Thinking quietly to myself

Here I am, back at the library again after going to a welcome lecture for international students. I skipped out on the bit about banking and finding your way around since I've done that already. Nothing like trial by fire in the big city. I'm sure many of you have heard me complain at one point or another about how New York City is too tall, or it has no history, and that's why I don't like it. So it's funny that a song about NYC also perfectly describes London -- that song being Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" which has the lyrics "It's a city of strangers/Some come to work, some to play/It's a city of strangers/Some come to stare and some to stay..." which is so true of London. There are thousands and thousands of people here, and even though everytime I get on the bus I people watch for all I'm worth, I feel like I could never see half of them. I guess the only option is to become wildly famous and have my face put up on the side of a bus. :) I don't know how there could ever be racial or ethnic tension in a city like this where no one looks like anyone else, and everyone is in the same boat trying to shop for food, or find a place to watch a movie or make your mark on the world. Maybe I'm sounding ignorant, coming from a small town where everyone looks the same, but then again, maybe I'm just lucky to be able to see everyone as different--AND the same.