At my London Pad?

Am I hearing this right? You want to  live in London? You want to leave your calm, calculated and stable life, and come have an adventure in lovely old London? (I am beginning to sound like Fagan from Oliver lately). This was exactly the range of questions popping into my head when a friend from abroad mentioned living in London would range in their future plans.

Not that I hate London, really I don't. As a Londoner I'd say I have pleasantly now made peace with London. I've gotten over the 'it's crap and grey' phase and have learn to embrace the city I was born and raised in. Really, I love London, it's different, mutlicultural, happening and has a youthful vibe. But really, you want to move from a sunny beautiful, relaxing exotic location to come and live in this grey washing machine. Yes you hear right, I just called London a big old grey washing machine. Technically that is a viable simile. It IS grey here and it rains so often it WASHES away whatever is on the roads.

Back to my point, there are obviously a large range of pointers which make London so utterly attractive to the potential migrating urbanite. Let's see, it can't be the weather so there must be other great fantastic things that attract people to this bustling city of dreams.

1. Multicultural Londres- In London you can find one of the most diverse ethnic mixes in Europe, and London is commonly referred to as a cultural melting pot, so no wonder people claim that when they are here they experience a feeling of belonging, no matter what colour or creed you hail from. Sitting on public transport in this city you can hear multiple languages being spoke. It is really very exciting for those who get a buzz from experiences which offer an encounter to different ethnicities.

2. Opportunity- yes, like it or not, it's all happening here, and if you cannot make it here, I'm afraid you're pretty stuck as far as as success goes. Don't go claiming that you can make it somewhere else because if your idea hasn't hit it off here, or you haven't got the job of your dreams or made your future visiona  reality here, then your chances of realising this anywhere else in Europe is pretty slim. I guess I am talking business/career wise. So wherever entrepeneurs are succesful I think they have, at some point take a pit stop in good old London at some point. I come from a background if immigrants to this country, and the ones who are succesful back home now, had previously made it big there- and merely transferred that over there, and nurtured it. And believe me when you do that can make it. Bigtime.

3. Tolerance- No no I am not implying that racism does not exist in London. Ofcourse it does- racism exists everywhere. It is just that here, given Britain's tradition of embracing immigrants compared to other European countries, eg, France, Germany, Italy, there is less of an overt racism. So it is not expressed as vividly as in mainland Europe. This makes it a little better for the integrating immigrant in my view, because it is less demeaning and make their journey more pleasant, although the new immigrant will soon will discover the that existance of racism and prejudice here is much more underlying. It's no walk in the park for new arrivals. London is big, unfriendly and fierce just like other metropolis however due to the Brotosh practise of 'keeping up appearance', racism and prejudice are more low key.