Travel: 7 days in Pre-Brexit Britain
What an eventful week in the UK that was! Just a few weeks before Brexit, the country showed plenty of evidence that Theresa May's no-deal strategy was adding yet more salt to the already wounded British economy.
For example in Oxford, a central street that used to be lined with shops was now largely shuttered and boarded up. And Oxford is far from being disadvantaged! The upside to this relentless downturn was that exchange rates were good: every €100 got you an extra £15 to spend, compared to one or two years ago.
Here's the rest of what happened during that week:
Day 1: Arrived in London on the hottest February day in history. It was 21 degrees Celsius. Also, Eurosceptic Jeremy Corbyn finally - reluctantly - announced that he would be backing a second referendum for Brexit in the event of a No Deal being pushed through.
Day 2: Still very warm outside. Decided to visit a Jeff Koons exhibit in Oxford. Although it was costly, the Ashmolean Museum where the exhibit was held is still free to get into... much like galleries and museums in the rest of the UK. Many Germans don't realize that they can take in culture for so little cash in England but for me personally, it's one of the biggest upsides of living there.
Also checked out a bit of graffiti art in East Oxford. It's interesting how little of it there is in England, as compared to Friedrichshain or Kreuzberg. Never noticed that before...
Day 3: Checked out a Talking Stick Moot in Oxford where the subject was, "The Rules of Paganism". There was some talk about right wing activity in paganism (a minimal problem in the UK) and the Left's perceptions thereof. That issue's a bit more topical when you live in Berlin, home of the supposedly-pagan Nazi party. Actually, the Nazi party wasn't pagan so much as it was just plain desperate to use every advantage at its disposal - including pagan magic and relics such as the Holy Grail. So I am nonplussed by arguments that claim that paganism should be off limits because the Nazis fancied it. I mean, couldn't you say the same thing about being vegetarian? Hitler was a fan of that, too...
Also discussed was whether paganism really needs any rules when the whole point is exploration of one's limits, anyway. The consensus seemed to lean towards a "no"...
Day 5: Checking out the trees blossoming freakishly early in local parks. Interviewed my host's housemate about his Brexit Emergency Garden in the backyard.
Day 6: Main event of the day was a free party in North London. Don't ask me how our hosts found out about it cos the party wasn't advertised anywhere (as usual). And because it was really dark, the video I got of it didn't turn out well (also as usual).
Here's a better clip from a similar party in 2014:
Unsurprisingly, anti Brexit feelings are very strong within the free party scene. Seeing as it's a nomadic scene that fuses influences from all around Europe and the rest of the world, this view makes total sense. This makes it all the more suspicious to me when I see how many pro-Brexit comments are posted on free party Facebook pages. Since many of these tend to come from people that no one has ever met, I'm inclined to think most of these "ravers" are actually UKIP supporting trolls, putting in some keyboard warrior overtime. But, I digress.
Oddly enough, few Brits that I spoke to seem aware that manipulation tactics are commonplace on Facebook nowadays. I guess that's another area where Berlin excels over London: it's more aware of what's happening in the world of technology.
Anyway. On March 23rd, there is going to be an anti-Brexit party which will likely carry on after the demonstration. I won't be able to attend it, but if you're in town, follow the above link to find the sound of the undaground.
As I was leaving the gaff on Tuesday, the neighbouring council estate was closed to pedestrians because an unexploded WWII bomb was found beneath it. Seemed like an appropriate send-off for someone headed back to Berlin. Being re-routed due to unexploded WWII bombs is basically a rite of passage in this city!
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