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I first visited London in the summer of 1994 as I was in my first year of college. I immediately fell in love with the city that I would visit a dozen times afterwards.
I was there just last week for a few days, and I tell you, it's different. It's much more populated, duh. The pollution of the city is very concerning: I had coughing attacks, watery nose, and debris constantly in my eyes. And as much as I love diversity, London doesn't look very English anymore. Specifically, I heard more languages that were not English, spoken by people who were not generations established British/English. Never in my life had I seen so many burka covered females in my life, and I saw first hand how dutifully they walked two-three paces behind their western dressed owners. Sad and quite pitiful.
But alas, I still had a great time in London and look forward to visiting again next year. I'm just expressing my concern as an American Anglophile at the stark differences I have seen from London of 1994, to London of 2015. And at this rate, I reckon if nothing changes, London of 2036 will be entirely different. I'm not dense, I know since the establishment of the EU and the immigration craziness of the past seven years or so have had a great effect on London.
Have any other travelers to London over a span of two decades or more feel differently about the city now?
Full burkas (that cover everything but the eyes) in London aren't that common. Are you sure you aren't referring to the hijab?
I'm a very socially conservative person, but I honestly don't see what the problem is with these traditional modes of dress. Many in the good neighbourhoods radiate wealth and are at least polite and respectful, unlike many of their self-entitled Western counterparts.
Last edited by Noggin of Rum; 06-02-2015 at 12:04 PM..
Reason: Image added
I'm fully aware of what a mere hajib is vs. a full, onslaught of blackness covering a human female form (burka). I saw these people around Marble Arch, and walking towards Primark and Selfridges area. Last Thursday as I went into Harrods, that's when I saw the two fully cloaked black forms follow behind two regular dressed men. The men didn't even bother to hold the door open for the women. Also, while I was inside Harrods, I saw a few more. I'm very aware that in all likelihood, these women were fully clothed in designer clothes and probably wearing expensive jewelry under their burkas - but the public is not permitted to see them.
I'm not saying they were everywhere, but very noticeable in high density areas.
I walk around central London all the time, including the western half of Oxford St (even though not as much as the other parts because it's arguably one of the ugliest parts of central London) and I very seldom encounter full burkas.
Among hundreds of photos I've taken of London I don't have one woman in a proper burka. What I see much more of are these (hijab with body covering, even less commonly a niqab, and a proper burka once in a blue moon).
Never in my life had I seen so many burka covered females in my life, and I saw first hand how dutifully they walked two-three paces behind their western dressed owners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MItoBH
Last Thursday as I went into Harrods, that's when I saw the two fully cloaked black forms follow behind two regular dressed men. The men didn't even bother to hold the door open for the women.
In your first post, you give the impression that you were constantly seeing burka-clad women trailing behind western-dressed men; in your second, you seem to let slip that this was in fact based on one specific occasion (where, from the way you describe it, it's not really clear what, if any, was the relationship between the men and the women, or why they were walking where they were).
Frankly, we don't need American anglophiles of your particular brand. A London with fewer of you will mean less imported bigotry, and maybe even fewer of those dreadful Aberdeen Angus Steak House places you seem hell-bent on keeping in business.
In your first post, you give the impression that you were constantly seeing burka-clad women trailing behind western-dressed men; in your second, you seem to let slip that this was in fact based on one specific occasion (where, from the way you describe it, it's not really clear what, if any, was the relationship between the men and the women, or why they were walking where they were).
Frankly, we don't need American anglophiles of your particular brand. A London with fewer of you will mean less imported bigotry, and maybe even fewer of those dreadful Aberdeen Angus Steak House places you seem hell-bent on keeping in business.
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