Some of you may know that I moved to London at a very young age from a small city called Galway in the lovely emerald isle. Some of you may know that I studied here and got a degree in Song-writing. But what some of you may not know is that this city has changed me completely. I moved here when I had just turned 18 from Galway, and let me tell you it was very very tough. Galway to me will always be home but to be honest I could not wait to leave. I came to study so I guess that pushed me and motivated me a bit more to pursue my dream of moving to a big city. Let me start with the first thing that I fell in love with about London, the social scene. I came here knowing absolutely nobody and ended up with friends left, right and centre, and there was always something to do or someone to hang out with. Going for a coffee is a massive London thing that I found slightly strange when I got here, but after being to hundreds of coffee shops all around London, I became a tad obsessed. There was so much hustle and bustle in those little coffee shops, I cant explain unless you have tried it out yourself. I ended up going there all the time, to chill and to do uni work, which is probably the reason I passed this degree to be fair. The second thing I loved is how easy it was for me to get everywhere, there was always a bus/tube/ train or way for me to get where I wanted and 24 hour busses saved my life at times! The third thing I really liked was how there was nobody looking at me in the streets, like finally nobody knew me, I just went off on my day to day life and it was just lovely to be anonymous for once. I am sure some of you reading this can relate to that. I did find it hard to comprehend how people wacked into me on the tube and street and not even apologise, I'm sure I cried a few times down the phone to my mom about that. Last but not least, I learned so many different aspects about different cultures and I thought it was fantastic! I made friends from all over the world, it's amazing. I knew how to work a washing machine, clean like a ninja and cook before I came so that did help. Not to worry though I had a friend who didn't know how to cook pasta, and he's a pro at cooking now! You're all probably thinking I keep blabbing on about all the good stuff, the bad is coming hold your horses!! One of the worsts part of being in London, or I am sure any big city in the world, is renting. RENTING IS AWFUL! Okay I am exaggerating a little but I have moved house at least 8 times and I have had some nasty landlords too. I even have ended up homeless a few times with no official house to call home, which sucked. I have been broke just spending £700/800 on rent just so I could have a decent enough room to sleep in. The plus side to all this is I have made friends for life and I am able to tolerate really disgusting bathrooms and kitchens, which is wonderful because rewind four years and I would of cried at some of the places I have stayed and seen. Getting a job is not as hard as you think it will be. Yeah it may not be what you wanted but I am sure in saying you will find something to hold you up for the time being to get you where you want, for me that was bar work and waitressing. Waitressing in London can be super stressful and you will serve a lot of horrible people but on the other hand you will learn a lot about yourself, earn tips ( which are really good) and gain the willpower not to wack them over the head when they are being rude. I have had my fair share of meltdowns over here too and it took me around two years to feel independent and confident enough not to call my mom every time something bad happened to me. I got stranded in the middle of London after I had an argument with a London black cabs driver, standing there crying like an idiot, who did I call? My mom, on a crappy viber line with Starbucks wifi. I tumbled face first down the stairs at the tube station, bruised my bum, and nobody stopped to help me. Who did I call? My mum. I spent my last bit of money on a take away when I was drunk. Who did I call? well you can guess. Its okay to do this, I still do it now, just not as often. It doesn't mean that you're not strong or cut out for London, it actually means you are amazing for doing this and you just need a little helping hand when you are lonely. The worst thing about moving to another country or just moving away from home in general, is not having those few people you can have a cup of tea with and get emotional about forgetting to take your washing out of the machine and don't have clean socks. London can be really lonely, even for me to this day, but I am so glad that I made that decision and became the best version of myself that I could possibly be. I am not saying that everyone needs to do this at all, I am just saying this is what I needed and it has been a crazy experience so far. What I am saying is that if you are thinking about this but are unsure, just DO IT! You wont regret it, you will learn so many new things, and hey! if its not for you? Then at least you gave it a go. And if you need any advice, I am always here to post weird, emotional blogs! All my love, Deb x
