Flavia - Getting used to life in London

When I was a child I had many habits, but I can remember just few of them. For example, I used to travel a lot with my family, we had a caravan (actually, we still have it but it’s too old and we don’t use it anymore) and we used to travel around Italy and Europe with it. We didn’t use to stay in the same place for more than 2 or 3 days, so my sister and I didn’t have too many chances to make new friends, but we had great fun anyway!  

Before coming to London I had different habits that I can’t have here and this makes me feel a little sad sometimes. When my parents were not at home, I used to have lunch with mi my sisters in the living room and watch TV series. Two afternoons a week, I used to go out with my friends and have a really good ice cream. Every Wednesday night I’d go for roller skating through the streets of Rome, and every sunny and windy weekend I’d go to the beach with my windsurf. I really miss most of these habits, but I’m getting more and more used to London life.

Also, I have different habits that I don’t really like: I’m always fooling around and wasting my time, even if I have something important to do.  Moreover, I’m always arriving late everywhere, and I really don’t like it.

There is something that really annoys me: I hate when people use my things without my permission. For example, my Italian flatmate is always eating my food, especially when I bring something from Italy; my sisters are always wearing my clothes.  This drives me crazy.

Every morning I have my routine, I’ll stay in bed for five minutes checking Whatsapp messages, Facebook  and emails on my phone, then I’ll go to the kitchen, I’ll prepare coffee and have breakfast with cereals and milk, and then I’ll drink coffee with milk. After that I’ll have a shower and I’ll get ready to go out.

I’ve been living here in London for nearly one year ,so I’m getting used to this new life, but there is something that I’ll never get used to, and this is the weather. It may not be very original but I love sunny (and hot) weather, while rain gives me a feeling of sadness and laziness.

On the other hand, I have got used to, or I’m getting used to, almost every aspects of London life. I’m getting used to crowds, crowded streets, crowded tube, crowded pubs; I’m getting used to walking faster than a marathon runner and I’m (slowly!) getting used to the really annoying ambulance and police sirens.

Being away from my home has many pros and cons. I really miss everybody, my family, my friends, my cats, my city, but I’m used to living on my own, using a different language and making friends from every part of the world. So, even if sometimes I feel depressed, I think this is a great challenge for me and will make me  more mature.