1.
Expectation: Your contract says nine to five.
Reality: You stay until the work is done. And the work is never done.
2.
Expectation: You'll work hard but play hard. You're in the nightlife capital of Europe.
Reality: You're just too tired. Maybe next week...
3.
Expectation: There are 6 million people — meeting the love of your life should be easy.
Reality: People can't stop telling you about their friends' online dating success. Eventually you give in.
4.
Expectation: You'll spend your weekends looking around the markets.
Reality: You spend your weekends trying to get over Friday night drinks.
5.
Expectation: You'll go home and visit friends and family all the time.
Reality: You won't even leave Zone 2, let alone leave London.
6.
Expectation: Yes things are more expensive, but surely that means you earn more money.
7.
Expectation: You'll spend your nights in the coolest bars and clubs London has to offer.
8.
Expectation: You'll live in a cool, spacious flat near your friends.
Reality: You live somewhere so small and far from everything that you wonder whether you should have stayed at home.
9.
Expectation: You'll make the most of all the musicals and plays the West End has to offer.
Reality: Yeah, good luck with that.
10.
Expectation: You'll bypass public transport with a casual bike ride to work.
Reality: You'd rather pay for the tube than put your life in the hands of London's drivers.
11.
Expectation: You'll see you best friend who already lives there all the time.
Reality: Somehow you see them less than you did before.
12.
Expectation: You'll visit all the tourist attractions and take in the city's unique culture.
Reality: You refuse to leave the house at weekends to avoid encountering tourists.
13.
Expectation: You can get anywhere in no time thanks to the world-famous London Underground.
Reality: "Please use the Rail Replacement Bus Service."
14.
Expectation: London is home to some of the coolest pop-up restaurants in the world.
Reality: They don't take reservations, so you queue for hours.
15.
Expectation: You'll go to the gym every night after work.
Reality: You go to the pub every night after work.
16.
Expectation: You'll live there for five years before moving back home for a quieter life.
Reality: You'll never leave.
