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| A view of the Birmingham Canals from inside the canal boats. |
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| A map of of the canals. |
I'll start simply by explaining the premise of the event itself. Dinner With Strangers: Canal Evolution was a live art installation which sought to foster basic human connection between two totally vulnerable, awkward, and diverse strangers. The event was organized by BeatFreeks, a Birmingham based collective and the Birmingham Canal & River Trust.
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| A little glimpse into our canal boat packed with strangers! |
The event, like most events I attend these days, appeared on my Facebook newsfeed and immediately caught my attention. One of my many resolutions for 2017 has been to be more spontaneous and bold, and the idea of having dinner with a complete stranger seemed to fit that goal pretty nicely. I instantly knew that Angelika (from http://www.angelikablogs.com) would be equally as thrilled to embark on an evening of surprises with me!So the seed was planted and the two of us became instantly excited about the prospects and potential that would unravel.
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| Our "bill" was two beautifully hand drawn questionnaires. |
On the actual day my excitement shifted to nervousness and a bit of fear. My brain swirled with doomsday scenarios as I made my way down to the canals. Upon arrival, Angelika and I, both quite nervous, decided to take the edge off with a shot. As we waited in the cue of a local bar I overheard a women behind us talking about an Espresso Martini shot (and I LOVE espresso martinis). My curiosity led me to strike up a conversation with this perfect stranger who told us all about the Patron Coffee Tequila and wow am I ever thankful that I had the courage to speak to her. The shot was sublime, really it tasted just like an Espresso Martini! The experience left me far less terrified. The perfect stranger in the bar foreshadowed an incredible evening ahead.
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| The Canals at night. |
After the initial chaos of organizing the attendees and pairing us with our partners we all boarded the canal boat ready to embark on our journey! The evening was special, not only because I was having dinner with a total stranger, but also because, despite living here for 2 years, it was my first time on the canals (Fun Fact: Birmingham has more canals then Venice). I was completely stunned by the utter beauty, it was a sunny evening and the canals were glistening (more on the aesthetics's later). On the surface my paired stranger and I were two incredibly different people. He, was British, while I am Canadian. He, works, I am still in Uni. He is engaged, I am single. I could continue to list our divergences, however what is remarkable is despite these many differences we also shared a lot of common ground. We both had an immense interest in Human Rights, particularly child rights. His passion is evident through his career, mine is displayed through my degree. Neither of us have the same paths in life yet we found many points of intersection from which to foster friendship (facebook official!).
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| My outfit for the evening! Top from Bershka and Skirt from Boohoo! |
I think this notion is more imperative now then ever. In a world constantly characterized by division, difference, and individualism we often forget the core elements of humanity which inevitably bind us all. Our differences shouldn't be points of contention. They also shouldn't be mere facts we choose to tolerate and live with. I think it goes one step further, differences should be shared. understood, and celebrated for their unique nature. I'm getting quite meta at this point, but the idea is that after spending an evening on a boat with a complete stranger I've come to reevaluate my approach to people broadly. Why shouldn't we go up to "strangers" and try to find common ground. For all we know someone who is a stranger today, could very well be a best friend tomorrow.
XX.
F.
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