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I see numerous threads here and throughout the World Wide Web of Americans wanting to move to London. I too was once ill-informed enough to consider such a move. But tragically, I was also actually in a position to make this a reality (having citizenship in an EU country). So after three years of living in London, I can offer the following warnings. Im writing from the perspective of a single, university-educated male in his late 20s.
1. Housing. Its absolutely horrible. Unless you like living in overcrowded hovels with black mold on all the walls, dont come to London. Its not possible to afford your own place so you will be sharing with five, six...up to TWELVE people. In one house. You might even have to share a BEDROOM believe it or not.
I simply cannot imagine where you must be living. Owned in London for years and never saw anything like this. If you come from a relatively inexpensive place to live, you should probably have done some research to ensure you could afford living accomodations. I am sure that you would have just the same problems if you decided to move to NYC with no planning or research.
2. Employment. You have skills and qualifications? Doesnt matter. Employers only care about personality. I've gone to interview after interview with the person not asking ONE question abotu skills or qualifications. Theyre only interested in having somebody "fun" to have around the office. Somebody "bubbly". Dont bother.
Perhaps if you had a personality this wouldn't be a problem?? Just kidding. I can assure you that qualifications do matter - they are extremely important. Not just anyone can make it in London - as you have found yourself. Again, the same can be said of NYC.
3. Agencies. I speak of employment agencies. They dominate the employment market. If you want a job, you'll probably have to try to get one through an agency because most employers dont hire directly (which is outrageous). These agency workers are salespeople. And theyre absolutely horrible. Extremely difficult to get work through them. Theyre totally incompetent organizations.
Don't know about this - I got a job direct with the company.
4. Foreigners. I have no problem with foreigners and Im one myself. But the percentage of foreigners in London is just incredible. I read that it's like 30% but I dont buy that. I'd say it's more like 80%. The only English people I ever see are co-workers. I have no idea where they live but it cant be London.
You have to be kidding with this right? 80% foreign? Ridiculous. Having said that, just like NYC, London is very multicultural. Love that about it.
5. Ghettos. Everything is a ghetto. You have your Indian ghettos, Muslim ghettos, African/Caribbean ghettos, etc. There are no integrated neighborhoods. And no English ghettos to my knowledge.
This is just silly. Have you ever been to Hampstead? Knightsbridge? Islington? Kensington? Notting Hill? Docklands? St Johns Wood? Greenwich? To name but a very few? They are gorgeous and a million miles from a 'ghetto'.
6. Xenophobia. The white English (what few I come across) are hate-filled people who dont like foreigners and ethnic minorities. Anti-Americanism is also widespread.
WHAT??? Who were you talking to? I am very surprised about this. Fortunately I have never had this experience. I will admit that a lot of Brits are anti- American right now. Or more accurately anti George Bush and his policies.
7. The English language. Nobody speaks it. As I said, the city is overwhelmingly full of foreigners. And I dont mean to be xenophobic myself, but they dont speak English. Quite honestly, when I hear the English language on the street, Im surprised. You'll hear a lot of Polish and Arabic, though.
Again, this is just silly. No-one speaks English? Of course you will hear foreign languages in the street just as you do in all cities. Especially capital cities. Is this any different than hearing Spanish spoken in the streets in the US?
8. Muslims. Again, I dont want to come off as xenophobic myself but be aware that there are a lof Muslims in London. You might be ok with this, and I thought I would be at first too. But especially in East London, you're going to see a lot of women with the full body and head coverings with just the eyes showing. Its a worrying sight, to be honest. And yeah, theres just an enormous number of Muslims here and theyre very visible and I'll just leave it at that.
That does sound xenophobic.
9. Getting around. I dont know anything about driving because I never felt the need to get a car in London and its also extremely expensive. So I take public transportation. You can get around on it (unlike in most US cities) but its also really expensive. For a one hour underground journey from the outer areas of London (where you'll likely be living) to central London, it'll cost about £5/$10 round trip. A weekly travel card for zones 1-6 (which might be more zones than you need but not by much) is like £100/$200. Incredible.
If it's GBP 100/ 200 for a weekly travel card then it has definitely gone up A LOT since my time. If that is true, then that is pretty outrageous.
10. "Royal news". People here actually give a **** about this feudal bull****.
Yes - better than the obsession with Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears which go on here. Also I don't happen to think it's bull****. I know a lot of people do, so in that case we will have to agree to disagree.
I should have stated in the begining that I've lived in a few places in the world. I'm from Chicago and I've also lived in Rhode Island, Helsinki, and Dublin. Theyre all very different but wonderful places and I highly recommend them to anyone.
But London is just shockingly bad. Moving here was one of the worst decisions of my life. The extremely high cost of everything is shocking, the horrendous housing that you'll be forced to endure is shocking, the enormous power (and ineptitute) of employment agencies is shocking, and all the foreigners (particualrly Muslims) is shocking. Again, I dont want to come off as racist or xenophobic myself, but I think this foreigner thing is something people need to be aware of. London isnt like in the movies with white English guys in tophats and three piece suits walking around talking about the scourge of feral children or whatever.
