Favourite London Tweets

Monday, September 23, 2013

It's Social Media Week in London, so I've been inspired to gather together some of my favourite tweets about things I've seen, heard and encountered in London - mainly on the buses. Enjoy!
















Europe Re-Drawn

Monday, September 16, 2013

About 8 years ago, I started asking people to draw maps of the world. It was a fun project, and over the course of 6 years, I collected the world drawn by 80 people - the world in 80 ways.

Moldova, drawn by Andrei


During this, I also realised I enjoyed the idea of people drawing their own country - so I set about finding Europeans* to draw their country. And, today, I have finally finished!

The first map I uploaded was on 6 April 2005 - the Netherlands by Rolf. The last - just today, 16 September 2013 - was Bosnia & Herzegovina by Ahmet.

Over the past 8 years, I've collected maps from:



You can see the story behind each map here.

And I've enjoyed it all, meeting new people, talking to them and learning more about the huge variety and diversity in Europe.

And now all that's left to be said is a very, very large thank you to all those who took the time to draw me maps.

Ahmet's map of Bosnia & Herzegovina

This weekend, Ahmet drew a map of Bosnia and Herzegovina for me.

Moldova, drawn by Andrei

I met Ahmet at The Abbey Centre, a wonderful community centre where a Bosnian school takes place on Saturdays.

Ahmet drew his map showing the main cities, including Bihać where he comes from.

Ahmet told me that, in Bosnia, he was a professional. But he arrived in London not speaking English, and has since dedicated his time to learning English while working as a post man - something he likened to the Japanese Kaizen philosophy.

I'm delighted that Ahmet has drawn his map for me, particularly as it's my last map and I've now collected a map for every European country.

Andrei's map of Moldova

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

I've been searching for a long time for someone from Moldova to draw me a map.

Finally, on Friday, I found Andrei. He drew this great map of Moldova.

Moldova, drawn by Andrei

I met Andrei celebrating with friends outside Wembley stadium before the England -v- Moldova match.

As he drew, Andrei told me Moldova looked like a bunch of grapes and he drew the main cities in grape-like circles.

When he finished, he explained to his friends what he had been doing. I said I had been looking for a Moldovan for a long time.

"But there are loads of Moldovans in London!" said his friend.

I beg to differ; it's taken many tries to find them....

I went to Casa Romanescu, a restaurant in deepest, northernest Edmonton. I'd read that some of the staff there were from Moldova, so it was worth paying a visit. One my first and second attempt, everything was locked up. Finally, third time lucky, I was able to visit.

From outside all looked quiet, but inside a live trio blared out traditional Romanian music. After eating, I asked the waiter if there was anyone from Moldova here. "No," he said.

But then Natalia from Moldova came over to talk to me. And so it turns put there are two Moldovas - the Republic and the region of Romania.

Later, Juliana - a level 3 beautician also from Moldova (region of Romania) - chatted to me. She had a friend from Moldova (republic). She took my telephone number and then never got in touch.

Then I discovered the Moldova UK forum where a chap called Eduard said he would draw a map. I emailed, but no reply.

So after many months of Moldovan minutiae, I have finally collected a map. My next and final person / map to find must come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. (And I've already got an idea...)