domingo, 30 de setembro de 2018

The adventure has started

The begginings
I recall the day everything started as if it was yesterday. In a day of June, more than three months ago, I phoned from my office to ask about the chances of doing a internship in UK or Ireland as part of FCT module. The answer could not be more promising: there were a company located in London recruiting people at that moment. I must admit that, althought that was what I was looking forward to, the decission was far from being easy due to my personal circumstances. Leaving behind my wife and my two little children was a tough choice, but after discussing the matter with my partner we agreed that this could be a good opportunity for all of us. In the worse scenario, I would improve my level of english and would adquire new knowledge that could be somehow relevant, but in the best one, we could move to England in the mid-term and would start a new life there. Althought, at the moment I am writing this, that is no more than a far dream.

London
I arrive in London on 15th saturday evening. I was tired and I was looking forward to getting to the room I had rented from Spain. But when I arrived to the place what it was supposed to be my home for the next 11 weeks, what I found could not be worse. The kitchen and the toilets were rather dirty and my room was unreasonable tiny. I was living there 2 eternal weeks, now I am living in a much better place, even closer to my office so I can avoid peak times on the tube, which, during rush hour it is absolutely crowded. Anyway, I learnt the lesson. Accomodation prices in London are exorbitant so if you want to keep the standard of living you had in Spain, be ready to pay as much as the triple or even more. Leaving that aside, London is an amazing city, plenty of historic landmarks and highly cosmopolitan, it is said that by walking through the streets you can hear more than 300 languages. You easily notice that London is one of the capitals of the world.
A view of my office
Regarding the apprenticeship, I have a lot of expectations: improving my level of english, as I said earlier, and try to make a career shift by adquiring knowledge in technologies somewhat different from what I have already been working with. On top of that, once the apprenticeship is finished, settle here with my family. It is too soon to know whether I am going to get it or not, but anyway, dreams are the energy that makes everything move.

More to come
That is what makes the life more enriching, I suppose, making decissions that push our limits to get things you thought were impossible. Bearing this is mind, I will try to make the most of my staying in London. Go ahead!







1 comentário:

  1. London is not an easy place to live when you first arrive there, because of many reasons. It is a big challenge and you are doing it great. I am sure that it will be an enriching experience and that you will be able to work either in London or in Galicia, as you choose, because there is a big demand of programmers in both countries and you are improving your curriculum a lot. All the best!

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