So I have been living in London for two months now. One month to go. My observations so far?
I absolutely love how there's always something happening in London. There is always new places opening and old ones closing. You could go and eat out in a different place every weekend, for the rest of your life, if you wanted to. There's pop-up's, carnivals, festivals, gigs and concerts...
UK is quite old fashioned and traditional but I love how people are not shocked by anything. The street style in London is versatile (have to admit I usually see more stylish boys than girls).
I love how all different cultures are represented here. There's over 8 million people living in London (and don't forget all the tourists). I think this cultural diversity is a richness.
I have a love/hate relationship with the underground. In Finland I never use the public transport and I love being able to walk or ride my bike from place A to place B. In a city as big as London, it is not possible and having to rely on public transport was a bit challenging for me in the beginning.
My first internship place was in Angel (zone 1) and every morning it took me over an hour to get there from Leyton (zone 3). The rush in the morning is something I don't think I could ever get used to - it is terrible and especially in July with the heath wave, well you can just imagine... It is the worst between 8-9am because most of the people here start work at 9am.
The morning rush is pretty much the only thing that I hate about the tube...
I love, how instead of looking at their phones, people are reading books or news papers when commuting. I love how a smile from a stranger can make your day much better. I love that it does not matter where you come from, or where you work, everybody uses the underground!
The overground (which is air conditioned, praise!) and the buses are less crowded. Now that I work in East London I just take one bus and in 20 minutes I am in Hackney/Dalston.
If I had a bike I would ride there every morning cause it is so close... (but truth be told, in the end I would probably be to scared to ride a bike here :D )
I work from 9am-6pm which is a long day for me. Especially when I was working in Angel I had to leave around 8am and when I got back home it was already close to 7pm. This is also different compared to Finland, where a normal work days is from 8-4 - which gives you plenty of time to do things in the afternoon.
Now I work from monday-thursday which gives me a nice three day weekend and a bit more time to explore and do things and most important: rest.
I love how in stores like Urban Outfitters the shop assistant (that is the same age as me), asks:
Are you alright my love? I love how you get students discount almost in every single store!
I love going out in London. The "hip" place to go is definitely East London where as West End attracts crowds. So choose: Shoreditch, Camden and even Hackney and Dalston...
I found out that Keira Knightley lives in Shoreditch. I hope I will run in to her one day ;) Soho is also nice but a bit more expensive.
I love how the "after work" culture is totally different here. In Finland people don't go out a lot in the week (yeah, well students do) but here the pubs are always crowded in the afternoon as people in suits and ties go and drink a beer with their co-workers.
To sum up, I have really enjoyed my summer in London - the city has definitely earned a special place in my heart! I could imagine living here for a while, say couple of years or so, but not for the rest of my life.
But oh well, you should never say never, right? ;)
