Living in London is great. It can be tiring, and you will hate it at times. But you wouldn’t have it any other way. However there are some things in London that always seem to support your never ending love-hate relationship with the capital. Lived in London for a while? Then you’ll recognise these things you hate that you love about London.
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The London pace
You touch your Oyster card on the reader. Red light. WHAT! Red light? Try again. Green light. Phew. Almost held up all those people behind me for more than 5 seconds. Sound familiar? Londoners are always in a rush. Contrary to popular belief, Londoners are NOT rude. They are just very efficient. They will get where they need to be as quickly as they can and answer emails while they’re at it. It never seems to stop. But to be honest, this is exactly what gives London its unique buzz.
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The Tube
The tube is a truly amazing system. It’s one of the biggest urban mass transit systems in the world and it’s by far the quickest way of getting around London. But why does it always have to so ram packed! In rush hour, it’s not uncommon to wait for a few trains until you can get on. And let’s not even start about the District line.
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Big city, village life
London has both. The big city metropolis, and the cosy villages such as Wimbledon, Hampstead and Greenwich. Which we love. Sometimes. Your colleague is having a birthday party in Greenwich? Euhm, I’ll see you at work on Monday. It’s going to take me almost 2 hours to get there!
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There’s always something going on
In London, there’s always stuff happening. You could probably go to a new restaurant every day for 10 years and still not go to the same one twice. There’s always new art work somewhere or a new market popping up in hipster town Shoreditch. But let’s face it. You always go to the same few pubs, order the same meals and hang out with the same friends. And that’s perfectly fine.
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The sightseeing
Ergo, the tourists. Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, afternoon Tea at the Ritz, Piccadilly Circus, Soho. We can go on. But it seems that the attractions that the tourist love most, have become complacent to the true Londoner. Hands up if you’ve lived in London for 5+ years but have never been into the Tower of London. Yes, me too.
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Your salary
Truth be told, the salaries for most jobs in London are higher than that very same job in a different city. We love it, partly because it makes us feel so rich whenever we’re on holidays. But all this wealth comes with a price. More specifically, the price of a pint and your rent.
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You have friends everywhere
One of the best things about London is the true mix of nationalities. Ask any Londoner and they’ll have friends from all over the world. Which is truly amazing. But London is a young city, and people are not young forever. A lot of ‘Londoners’ have the same life span as a hamster: 3-5 years. They live here for a couple of years and then move on. But you’ll remember them forever
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The tourists
Yes, you hate them. With a passion. But secretly, you also love them. After all, they make a huge contribution to London in terms of atmosphere and they quite possibly even make sure you have a job in London. Plus, who else would make you feel so smug when going through the tube ticket barriers as they are trying to figure out how to get from the ‘light blue line’ to the ‘red line’.
Did we miss anything?
Then get in touch and let us know, and we’ll add it to the list!
