Life
within earshot of a London Bell
by Dobrin Yungarev
Resume: This text is about our life nowadays in London through the view
of an exchange student. I’m subscribing the area I’ve chosen to with everything
that makes me an impression. As a person I’m seeing the things differently from
anybody else, but as a human I’m standing for the same rights for all of us. We
don’t like to be poor, unhealthy and smashed by the financial institutions, but
that happens so often, that we no longer fight with it. We just accept what was
unacceptable couple of decades ago and we’re just fine with it. Al though,
there are some people who seems to be unhappy and fighting against Capitalism,
Communism and everything else, that enslave us in some kind of way. They’re
protesting and living in tents, like homeless, but they’re raising and issue
that all of us should be aware of – we live in a cruel world and very few
people do something to turn in into a better place. What if we all do
something, for instance? What if we all stand together behind an idea and fight
for it? Would it change anything? I’m from Bulgaria, which is ex-communistic
country, and by the stories of my grandparents I know how bad it was. But it
isn’t much better now, because the people, who declare themselves to be a
democrats in the current ruling party, are the sons and daughters of the
communists.
The main theme is Life within earshot of a London Bell, so I hope there’s something interesting for each and every one of you.
Post Code : OCC 1DN
To go where I would tell you a story about, you need to use the London
underground district line to Mansion House. It’s where the journey begins. I
would like to focus on financial London and in particular the London Stock
Exchange, Bank of America and all the rest financial-related buildings in the
area of the St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The first thing that someone would notices is that it’s a quite lively
area. There are people everywhere. Traffic noises are so loud, that no one
could hear its thoughts. One should try to avoid the peak hours, because the
tube gets quite busy and sometimes there’s not enough space in the train.
However, once you get there, deep down in you you’ll know it’s worth it. After
you quit the Mansion House you go left until you reach Millenium bridge, after
that you shall turn right and in front of your eyes must be St. Paul’s
Cathedral. This is the first stop of our journey. There’s a churchyard park and
Natwest on the left. One can stop by for a hot drink or a can of non-alcoholic
carbonated drink if needed and then point to Newgate street. There’s a huge
part of financial London, for example – the London Stock Exchange, Bank of
America, CIBC World Markets, AXA Investment Management, Merrill Lynch Europe
etc etc.
Figure 1 – St. Paul’s Cathedral . Photo by D.Yungarev
The life in this particular area is very dynamic. People are moving in
every possible direction, though the most interesting path is leading to St.
Paul’s Cathedral. One can hear the Great Tom from miles. The bell was taken
from other church but it’s truly a London bell. There’s high cultural diversity
in that area not only because it’s the City of London, but also because it’s
quite interesting tourist attraction as well. After all St Paul’s is one of the
biggest cathedrals in Europe, isn’t it?
Before we
continue I shall tell you a little bit more about the St. Paul’s Cathedral at
all. St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its
dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the
original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St
Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the
highest point in the City of London, and is
the mother church of the Diocese of London. The
present church dating from the late 17th century was built to an English Baroque design of Sir Christopher
Wren, as part of a major rebuilding
program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of
London, and was completed within his
lifetime.
The cathedral is one of the most famous and most
recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's
City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years.[4] At 365 feet
(111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and
its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is
the second
largest church building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.
St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in
the national identity of the English population.[5] It is the central
subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome
standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz.[5] Important services
held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations
for Queen Victoria; peace services
marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the marriage of Charles, Prince of
Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving
services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.
St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.[Wikipedia]
I couldn’t not notice the high levels of cultural
diversity. It’s probably a normal thing here, in London, but I saw more Arabs,
Asians, Indians, than Britons. May be it’s because of the policy that Great
Britain is leading and, to be honest, is a very good one, at least for me.
