15 things that WILL happen during your first year in London
1) The concept of spending £7+ on a grab ‘n’ go lunch will become very normal. WHO CARES when Ethiopian street food tastes this damn good?!
2) You’ll also lose all sense of what a drink should actually cost. £10 for a double; £6 for a beer you’ve never heard of? Sounds legit…
3) You’ll probably fall asleep on the night bus at some point, and unintentionally end up in Hertfordshire. Which is okay, because then you’ll get to do another London rite of passage: spending £80 on a drunk Uber home.
4) You’ll quickly learn what a faux pas it is to say “thank you” to the bus driver as you dismount the bus. You’ll also probably get off using the wrong door, and be met with a torrent of abuse from boarding passengers.
5) You’ll adopt ‘London speed’ when walking, and you’ll curse anyone you pass who doesn’t keep this pace. Because who doesn’t walk everywhere at the speed of being chased?
6) You’ll realise that not tapping your Oyster card because the gates are already open/don’t actually exist won’t save you any money. In fact, the opposite. Sob.
7) Following that one time your Oyster failed you and you had to turn around and go back to the machine (pushing through a swarm of mortally aggrieved suit-wearing bankers), you will be filled with a sheer dread every commute. Sometimes it’s enough to make you pull a sickie.
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8) Covent Garden will swiftly go from being the holy grail you were desperate to visit the *minute *you got to London, to somewhere you will avoid like the plague for fear of excess tourists. You’ll probably also get bored waiting for the lift in Covent Garden tube station, take the stairs, and pass out halfway up. When you know, you know.
9) You’ll realise that no matter how good a friend they are, *nobody *is worth travelling to Zone 6 for.
- Drinking alcohol will suddenly become acceptable at all times of the day, any day. School nights don’t really exist, and you won’t bat an eyelid at the sight of suit-wearing crowds outside the pub on a Tuesday lunchtime with a round of Jagerbombs. In fact, you’ll probably join them.
10) The sound of sirens will become the soundtrack to your life, no matter where you are and what you’re doing. Even more worryingly, you’ll probably find it hard to sleep on those occasions you do escape the capital, due to the deathly countryside silence.
11) You’ll go all the way to Brick Lane, spend 30p on an authentic buttered beigel, tell everyone you know about it, and then begin to live off said beigels when you realise you can’t afford to buy lunch anywhere else.
12) You will plough an embarrassing amount of your salary into eating/drinking out at whatever niche pop-up happens to be opening near your office/home that week. But it’s okay, because you’ll rack up an excess of 50 likes once you drop that ‘gram of you at that rooftop secret crisp sandwich café.
13) There will be an incident where you blow your nose and are greeted with a black tissue. It’s best to be prepared for this now. All hail that wonderful bubble of pollution.
14) You won’t go to bed without complaining at least once about the following topics: your commute, the weather, how expensive everything is, and how busy everywhere is. Oh, and tourists.
15) Someone will ask you for directions whilst on the tube, and in that very moment you will feel at home. London is yours. You finally belong.
Whatever happens during your first year in London, make sure you’re living in the right flatshare. With over 90,000 rooms and flatmates on SpareRoom, we’re bound to have somewhere great for you to call home…
