Love/Hate

Love/Hate really sums up my relationship with Eng1and. I find it both fascinating and exasperating. I've been there about half a dozen times, almost equally split between necessity and actual desire to be there. The first time was the start of the backpacking trip I took with A., my boyfriend at the time, after college. We wanted to visit to see the sights and I also happened to have a high school friend J. who was living there and going to "Uni". It was an enjoyable time staying with her in her dorm in Regent$ Park in central Lond0n. I also have fond memories of exploring the market in Camden and taking the Jack the Ripper tour in Lond0n's East End. The last time I was there was for the New Year 2000 with my Eng1ish boyfriend P. The trip was actually fun, although it ended in the breakup of our 3 year relationship.

On my last trip back to CT, I burned some more of my CD collection into Itunes, and while taking the train back to eNYC, I was listening to one of my favorite CDs "DIY: Teenage Kicks" on my Ipod. It's a compilation of Briti$h new wave-type 80s music and P. my Eng1ish boyfriend and I used to really enjoy that CD. A guy came on the train and put his suitcase near mine in a way that sort of blocked it in. I asked where he'd be getting off the train and explained I might need to get out quickly and I might need him to move his suitcase. He very politely answered me in a Briti$h accent. Wasn't quite sure at first if it was Briti$h but I asked where he was from and it turned out to be "Northern Eng1and". We talked for awhile about things Eng1ish and our travels (he works with tennis tournaments and is traveling around the world doing that). That is one thing I do like about the English: they like to travel around the world. Maybe because their country is so small, maybe because they're so close to Europe and Africa, maybe it's the years of colonization and imperialism absorbed into the culture, and maybe it's a combination of all of that. But many get out and have some knowledge about the rest of the world.

And today, I was checking my email and read that tomorrow is the 10th Annual Lond0n Vegan Festival. I had to laugh because it epitomizes the duality of Eng1and. My experience is that Eng1and is both one of the most unfriendly countries for a vegetarian (often times the only option is a cheese sandwich which to me is the Briti$h equivalent of the Mexxican quesadilla) and yet on the cutting edge of veganism with things like this festival and a company like Vegetarian Shoes.

So while I often curse Eng1and, I have the sneaking suspicion that I will inevitably find myself back there someday in the future.