One thing that has struck me about the people I meet in London is how cultured and well-traveled they are. It may be because of the proximity of UK to the Continent, or Africa or the Middle East, but I am constantly awed at the various places people have been. This may not be a true account of people in London in general, but just in my residential corridor I have met people who have traveled extensively. I am so inspired!

The guy living next to me, Matt, recently spent the great part of this (and last) year in South America, of which 5 months were in Peru. In his room, there are amazing photography and posters of the mountainous Andes and strange artifacts given by his grandfather who live in Goa, India. He is going to visit his granddad at the end of this year.

Georgia lives opposite me. She spent her gap year traveling all over Africa, spending most of her time in the countries spanning the East coast. She also hopped over to India during this time. She will be flying back to Kenya at the end of this year to spend NY there.

Ari lives in the room diagonally opposite. He has an Israeli background. Although born here and is British, he goes back often, and tells me how beautiful it is over there! He has traveled a lot but I wont list all the countries here.

Ali lives further down the corridor away from the kitchen. He grew up in Egypt and Iraq. In fact, he spent the recent summer in Iraq (escaping bombs?). He tells us that the situation over there isnt as hyped out as it is made out in the Western media.

There are many more people who I have met who have been to places I can only dream of going. I have also met a great number of multi-lingual people who can speak several languages fluently. John, who lives in the room on my left is full British and is fluent in French and German. Matt, on my right can speak Spanish. Ari speaks Hebrew and basic Arabic. The diversity doesnt end there; there is also the different religions people are attached to. Take Islam for instance; in London, when you walk down a street, you dont give a second thought to the passing Muslim woman dressed in a hijab (well, maybe you think it must be hot wearing it). But what I am getting at is diversity is like the norm here.

This is, I think a sharp contrast with Sydney and Melbourne (in terms of how 'travelled' an average Sydneysider and Melbournian is with a Londoner). Its a generalization, I know. But London is seriously a melting pot of cultures and languages. I read somewhere that only 1 in 4 Londoners is actually born in London. That means at least three quarters of the London population is imported. This is one of the reasons why I love it here. Its a diverse and exciting city to live in, made up of people that span the world. Its like a mini-world contained in the one city. Exaggeration? Maybe, but it feels that way..