Aside from the fact that I am stranger as well, it’s looking strange, because
Great Britain was a conqueror once upon a time in the history, but now it looks
conquered. It lost its capitol city. But that’s happening with the most
enormously popular Megapolis’s. After all, London is one of the 4th
most important cities in the world and it’s takin a leading role in the current
European Union politics. I couldn’t resist but to question myself “Why London
is more than welcome for one people, but not welcoming at all other ones? All
though it should be one politics for everyone. There’s no such thing like equal
rights. There are pople with rights and people with the right to leave whenever
they want. As a Bulgarian, or should I say, as a European Union citizen, I
should be well accepted with equal rights as the other European Union citizens,
but it’s not like that. There are still restrictions, up to 2015, for
Bulgarians and Romanians. It must be something with the politics I guess, but
we live in a democracy, right? You can ask our Prime Minister if you don’t
believe in my words. All I’m saying is that it is very unfair for me to come
here and to be discriminated by all the other newcomers, but not to be able to
respond in an adequate manner because it’s illegal for me to do it. However, it
seems like London has more than one side. It is, at the same time, huge tourist
attraction, but it’s also a shelter for every single refugee out there.
Figure 2 – Anonymous flag in the St. Paul’s Churchyard.
Photo by D.Yungarev
One thing we can we can be sure about, is that the
cathedral looks astonishing. If you’re passing somewhere around, it’s
incredibly hard to missed it. One can see the cathedral from miles away. It
even looks good when it’s cloudy and you’re mood is not that good. When we were
visiting Tate Modern, I saw St. Paul’s cathedral from the coffee shop on the 4th
(I guess) floor. There’s a shopping centre near the cathedral, but I can’t
remember its name, however, one can use the centre’s elevator up to the sixth
floor and see the London from high above. It looks magnificent. It’s like a
magical space. All of these buildings and you’re almost as high as them. One
thing one can be sure about is that you’re not seeing such a view every day. I
mean not like that particular one. It’s incredible. I can’t describe it. It’s
visible from the London eye as well, which is one of the biggest attraction in
the city. But, you should be aware of the price, because it’s not very cheap
one, but it must be definitely on everyone’s bucket list.
The greatest thing about the St. Paul’s cathedral park that day was the
protest. People usually protest when they want to change or say something. The
voices of the protesters have to be heard in time, because today it’s just
another silly protest, but tomorrow it might become something more, especially
if it goes viral like KONY 2012. Lots of different people stop by the Info tent
to donate, or just to say Hi. Most of the protesters behaved very natural and
some of them seemed to be very nice persons. They always wanted to help, if
there are any questions raised and never ignored anyone’s issues as well. They
were not a bad people, but unfortunately the police had to remove them. The
process was more like eviction and it didn’t looked like a democratic act.
However, it was a legal act, so they have to go to prison if they wanted to
stay at the park. Speaking of democracy I couldn’t not notice that a week after
the eviction the park was still surrounded by barriers. Some people might say
it’s like the Berlin wall, separating two different worlds – stock exchange
businessmen on the one side and the protesters on the other. Two weeks after
the eviction I found the Occupy Camp at Finsbury park and it seemed better than
ever. There was a new slogan I saw ‘This is not a protest, this is a process’. Now
it seems bigger, better and it’s like a big happy family living in their own kind
of society. Society where everyone’s just like you and me, but ones over there
would never hurt your feelings or make you feel like you’re nothing. It’s like
the hippies in the 80’s but modern. We are humans but lately everybody seemed
to have forgotten how to behave like one. However, if you are passing near
Finsbury Park, you can stop for a drink or have a chat with some kind
protesters, or whatever you’re up to. I know it because I did it.
I had the chance to talk with some
of the protesters while they were at St. Paul’s. One of them was in wheelchair
and looked pretty bad. He asked me where am I coming from, where am I going to,
etc, and then said that he could die soon in a very bad way. To be honest, I
didn’t understood everything he said, but most of it - shocked me. Then I went
to the Info tent in order to find a bit more and to ask some aside questions.
Of course, I started with “How do you find the life around?” and the answer I
received was “Not easy. Life here is not easy.” And it doesn’t looks like an
easy one, not only for the protesters, but for everyone else as well (still
it’s financial recession). I mean, beside the tourists, no one seemed to be
happy. I didn’t saw a single smile though there were hundreds of pedestrians,
may be even thousands. That made me a bit sad, because folks were too
busy and have kind of forgotten their smiles, which should be one of the most
important things in the world. However the protester was very nice with me as
he was answering with enthusiasm. I asked him “What means the victory for you,
Sir?” and he said “ The fact that you are standing here and asking questions,
means that the object is completed. We want people to know about this, to
educate them. You need to be introduced to an issue first in order to care
about it.” That answer satisfied me
enough but I needed
(figure 3 Protestign against: photo by D.Yungarev) some
more opinions in order to be more objective on the topic which is Life within
an earshot of a London Bell. So I asked the first stranger that came across,
who was in shirt and tie “How would you describe briefly the life within an
earshot of St. Paul’s bell?” and he said “ It’s quite interesting, busy, and
everyone’s crazy. Everyone’s chasing his own career and there’s no place for
mistake. Sorry but I am in kind of hurry, so take of yourself and good
luck”. Businessmen may have a decent
vocabulary and behave very well, but you can’t expect a good story from them,
because they are not the nicest people nowadays. Also they’re missing some
honesty, to be honest. When a politician or businessmen talks to me I don’t
trust a single word. I’m always trying to find the hidden clue, because they’re
just simply not telling the truth to the people.
