and introverted than my ex-hometown’s. On the other hand, when they build up or have a friendship, they are so lovely, funny, helpful and very talkative. I think it depends on people how to open their heart to strangers. The world won’t be so isolated or made us despair if we’re willing to share something you can give away.
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