London, Time to say GoodBye :(
Just as everything has a beginning and an end, my last week in London has arrived. This experience has been incredible, both on the professional and personal level.
Due to the fact that we are a global agency, I have found that the main structure of Havas/Socialyse is very similar across countries. The only place I see differences is in the cultural identity of the office (e.g. How to handle situations, teaching, conversations in a meeting and everyday behaviors). It is the people and the environment that make the London office so unique. By taking breaks from their massive workloads, the people here create a much less stressful atmosphere. It has really helped me to watch these people work and to see the areas for opportunity and strength in my team.
Mexico City is a multicultural place, but it does not compare to London. Unlike Mexico, where we rarely live among foreign people, the UK is filled with numerous people from various backgrounds. I really enjoy this because it brings something new to London. You can learn a lot from these people and, most of all, you begin to value things much more than you had before.
I definitely love this city and boy, did I explore everywhere. It was this exploration that allowed me to really see the differences between cultures. For example, on televisions here they report places of high traffic congestion. In my opinion, they haven’t seen traffic until they look at the commute from Mexico to Santa Fe. My house is only about 10 km away from Havas, but I can spend up to two hours in traffic each way (3 or 4 hours if it is raining). Can you imagine sitting in traffic for a minimum of four hours every day? Luckily in London, there are many forms of transportation and all of them stick to a strict schedule that the people must respect.
The evening is great because it does not get dark until 9pm, so I am able to walk the streets as if it were a weekend afternoon. I’ll miss this when I return to Mexico and it gets dark at 7pm. This will be a trade off for Mexican food though, as I have missed the spicy flavors so much.
Last weekend I went to Oxford, which was another city that fascinated me. The journey took me an hour and a half, but it was worth it for the beautiful architecture and the University! It was a beautiful day and I was able to walk along High Street and enjoy much of what the city had to offer. I loved the sense of medieval England that is no longer present in London due to its modernization.
This experience has allowed me to learn new traditions and adapt to them, determine the similarities and differences between London and Mexico, and grow as a person and a professional. In a few words, “The world is a book, and it’s up to you that you want to read it so much … and traveling helps you to see things as they are instead of thinking about how they will be”
“Our destiny is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” — Henry Miller
I love you London :)
