October 17, 2007

Britain

This summer I visited Britain for two weeks. I spent a few days on a beautiful Scottish island, a few days with my parents in the countryside in the north of England, and then four days in London with my sister. Every time I visit Britain, I am constantly amazed by the huge numbers of foreigners and immigrants who live and work there. For example, when I was staying in a hotel in Scotland, I heard two of the hotel maids talking in Polish (the language of Poland).
When I was in Edinburgh station (in Scotland), I bought a sandwich from a man who told me he came from the Czech Republic. When I was in London, I met a very friendly taxi driver who said he came from the Sudan. And in the area around my sister's house in London, all the shops and restaurants are run by Indians, Pakistanis or people from the Middle East. All of these people can speak English quite well, or very well, and it seems that they all live together harmoniously.

When I was a child and a teenager in the north of England 40 years ago, everyone around me was white and English, but modern Britain is very different. In the last 40 years Britain has truly become a multicultural society, i.e. a society in which people from many different races, cultures and countries live together peacefully.