I questioned the same question some other guys, but they answered in
familiar way. I went to a tourist in order to receive a different answer, but
she didn’t seemed to be understanding at all. I don’t know if you’re aware of,
but to enter the St. Paul’s Cathedral you have to pay an entrance fee around
12-14 pounds, but it was closed for visitors during the protest, so there is a
financial side on the issue as well. However, it’s not religious question, but
a humanistic one, why should I pay for visiting God’s place? I’m quite sure
that if I could ask these questions to the almighty I’d definitely receive a
different answer than the real one, wouldn’t I!
Figure 4 – Bicycle of a married protesters. Photo by D.Yungarev
The real rush is in the very morning, like 7-8 am, when everyone’s going to work, and it’s really hard to get by. The other rush hour (or peak) is around 4:30-6:30pm when everyone’s tired and is looking only how to get home quicker. So if you want bright opinion and ready for life businessmen you should be there early in the morning. I’m suffering from CGUFTB (can’t get up from the bed) so I was quite late and I had to run after the very few people passing in order to receive some answers. In front of St. Paul’s is always full with people but one can’t be sure whether or not he will get the right answers from the right people. I assume the need of some luck and I believe that I had it.
Later in the evening, when everyone was Im-going-home-finally mood, I
could read on everyone faces that there’s something wrong with the world today.
Again, nobody was happy. These people are producing, they’re businessmen, I
agree that they’re supposed to be that serious, but at the end of the day, it’s
all about being satisfied with yourself, with what you’ve accomplished, isn’t
it? They’re making a real amount of money, risking a lot, predicting, etc, and
million lifes are in their hands and minds, aren’t they one of the most
important part of the today society? Today it’s all about making money, nothing
else is that important. It’s like, if you’re not making enough money, you’re
simply not allowed to have a normal life.
Figure 5 – The London Stock Exchange Group. Photo by D.Yungarev
That’s why I wanted to focus on business area and tried to describe the
average London shirt and tie person.
Off topic - What I don’t like about the financial world is that we’re,
kind of, depending on it. I mean, very few of us understand it, but everyone is
involved somehow. Whether it will be by paying bills or getting a mortgage
loan, it’s all the same. We’re living in a world controlled by the financial
institutions. It’s up to us how we deal with it, but the more money you have,
the better you feel. It’s all about the money. It doesn’t matter how you make
them or what does it costs you, as long as there’s a need, you got to produce.
The capitalism is the world’s best selling politics and whether you want or
not, sooner rather than later you’ll start to play by its rules. That’s the way
it is – you hear it from everyone, and even if you’re not happy, nobody gives a
damn about you, because that’s the way it is. The only thing you can do is to
accept it and live with it, no matter how hard doing is. It’s a cruel world,
isn’t it? May be our only shot is to treat everyone the way we want they to
treat us. It does sound impossible, doesn’t it? Everything’s changing in
incredibly fast temps and it’s no longer easy to catch up with it. It’s like,
we’re living for the banks and it takes, sometimes, more than lifetime to pay
the loans and mortgages. Almost everybody lives on loan/credit. You spend most
of your life working and you can’t even feel safe at home anymore. This is not
good.
To be honest, tradition or not, it seems like no one hears the London
bells anymore. They’re there, ringing at certain time, loud enough so everyone
could hear it, but it don’t impress like decades ago. Only the very religious
people probably smile when the bell rings. If you’re Iphone rings, it’ll
impress more people. Sadly or not, the religion is not such a big thing around
London. The London bells, however, are very important for the cockneys, because
of the nursery rhymes and everything in their tradition, but their definitely
not trending nowadays.
