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wandering about london

I just got back from my trip to London this past weekend. I had a blast, and it was great to see one of my friends again after such a long time without seeing her. (In fact, it has been at least 6 months since I've seen her face.)

Of course, while I was out and about, I figured I should write about a few observations in the way in which British people communicate and network in their everyday lives. These observations range from the Tube, in the dorms, in Borough Market, and other random places in London.

First thing I noticed, the British people of London have similar communication characteristics as the French people (and most other Europeans). They text a lot more than they talk on the phone. As discussed with my friend at LSE, this can be attributed to the lifestyle of people in London. They spend significant proportions of their time riding on the Tube, walking from point A to point B to point C.. then maybe back again to point A, doing errands, shopping on the bustling areas of Carnaby and Bond streets, cheering on their favorite football teams in pubs or live, going out and having a drink, and making fun of tourists (just kidding). In summary, British people lead very busy lives and need quick and discreet means of communication in order to stay connected all the time.

Second thing, British people like their slider phones. In fact, all the advertising that I saw had slider phones in the spotlight. In the Tube, I see many colorful ads of Sony Ericcson's Walkman mobiles for the music lovers. Many young people are texting away with their Samsung sliders with giant posters from Orange promoting the same product in the background. Nokia had a huge presence too. I forgot how many people (both young and old) passed by with a Nokia mobile phone (either a candybar or slider). Like France, the trendsetters and fashionable elite are definitely toting their sleek sliders. I actually found it amusing when some British people asked about my Motorola mobile phone asking if it's the new handset from Nokia or Samsung. After saying Motorola, they were pretty surprised. Motorola definitely weren't high on mobile phone makers with fashionable sensibilities.

Third thing, only American people are into Facebook. British people have Bebo. The British are definitely proud of their social networking site, Bebo, and are very territorial about it. Maybe it has to do with the whole thing about how much British people hate uncivilized Americans.

Next entry will be dedicated to how foreign students try to cope in the new environment. Everything from finding new restaurants, finding each other, and making your pound stretch due to unfavorable exchange rates.

posted by Koh @ 3:15 AM