I’ve been studying in London for some time now, but if you were to ask me where I’m from I’d tell you ‘the North’ in a heartbeat. Despite having visited London numerous times before joining Imperial, I hadn’t appreciated how different living here would be. Culture shock would be too superfluous a term, however, there certainly are subtle differences between life in the good old North-West and the capital. In case there are any curious Northerners out there thinking of making the move, I thought I’d pen out a few of the contrasts here.
1. Diversity It would be unfair to group the whole of the North into one bubble when discussing diversity, so here I’m referring to my home in Cheshire. One of the reasons I applied to Imperial was due to London’s diversity of culture, experience and opinion. It certainly hasn’t fallen short of my expectation; London is the epitome of diversity. This is in stark contrast to my hometown. Just one illustration of this is that, in order to buy ingredients needed to cook Indian staples, my Mum has to drive to a shop some 10 miles away. This would be almost unimaginable in London where almost 1/3 of residents are foreign born. Larger cities in the North such as Manchester or Liverpool certainly do boast far more diversity than Cheshire, however, London holds true to its reputation of one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
2. The water I had heard rumours about London water being terrible, but I never truly believed them. Water is water, isn’t it? For once, the rumours were spot on. London water really is awful. Southerners seem to have acquired some sort of immunity to it and will insist it isn’t that bad but don’t listen to them. London water is substantially harder than Northern water which renders every kettle in the capital coated with limescale. Not only that, even straight from the tap it tastes unpleasant. I have since resorted to only drinking bottled water and vowing never to take Northern water for granted again.
3. The transport The tube really is a remarkable feat of engineering. I never fail to be slightly awe-stricken (although mostly annoyed) when some part of it stops working and the city descends into a state of chaos. In London, everybody gets everywhere by public transport, cycling or walking. I was shocked to find so many of my peers who were from London had never taken a driving lesson. In my hometown everyone’s number one priority when they turned 17 was to pass their driving test as quickly as possible so they no longer needed to rely on being driven to places by their parents. With how easy and efficient (most of the time) public transport is in London, it’s easy to understand why a lot of people living there just don’t bother.
4. The landscape One of my favourite parts of the train journey home at the end of term is watching the scenery outside the window become more and more dominated by green as I get closer to home. Cheshire is a countryside county so fields, forests and flowers are in abundance. Land in central London is far too valuable to be wasted on fields so the landscape is decidedly more tarmac and concrete. The parks in London are incredibly beautiful but natural beauty seems to be reserved for these specific pockets while it is far more ubiquitous back home.
London definitely does have its merits. Diverse culture, iconic landmarks and a wealth of activity. However, the North will always be home.
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