I started talking to an Italian from Rome working in an architectural firm (he’d been there for four years and although it was “good because it was stable” he was “very, very much” sick of it) who had come over because “there’s not much job” in Italy, but he got off before we really got going so I turned to the young woman sat on the other side of me.

So far I’ve largely avoided the ‘young woman’ demographic, in large part because I’ve been worried that they’d think I was coming on to them, but I said I’d try and cover all different people on this blog, not just people I feel comfortable with, so I went for it.

This was an awkward conversation, maybe the most awkward I’ve had, partly because the girl was so, so quiet and softly spoken with a really strong African accent that I often had to get her to repeat herself to hear what she was saying. Also, it was 5.30pm by this time, and she was on her way back from work, as was I.

She was from Ghana, and had come here three years ago with her mother and sister. I asked why they had come over, joking about the cold weather. She looked thoughtful but didn’t say anything so I prompted her, for a job or…? “Yeah,” she said, although I got the feeling she would agree with pretty much anything I said.

She worked in a nursing home, caring for old people. What are the old people like? I asked. She thought I’d asked whether she liked it (this kind of misunderstanding happened repeatedly as we talked). Sometimes she was happy and sometimes not she said, it depended on the day. What about the old people? “They’re always happy. I care for them well,” she said, rather sweetly. Some of them must be interesting, I ventured. “Yeah.”

We had to change trains at Mansion House, and I added to the awkwardness by thinking I was staying on the platform, saying goodbye, realising I had to go to the other platform, and rejoining her. So what’s Dagenham like? I persisted. “It’s full of people.” London’s full of people! “It’s full of black people.” Oh, right. Did she like living there? “Yeah.”

So, “yeah”, pretty awkward, but not awful or overly uncomfortable. We talked for about 10 or 15 minutes altogether, I made her laugh a couple of times and we had a less boring time on our way home than we otherwise would. One of the most satisfying aspects of this project so far has been making these tiny connections to other people and getting a little glimpse of their lives that you otherwise would never have. I would probably have never spoken to this girl in any other situation but we both came away having connected a little bit with another person, and that’s a good feeling.