So please, if youre considering moving to London just dont do it unless you have a really fantastic, high-paying job lined up in which case most of the problems (though not all, of course) I mentioned could probably be bypassed. Instead, I recommend checking out Dublin. Or even try another part of America. Things are wildly different just in different areas within the US. You'd be surpised.
Unfortunately, I lack the money to get out of this ****hole so Im stuck here, perhaps forever. I dont mean to offend or "troll" and I understand the foreigner comments are a bit...edgy, perhaps. But I offer this information in good will and as a cautionary tale to my fellow dreamers.
Hilarious post! I have commented on your post in red above.
As a general note, I think perhaps you need to do some more thorough research before you move to one of the most expensive cities in the world, with no job. Not the smartest move perhaps? Just as if you moved to NYC with no plan, London can be tough for the ill prepared. Fabulous for those with the means to be there. My second favorite city in the world so far (Sydney being the first).
What a brilliant thread. No paranoia, delusions or racism at play there. I can only assume that you are trying to dispel the myth of Americans not having a well developed sense of humour that is unable to spot the irony in life.
What a brilliant thread. No paranoia, delusions or racism at play there. I can only assume that you are trying to dispel the myth of Americans not having a well developed sense of humour that is unable to spot the irony in life.
More please.
p.s. Why stay for three years if it was that bad?
Not an American old chap but an EU citizen. I can only assume [until enlightened] our friend is one of our new found allies from the old Eastern block...
Not an American old chap but an EU citizen. I can only assume [until enlightened] our friend is one of our new found allies from the old Eastern block...
i think he also mentioned living in Dublin, Chicago, and Helsinki, none of which are big international cities (Chicago comes close but certainly is not as international as NYC or London). Chicago is in the mid-west and is predominately white. How often do you see a European coming to live in the States and choosing to live in Chicago? Same goes for an American coming to live in the UK and living in Birmingham by choice when they could live in London.
what were you expecting...seriously? Helsinki and Dublin are very European in nature while London has a mixture of an American city feel and a European city feel.
I thought we was from Chicago too but I just think he referred to Chicago as being a better place than London. I don't think he must explore much. He reminds me of a taxi driver who I came across in Newcastle. This guy was from Europe and complained about the fact he had come to the UK for better work and money and complained non-stop because he wasn't making good money and it was too expensive to live in the UK. He also went on and on about the weather. Come on, I'm from Newcastle, it's a great city but you don't go there for the sun
i think he also mentioned living in Dublin, Chicago, and Helsinki, none of which are big international cities (Chicago comes close but certainly is not as international as NYC or London). Chicago is in the mid-west and is predominately white. How often do you see a European coming to live in the States and choosing to live in Chicago? Same goes for an American coming to live in the UK and living in Birmingham by choice when they could live in London.
what were you expecting...seriously? Helsinki and Dublin are very European in nature while London has a mixture of an American city feel and a European city feel.
Just a note - I've been in Chicago for eight months now and it is very international and you do see a lot of different races and colour. It has the biggest population of Polish people outside of Poland apparently and there is a significant Hispanic population too. We even have a British school here. Although it is the midwest, it is nothing like the midwest in attitude. It is much more like NYC.
I'm from Chicago and have dual citizenship in the US and Finland.
I fail to see the relevance of the constant comparisons between London and New York. I havent lived in New York and I dont care about New York. I've lived in other major cities, however and have never experienced anything like Ive seen in London.
Its also bizarre why people feel the need to make personal attacks. If you like London, thats fine. Its totally beyond me why the fact that I dont like a particular city opens me up to personal abuse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ian6479
I don't know why you have mentioned the amount of 'Muslims' or 'foreigners' in your complaint list, as I don't understand what this could possibly be a problem for.
Its not a problem if you enjoy being one of the few non-Muslim people in a Muslim ghetto, for example. But if you prefer living in integrated areas, as I do, London is not for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by swim73088
what were you expecting...seriously? Helsinki and Dublin are very European in nature while London has a mixture of an American city feel and a European city feel.
Well, seeing as how London is in Europe, I was expecting to see Europeans. Specifically, English people. This is not the case and its surprising. You might be well aware that London is full of foreigners, and I am as well. But its not something that the overwhelming majority of Americans would be aware of.
Of course London has foreigners, every major city does, but honestly take a look around you. There are plenty of English people there. As far as making personal attacks, you have posted a thread on the UK forum saying that English people are hate-ridden. Hmmm. Seriously, have you explored the home counties and the rest of the UK yet. You may be surprised at what you find.
Chicago is in the mid-west and is predominately white.
As backtotx has already suggested, this is certainly not the case. There are more black people in Chicago than white people, for example. And yes, a very large Polish population as well. Lot of people from Eastern Europe in general. And Mexico. But you certainly feel like youre in America when youre in Chicago. Most everybody speaks English, for example. There are some areas with a large Spanish speaking population, but I dont mind Spanish. And most of these people speak English anyway.
On the other hand, London most certainly does not feel like England. Depending where you are in the city, it feels more like Krakow, Riyadh, Kingston, or Delhi. This is just a fact.
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