When you move to live in London you can expect your life and mindset to change in so many odd ways.
Here’s the reality of life in London
1) Your journey will be full of queues. You will often look up and find yourself in a queue. You might not know why or where it leads, but you will stand there patiently in that perfectly ordered queue for as long as it takes.
2) Many London museums are free; a good place to go to on a rainy day and a great place to go if you are suddenly feeling clucky.
3) The “Heathrow injection” is not a myth. You will find yourself wondering why your waistband is getting tighter and blame it on the lack of sunlight, but it’s probably the beer and cider.
4) Bathroom scales are no longer used to measure one’s Heathrow injection. In fact, they are strictly used as a tool to measure if one’s carry-on baggage is within the required limits for your budget flight.
5) Your toiletries are now no more than 100mls each, you can expertly roll all of your belongings into your carry-on and you have more travel adapters than anyone can count.
6) The Tube is awesome. Even if you arrive at work dishevelled after getting your hair stuck in the closing door, you sweat buckets with your arms pinned against your sides and your makeup has rubbed off on to the shoulder of someone’s suit.
7) Winter fashion doesn’t matter when all you care about is keeping warm. You are quietly thankful for your thick-soled, waterproofed, sensible boots that don’t match your thick puffy coat and thick furry hat with the ear flaps.
8) You realise summer has arrived when office workers emerge for lunch in the sun with their trouser legs and sleeves rolled up for maximum exposure, the evenings are spent guzzling wine and cider in the park and weekends simply exist so you can spend two days abroad.
9) You cannot confidently use the words ‘thongs’ or ‘pants’ without someone thinking you are perverted.
10) Living in a share house until the age of 40 is totally acceptable, living a 45-60 minute commute from work is a reality and living in a sharehouse with 18 other Antipodeans and 1 shower is a scary possibility but you need to save on rent if you want to travel.
Read more of Jacquie’s experiences as an expat:
Drinking culture in boozy London: the ‘even on weeknights’, bingy truth
I have absolutely been spoiled by London, and it may not be a good thing
Living overseas: Why your best friends now are your fellow expats
Also visit her website www.neverendinghoneymoon.net
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