05 Jan Getting settled in London
My first days in London were pretty surreal but wonderful. I remember nervously standing in Heathrow Airport around 2 hours earlier than the airport pick up time at 9am. Luckily from Facebook profile pictures I managed to pick out two other interns at the airport and introduced myself while we waited for our Program Director. He gave us sandwiches and water and we made our way to the accommodation. I’ll never forget the long ride from the airport to the accommodation. It was almost as if I had been transported to another world, the houses were so charming and traditional looking, the red double decker buses were magnificent and stunning.
After getting settled in the student housing, including buying food, cutlery, plates and bowls at Ikea a couple days later. On our first day we immediately went to the famous London Underground, which definitely lived up to its reputation, trains were so frequent and fast. Our stop was Oxford Circus, a central shopping location were big stores such as Zara and H&M are located. The place was amazing, so crowded and filled with a bustling atmosphere, with beautiful, massive Christmas decorations hanging from buildings, I had never seen anything like it in Australia. The shops were beautiful detail in the classical architecture it was surreal!
Unfortunately, due to one interns situation we were unable to arrive on time to the restaurant for our welcome initial dinner. Following this we adjusted and decided to go across the street to Nandos, familiar to me being from Australia but still different, where in London it was a complete restaurant with two levels that you wouldn’t expect to be Nandos. The Orientation went by quicker than I had expected, with the Program Director keeping it quite short and simple with the main focus on giving the people you work with respect and hard work. We also had a sponsored breakfast beforehand in the common room, with croissants, baguettes, fruits, sausage rolls, juice and sparkling water, which was filling!
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