Alternative London

At home in the "wee” town again after spending the whole weekend in London with a lot of fantastic people. Concentrating on building relationship, sharing our experiences and gaining a deeper understanding of lives in different countries. Amazing! The whole trip was an incredible experience. Both Luís and I have been to London before, but to experience the city from a more local perspective was something else. Avoiding the tourist trail and see the "genuine” London has made me even surer that this town will be of importance for me in the future.

Seven extremely tired people met outside the PA office at 5:00 in the morning. Perhaps not the most excited crowd of people, but given how unholy early we had to wake up, I still think we kept the spirits up. An agile approach to Gatwick and we didn’t die (the only time I pray is when I fly). Met up with Rose and the other participants from Southampton and Leicester. We started the weekend with a visit to Westminster where we listened to an interesting introduction of the Parliament and visited the House of Commons where a " lively "  (not) debate was going on. After that we carried our bags directly to SHM 's office. Once there, had a visit from two passionate people representing the organization Fully Focused, who focus on trying to change people's perceptions through film - change at the grassroots level driven by young people in London. So interesting to hear about that sort of project and it probably got us all to draw parallels to WIMPS and how we could develop it further. The long day ended with a Vietnamese dinner, which gave the only vegan in the group (me) a lot of options. I took rice noodles and tofu, and I still hold my view that the Asian cuisines offering the best food. That's something I like the most about visiting a larger city – that there are so many options. You do not have to strain a lot to make a vegan pleased, because the options are so numerous. Another thing I love about big cities is the diversity of people. Staring at people from a café might be the best thing ever. Here’s everyone allowed to be who they are. Sadly, that will never be the case for smaller towns.

Saturday. Woke up after 9 hours of sleep (you can’t accuse me of being a party animal). Started off with some icebreakers at the office, a good way to learn about the other participants. Got a visit from a person who represented the Independent Police Complaints Commission, talked about the different policing problems in London. Very rewarding. After this we went to a ping-pong place where you could rent a ping-pong table and just play for fun, a perfect place to hang out with friends. Listen up Belfast; we need a place like that! After this we took a walk to St. Paul’s cathedral and the Millennium Bridge. It always strikes me how fickle London as a city is. New mixed with old. We walked back to the office and I regret forgetting my trainers at home cause my feet were killing me. We shared our identity symbols back at the office (I brought a feminism symbol, surprise!). The evening finished with some food and a few drinks at a pub. I was in bed before 10pm and have once again proved that I have the same day rhythm as my granny.

Last day, woke up refreshed but with a bit of separation anxiety. Went to Brick Lane in east London to do an alternative walking tour. Didn’t really have any expectations before, but it turned out to be one of the best walking tours ever (my mother is a history teacher so I have done numerous of castle tours, put differently: I know what I’m talking about). A young articulate man from the area took us around in what is usually called Banglatown and showed us all the amazing street art the area have to offer. All the paintings were so well done and as the guide himself described it: " Street Art breaks down the barriers of age, race, gender and ethnicity ". I love this part of London; the different cultures so naturally build into each other in a peaceful manner. There is no competition on who has the most right to be there, instead here is everyone allowed to be what they are – nothing more or less. After the amazing tour and some amazing Moroccan stew at the food market, it was time to say goodbye to our friends in London.

Thanks Rose and SHM Political Academy for your hospitality and for showing us London from inside. Thanks Sian for taking us with you, and for organizing the accommodation and flights. Thanks to all of the amazing participants from England and Northern Ireland that so openly shared experiences and knew how to have fun. Thanks Public Achievement! Last, but not least, a big thanks to myself as well, for being such an amazing participant. Well done, Emelie. I will carry this trip with me for a long time.

Yours truly.

Emelie