The most interesting thing in Meetup for tonight was this discussion in the Frontline Club. The London European Club was bringing a group, meeting beforehand in the Fountains Abbey pub across the road. So I booked with the Frontline Club, as instructed - I know from before that they book out. Which they did, at least as early as yesterday.
I decided that the only practical thing was to leave straight from the office, so just before 6 I headed off for the Tube. I was lucky - one headed to Paddington arrived pretty soon, and four stops later I was there. On the way, I started to read the free paper, copies of which were strewn about - but decided against bringing it with me, as it'd be too awkward.
Paddington was where the fun started. I'm not that familiar with this station, and didn't realise that the two exits from the platform go to completely different exits from the Underground station. I should have taken the one for Praed Street, but instead took the first - for the mainline station. Which is fine - except that when I came up into the station, I discovered it's being renovated, and the signage is woeful! Turns out - when you get off the escalator, take a right, but NOT through the doors. They look like exit doors, and normally they are - but that exit is now closed. Instead, carry on until you finally see an exit sign. This will bring you out on Praed Street.
When I finally got out, thanks to Streetview I knew to go left. The pub is on the next corner - but was completely rammed! There were even people sitting at the outside tables, in the drizzle. I nipped inside and had a quick look around - I don't know whether there's an upstairs, but the ground floor is pretty small, and it didn't take me long to see there was no LEC sign on any of the tables, as promised. So I said feck that, and crossed straight to the club - it was open by now.
There's a reception desk at the top of the first flight of stairs, where they checked my name off the list, and instructed me to go up to the next floor - two more flights. The room where talks are held is pretty small, with bare brick walls and folding chairs in rows. A podium at the far end is where the speakers sit, and cameras are positioned at both ends of the room - the talks are streamed live, as we were told, and carried on their YouTube channel. I took a seat in the middle and messaged the group to explain what I'd done. I got a message back, to say they'd taken - eh - the row in front of me! Yes, I did wonder when a group of about half a dozen people came in.. anyway, I didn't know any of them, and didn't introduce myself.
So, the panel comprised an interviewer and four panellists - a journalist who's reported on Bosnia, and written a book about it: two Bosnians who left as refugees, made their home here, and are now involved in working to integrate the youth of the different societies there: and Paddy Ashdown, who was involved in the writing of the Dayton Agreement.
The panellists may have had their disagreements onstage, but were all saying much the same thing - in essence, the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war, worked brilliantly for 10 years. But then the international community said ok, we're done, and left Bosnia to its own devices, standing by as the agreement was unravelled. The only lady onstage described how she watched tv footage of Syrian refugees - who had more sense than to flee to Bosnia. As she watched them crossing the muddy river, she said, it seemed to her that Bosnia was being trampled like that mud.
The panellists painted a gloomy picture of a country in the process of disintegration. They made the point that there are politicians that thrive on conflict, and derive their power base from the fear that one group feels for another. So Bosnia is reverting to mono-ethnic societal groups, everyone forced to declare an ethnicity: when running for public office, for instance. A lawyer spoke from the back during question time, who had represented a Jewish electoral candidate in Bosnia who objected to having to declare himself as Jewish on the ballot. The European Court of Human Rights has, in fact, declared the Bosnian constitution illegal - the only time such a thing has ever happened. Not that anyone's doing anything about it. (Well, when has the international community ever done anything for Bosnia? As Paddy Ashdown pointed out, they can't expect anything from outside, but must depend on themselves.)
The general consensus was that Bosnian politicians are exploiting deep-seated societal divisions for their own ends. And the panellists in general were pessimistic, predicting the breakup of the country. Paddy Ashdown was brilliant - entertaining and informed; I got the impression that here was a man that knew what he was talking about. They did end on a positive note, expressing hope in the youth of the country.
Afterwards, I was starving, so cried off the group's trip to the pub - which was just as full as before, when I passed, so I doubt that even happened! I fancied a Chinese, and had passed one on the way - the Peking-Seoul Chinese/Korean restaurant. There's an adjoining café, obviously for daytime trade, where I was put as I was alone. I ordered prawn crackers - which were ok, but not great - and lemon chicken with fried rice. The rice was fine - the coating on the chicken was beautifully crispy, but the sauce was just a bit too lemony. Still, I enjoyed my meal. On the way back, I pondered the complication of the Tube station - I think I'd have had to head towards the Bakerloo Line to get out the way I'd wanted to!
Well, tomorrow I'm back with Meetup - the Kensington Classical Music group are headed to a concert by Kamilya Jubran, at the Mosaic Rooms Gallery. I wasn't familiar with her work, but checked her out on YouTube and she sounded ok. Again, I had to get a ticket from the venue - no booking fee, gratifyingly. Whether it was an IE problem I don't know, however, but when I was trying to buy one, the form behaved in the oddest way. And a blasted popup appears on every page of the site, asking you to join their mailing list. Even if you already have!! Be warned.
Then on Friday, I'm off to Glasgow. Because that's where U2 are playing next, and I'm seeing them there on Friday and Saturday.. and thankfully, my hotel is right beside the venue. So I have a few things to organise tomorrow.. like checking in for my outbound flight, printing confirmations and concert tickets, working out directions.. now, this is a weekend I'm supposed to be in Ireland, so I'm flying to Shannon on Sunday and staying until Tuesday. A displaced weekend, you might say. No direct flights any more between Scotland and Shannon though - I'm having to fly to Dublin and make my way down. Which is another thing I have to work out!
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