10 things you will notice when you move to London
So here I am. A couple of weeks now, living in one of the biggest and most controversial cities in the world — London. When I told my friends I’m moving here, reactions were pretty varied. Some kept on asking: Why on earth would you do it to yourself? when others were more like: Wow, that’s awesome. When can I visit you? (btw, still none of them did ;) ).
London may be extremely crowded and busy, but I like fast pace of life. “That’s a good place for me” I thought. Nevertheless, before coming here many ‘kind’ people warned me: it will be too expensive, you will get tired of this rush immediately, it will rain all the time etc. These are probably one of the most common stereotypes about London. After some weeks here, I think I am able to confront them and share what my impressions about this city really are. Let’s go!
1. It does not rain all the time
That’s something probably EVERYONE who is going to London (no matter if for a vacation or a longer period) hears. Don’t forget to take your umbrella was usually the first thing I heard when saying I’m moving to London.
People seem to think that sun never shines in London and it just rains cats and dogs all the time here. Bullshit. During my 2 months here it actually rained 5 times. Literally. I knew people were exaggerating, but I didn’t expect the weather to be that good. So…sun does shine here!
2. You just can’t not bump into people
Really. No matter what you do and how careful you are. You will always bump into people. Everybody is in a rush here, walking (or shall I say running?) in his direction, not caring if you are on their way or not. There is nothing you can do about it besides… getting used to it and doing the same. And do not expect the person who bumped at you to apologise. She will already be 10 meters ahead.
So… what should you do? The same I guess. Rush, baby!
3. You can have it all
Another surprise: the variety you get here. I’ve always considered London very multicultural city.
There are more than 300 languages spoken by the people here, and the city has at least 50 non-indigenous communities with populations of 10,000 or more.
What I didn’t know was that you can experience it at every step. Sitting on tube, looking at people around you, you will always spot at least 3 different races and hear at least two foreign languages. Shopping in store, you will be able to choose from products from all around the world, having for example Polish, Indian and African shelves just next to each other. And restaurants… you can basically find EVERY cuisine of the world here (for me, a real foodlover, this is probably the biggest beauty of the city). What is more, even when strolling around the city, you feel like you were visiting a dozen of other places at one time — some spots here remind of me of Venice, some of Amsterdam, while others of New York or Rome. This variety is really great and makes it extremely interesting to live here.
Living in Docklands, I have a great example of London’s diversity just looking outside of my window.
4. Yes, you never stand on the left side of escalator.
Just it. There is actually not much to write about it. People just hate when you stand on the left side of escalator. You are supposed to WALK there. And if you really want to just stand calmly, please, stick to the damn right side. This one is acceptable.
5. It’s getting hot in here
Another thing about the tube. It’s so fucking hot there. I have noticed it even when visiting London for a short time as a tourist. Whenever you get down and board a train, you immediately start to feel like in sauna. In summer it’s not that bad — the horror begins in winter. Wearing five layers of clothes, you are usually even not able to take your jacket off. (Especially when you travel in peak — then, even scratching your nose seems like the most advanced yoga move). So you just sit there in the crowd, feeling that you will probably melt in seconds and ‘calmly’ wait till the end of your journey. Comfortable, isn’t it? ;)
6. Markets, markets and… markets!
So yes, travelling on tube may be annoying sometimes, but when your destination is one of the food markets it is totally worth it! London has so many of them and they are all great. Personally, I consider city’s food markets one of its biggest assets. Camden Market, Real Food Market at Southbank, Borough Market, Brick Lane Market and so on… You just can go there and eat everything (or spend half of a day looking at all these delicious meals trying to decide which one will you finally pick). That’s an awesome way to spend your weekend outside and please your taste buds.
7. Could it be more expensive?
Everything has its price. And in London this price is always high ;) That is actually the stereotype that turned out to be true. You just have to get used to the feeling: Omg, THIS costs THAT much?! How come?! Especially when you moved from a country like mine, where prices are around 3–5 times cheaper. Remember — never convert a price to your national standards. If you do so, you will just get crazy. The only thing you can do is just accept it. And, after some time, you will find yourself the best promotion-hunter ever! Personally, I consider it kind of fun — in the end, when you find a good deal, you feel a bit like an animal who just caught a veryyy valuable prey.
8. You can’t get lost
London is really well-commuted. You can go anywhere taking tube. And what is really comforting (especially for a newbie in the city like me), once you find any tube station, you know you are home. Everything is linked so well, that from any station, changing once or twice, you will finally get where you want to. What makes it even better is the fact that there is always some station next to you, so you actually can’t get lost. Just go underground, look at the transport map and… problem solved ☺
But you have to be careful — there are some traps too! Sometimes, distance between some stations is so close that it is actually faster to walk than use transport. And certainly, it’s cheaper too ;)
Another trap is realted to changing lines. Although everything is very well marked, in some cases it takes eternity to change from one line to another. Take for example Bank/Monument station… Ahh, we all hate it ;) It just seems a little marathon to get from DLR to Central Line. Or maybe marathon is not the best world — with all these people on your way it is rather a steeplechase.
9. What’s going on? Nothing, it’s just beer time!
One of my first days here, weekday, 5pm. I wander around and start spotting people on the streets, with a pint of beer in their hand, talking in huge groups. I pass by one pub, then another and so on… It’s everywhere! I start to google this day’s date to search what’s the occasion for these celebrations, but nothing special appears. The other day, 5pm, the same happens. What is that all about? I wonder. After some time here, I do know. It’s nothing more than people just going for a beer with their colleagues after work. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Every day is good to grab a beer and relax. This actually came as a surprise to me — I used to live in Spain, where drinking on the streets is quite common. But I didn’t expect British people to have same practises. I find it really cool how people organise themselves and instead of going home straight from work, find time for some fun. And I gotta say they do it pretty often as every day around 5pm streets around pubs get pretty crowded and noisy ;)
10. Ufff… finally you don’t have to be nice
Last, but not least. Do not expect people to be nice (or even talk) to you. What do I mean? Let me recall a situation.
Gym, women’s changing room. After talking a shower and getting dressed I’m ready to leave the room. There are 5 women inside. My natural behaviour is to say sth like “See you next time” or part any other way. That’s what I do. Then something awkward happens. Nobody (I mean nobody) responses.
It’s not the only case. It happens over and over again. The same with my neighbours. Even when we are closed in a lift together, they won’t respond to my small talks. Am I invisible or what?
Of course I am not. They just don’t care. And, after some time, (probably) you won’t too. That’s weird, but, on the other hand, a bit easy as well. You don’t need to be nice. Just do your job and don’t bother. (Or, if you are more like me, keep on talking to people and hope that at some point someone will talk to you too. Fortunately, sometimes they do!)
So these are my first impressions of life in London. Some of them are great, others not really. Do I regret moving here? No, not at all. You will complain about London all the time. You will keep on hearing other Londoners complain about it too. But in the end, we stay here and we don’t wanna leave. Reasonably or not, I have to say I love this city. With its rush, ignorance and all the imperfections.
What do you think? Please share your point of view in comments. I’m really curious ;)
