The London experience

It was the 1st of November on a cold London morning when I landed at Heathrow with my driver waiting for me with a placard with my name and company name on it. "Mamma I made it" the little voice in my head screamed, not because I had finally arrived in London to work at the head office of one of the biggest banks in the world but rather because all my life all I've ever wanted was for someone to wait for me at the airport with a placard with my name on it!

After an hour on the road mainly because of getting lost, we finally managed to find my temporary home, a cute apartment in the heart of Canary Wharf. And so my London experience began...

Working in London...

My first day at work was a bit of a blur. I spent half my time trying to figure out what the hell was going on and the other half pretending I knew. Everything was 10 times faster. I was now in an office of close to 8000 employees from our South African office which has about 200. There was such a buzz and occasional announcements made from one squawk box or another and everything being due yesterday, phones ringing off the hook, people sitting in front of multiple screens and a funny looking phone which I later learnt is actually called a dealerboard.

I worked with the most amazing team comprising of Russians, Turks, French, Bulgarians and of course Brits. I also learnt that yes in Russian is "Da" which sounds more like "nda" when said out loud (hmmm, Tshivenda much?)

Dating in London...

Ok I'm just going to come straight out with it because my colleagues have already judged me to no end...

I used Tinder to kick start my dating life...*as my street cred drops*

I managed to secure two Tinder dates, one with what turned out to be an unemployed Spanish guy (whose Tinder pic clearly failed to show his one missing tooth). The other was an Italian hairdresser...he had a great personality (?) *clears throat*

Anyway...I did manage to go on two other dates with guys I met in more conventional ways. Ends there. *hides*

Now this is the thing ladies, dating in London is expensive! (...or maybe it was just my luck). Prepare to spend money on a return trip and also on going Dutch when the bill comes. I'm sure you'd appreciate that after 5 or so dates and the exchange rate, I had to humbly turn in my resignation and step down from my position as serial dater. 

Shopping in London...

...is an absolute dream! I must've shopped almost every weekend. When the likes of H&M, Bershka, Forever 21, Zara, Top Shop and River Island become your pocket friendly shops, the temptation just becomes too strong to resist!

Partying in London...

...is even better than the shopping. Barring the ice cold weather, I had the most amazing times going out. Shorditch and Soho are definitely my uncontested faves!

That miserable London weather...

...will never stop you from doing stuff. No matter how cold, if I wasn't visiting friends or eating out I was at a market or museum. Londoners never let the lack of sun steal their fun!

Lastly, traveling in and around Europe is so cheap! Makes you realize how much we are over charged in South African. Bleh...

And that's my London experience in a nutshell, quite an amazing and humbling one at that. 

Now to work on that Wall Street dream...