London

Having lived in London for the past eight months, it may sound entirely hackneyed (and yes I see what I did there) but you do genuinely learn a few things about the place. I visited the city many times before I moved here, but it always felt like a whirlwind visit, even though once I actually came here for a whole weekend.

That's the thing about living somewhere, you get to view it from a completely different perspective. Instead of looking for the best monuments, the nicest place to have a meal or the nearest toilet you now look for the quickest route, the best supplied food shop and the cheapest place to go on a night out. So here are a couple of things that may or may not surprise you about the capital of England that I've picked up.

i. People are afraid of the special seats on the buses

I'm definitely the kind of guy who prefers a bus journey over a tube, and of course this is due to the scenery and not the price... *ahem*. Actually, joking aside, the bus is infinitely better as in the summer the tube gets way too hot even in the slightest heat and it's always jam packed for about half the day. The buses come along just as often, you get more choices and is usually less crowded meaning you are usually guaranteed a seat. Speaking of which, like I mentioned at top of this paragraph, people don't like to sit in the disabled/elderly seats. Maybe they're afraid in case they are forced to give it up a few minutes later or perhaps they're concerned what the others will think of them. All I can say is if you're given the opportunity, just go ahead and take it. Not only will you likely never see any of the passengers again, but they don't even care. The ultimate trifecta for me is getting the inside seat right next to the door and then an elderly person sitting next to you. Ain't nobody gonna ask that old lady next to ya to shift her ass so's they can get yo seat foo'!

ii. There are stars in London

I'm not much of a huge celebrity person, but living in London and working for MTV has allowed to meet far more than I ever suspected I would. I won't go into names, but you should know (and probably be disappointed to learn) that none of them were truly A-listers so please don't feel the need to hate me too much! However, these aren't the stars I'm talking about, so I'd like to direct your attention up into the vast and epic space above. Yep, those ones. People will have probably told you at some point how the light pollution prevents people in big cities from viewing the spectacle that is space itself, but I'm here to tell you they're wrong. On my walk back home tonight, I couldn't help but be impressed by how brightly the moon was shining and looking around it I spotted quite a few shining gaseous giants. Not only this, but during the last major meteor shower, I was sat on my windowsill at 1 in the morning staring out into the sky and checking them out with nothing but my corneas. Of course you have to watch out for the planes, because they do appear very often but nowhere near frequent enough to taint your view. Besides, planes take you to nice places so what is there to moan about?

iii. People can be nice. People can be rude.

One of the only preconceptions I had before I left Wales was that people in London were going to be the grumpiest creatures in the land. Having nothing to base this off other than the odd episode of Eastenders and some gangster films, I probably didn't do myself any favours. So when I finally arrived, in a house full of the most welcoming people, shortly followed by a day of working with some of the greatest company and then going to visit friends in some of the busiest tourist spots, I did get a bit of a shock. People were all incredibly courteous and gentile! How long that impression stayed with me I don't know, but my guess is probably 24 hours. Trust me when I say this; soon after you arrive here, it may be one day, one week or if you're lucky, one year, but you will eventually meet the person who will burst your politeness bubble. Mine wasn't a particularly dastardly villain or vicious criminal, but it was merely a guy who probably didn't feel like waiting. He jumped ahead of a very long queue on the bus that I was standing in. Normally, due to the aforementioned public transport efficiency, I wouldn't mind but this guy's getting in front of me meant that one person behind me wouldn't be getting on this bus. Seeing as this was the only bus at the stop and no sign of another (and I think it was raining) that meant a potential ten minute wait. But the worst thing is, nobody even challenged him! I am not going to lie to you and say that I would have said something in a different circumstance, but I was nowhere near the front at that moment and only realised this rude act after he had gotten on. Could this be a result of fear of a retaliation by said queue jumper? Perhaps. Or could this be the result of a city full of people who are so used to it that they see it as a part of their daily life? Likely. Either way, those people are few and far between, but they are far outnumbered by the type of people who will step out of the way for you when they see you on your run and don't want to force you onto the road, by the people who will smile and say thank you when you let them go ahead of you and the people who will smile at you occasionally if you catch their eye (even if it sometimes through an accidental manner!) so I summarise with the headline to this paragraph, because that's just the way it is.

I shall have more of these for you, but for now my time is up and I have a few winks to try and catch. Goodnight everybody!

Reboot

It's been a while. In fact, somebody out there who commented on a really old blog post recently, I have you to thank for getting me to write this post. At least in my absence there have been quite a few drastic changes in my life to write about, so this post should be, in theory, very interesting. So let's get started.

The biggest change? Moving to London. Yes, I've bid farewell to the Swansea accent, Joe's ice cream and Welsh cakes (and of course my family and friends, the latter of which were dwindling when I left) and embraced a brand new city, even country, to start a new phase in my life. I've been dreaming about moving to the capital for a few years now, and as I approach the 8 month mark in my London life I can say without a doubt that I haven't been disappointed. There's always something to do, places to go and it never seems to stop. Yes, it really is like all those cliches you've heard. Take for example one of my earliest nights out here, where I left a pub in central London at 2am, was able to catch a bus home at that time (the memory of having to leave a Swansea night out at 10pm to get the last bus home after failing to wangle myself a lift home) and approaching 3 in the morning, I saw out of my window a store that was still open, on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, with boxes of fresh fruit and veg out the front. Where else in the UK can you really buy a cauliflower when 95% of the country is asleep?

Of course it's not just that, the enjoyment of living amongst so much culture and entertainment has been fascinating. I actually live in the area where they filmed the majority of one of my favourite films; 'Shaun Of The Dead' Every time I remember, it makes me smile. I've spotted scenes in other films which were shot near my house, such as 28 Weeks Later, and believe there are many others to be discovered, if only I had the time to spend watching it all.

Speaking of lack of time and the media, it might not shock you now to learn of the other big change in my life, one which makes a lot of sense when you consider the first. I have a job! Yes, I am now the official Acquisitions Intern at a very prestigious youth focused broadcaster. Remember that interview I posted about in my last post? Well I got the job, so I now work for MTV! It was possibly the best first job I could have hoped to get. It's been 8 months here so far and I've really enjoyed my time so much. Not only is the job incredibly fun and involves what I love to do in my own time (i.e watch and talk about a lot of TV shows) but the people there and the atmosphere/working conditions have been insanely good. It's a shame that currently there are no options to extend my contract there past the end of the year, but I knew this wouldn't last forever and to have been there longer than they originally contracted me for was a huge compliment to my work. There is still the option of getting an internal vacancy there but that's no guarantee and I have been looking elsewhere just in case. I shall share those aspirations of mine in another post.

I am going to leave it there for now, but will come up with a more well thought out post very soon to get myself back into the swing of updating more regularly.