I visit Londynek on Hammersmith Broadway and hop on the bus back to Shepherds' Bush, almost colliding with Ewa on her way back to her excellent Patio Restaurant. We have both been to
meetings and do some networking on the bus, with my recommendation of Londynek and hers of other churches and Polish newspapers we should approach with BEE information. The
conversation on a steaming bus, with pouring rain outside, is a typical London one - a quick and ultimately useful exchange of information which could lead to networks and people with similar interests, reaching target audiences, spreading the word..
We hop off the bus before Shepherds Bush Green, and say a quick 'bye' as I walk down to Vesbar, to join QPR groups on Facebook,talk to Sian, the excellent manager, and enjoy a wonderful cappuccino made by Luke.
I look at Kaspars Gorkss online - his career, his incredible success as a 19 year old lifting him out of his culture, separating him from his parents and friends, not to attend University or mix with other extremely young adults and 'find himself', but to play professionally for teams in other countries, learn the language(s) and give interviews...
and I consider the BEE communities' trajectories, info sources and pathways in and through our enormous city, where he arrived over four years ago. I look forward to hearing his thoughts and experiences in conversation with Gediminas Adomaitis, who came to London after a short time in Chicago, finding that he wanted to try and work in another language and another country, outside his native Lithuania.. and has done so ever since.
These men's stories and public discoveries of Britain stay with me as I join the queue at Shepherds Bush Post Office, a hub of languages and cultures, absent-mindedly waiting for counter services. I hear BEE languages, snippets of accomplished conversations and queries, mixed in with broken questions about postage stamps, bills and provisional driving licences, alongside a healthy proportion of people sending Christmas parcels and chatting into their mobile phones without a care in the world. I remember meeting my friend Yelena when she first settled in London, here, in front of this Post Office, and seeing her emerging,
beaming: ' I managed to do it all without having to ask anything!' and as that thought merges into a busy London evening, umbrellas jostling for space and people hurrying past, I make a mental note to ask Kaspars and Gediminas if they remember a similar moment at the BUSH BEE LAUNCH in two days time.
Click here to see the full line up of Bush BEE events.