The People! project had been on my mind for some time, especially since I moved above a lovely pub last February. When I sometimes went downstairs to do some writing, I always end up engaging with the table next to mine and hear great stories!
It is one thing to chat away, another to interview: I was not sure how to proceed and add these random conversations to my blog, what format to use etc., and so I kept postponing it. Today, going downstairs to enjoy the summer weather, I decided to take the plunge. After all, the only way to get cracking and learn how best to proceed by just doing it.
Thus I approached two men chatting away on the front patio of the pub, wondering how they would welcome my interruption. Charmingly, as it turned out. They are brothers: Yann, who settled in London in 2007, and Jules, who joined him here 3 months ago. The first surprise was that they were French, the second was that their parents had a summer house in my hometown. How random!
Jules (on the left in the picture) works in the hotel business. London is not his first experience abroad. He studied in Switzerland, trained in the Caribbean, and worked for a year in San Francisco, managing a restaurant. He arrived in London 3 months ago to try his hands (and brain) on the sales and marketing branch of the hotel business. He was tired of the long hours of restaurant management, he decided the change could be a good one. To be a good restaurant manager, he explained, it is important not to stay in the office but to be on site as much as possible. It is invaluable to create a link with the staff, yet it is also very demanding physically and mentally. After 3 months here, he is not so sure anymore about living in London. It is really, really expensive, he comments. I nod vehemently. This town is tough on the wallet, that’s for sure! Digging a little deeper, I learn that Jules has an idea – could it be a dream? – to develop a video game bar in France. The enterprise is booming in the States and Asia, yet it is still underdeveloped in Europe. I had never heard of these bars and it is a fascinating concept. I hope he will follow this projects and have a great time with it!
Yann, who had left to get cigarettes for both, joined Jules and me mid-conversation. They ask me a few questions too, of course, and I am eager to answer. It is fair enough when they welcomed my questions so nicely that I satisfy their curiosity too.
Yann is a trader, and soon the discussion turns to the financial consequences of the Brexit. Yann is travelling to Europe in the evening, and he pulls a face at the newly unfavourable exchange rate for his British pound. He loves London and enjoy his life here, but the Brexit, like for so many of the foreigners residing here, was a disappointment to him. His statement about the referendum resonates in me too: ‘No longer welcome in a place I have learned to call home.’ He came to London because he was attracted to its melting pot and its business opportunities. Now, with the clouds gathered over the immigration and economy following the Brexit, will he stay?
My favorite moment of the ‘interview’ is when Yann cracked a joke that made me laugh out loud. Talking of upcoming travels, I mentioned I would go to Egypt soon with my mother. As a holder of both British and French passports, I asked him which he thought I should travel with. His first answer was French, but after reflection, he said my safest passport would be a burka and a burkini. That got me in fits, especially with thoughts of my mother’s face if I were to suggest to her, which I will do, of course!
Thank you for reading,
Virginie
P.S.: On learning by practice, taking notes is not my favorite for the interview process. If I am to quote accurately the interviewees, best to record the conversation instead. Let’s hope my mobile phone microphone will be up to the challenge! Plus, it will be so much nicer to look at my interlocutor instead of jotting down as much as possible, as fast as possible.