RE: Living in London

HI! I am an 18 year old American girl. I just graduated high school, and if all goes well I will be attending the University of London: SOAS.
I am planning to major in Korean and Japanese. Naturally I am incredibly excited about this! HOWEVER, although I have traveled a lot with my family I've never really lived on my own in a foreign country. I did go on an exchange program when I was 15, but that seems really different than what I am going to do. So if anyone has any advice about living on your own in a foreign country, living in London as an American college student, or anything else I would love to hear it!

Loneliness is probably one of the hardest things about moving abroad. If you're normally not outgoing, force yourself into situations where you'll meet people. Don't wait around for someone to reach out to you; be the one to initiate outings with other people. Surround yourself with people who are happy and positive about this adventure. Limit your time around people who just want to complain all the time.

It's completely normal to have mixed feeling about living abroad. At times you'll just love it and other times, it makes you crazy! Feeling sad for a few days is ok. Being depressed for weeks on end is not and don't feel bad about reaching out for help. I just say this because I live in an expat community and I see lots of people struggle with this.

Best of luck in your studies!

Get a mobile as soon as you arrive so you can swap numbers with people you meet.

Midwestmideast was spot on about the risks of being lonely as Londoners can be a snooty bunch.

ULU (University of London Union) has a good social events programme which you should take advantage of though I'd try and make friends with people out of university as well as having a separate social scene to the one in which you study. SOAS students are, without generalising, quite a similar bunch as are say, LSE students, so try and meet a diverse range of people in the city and find out about different cultures. Which London abounds in!

Check out the timeout website for things to do and also check out gumtree for things like sports clubs, skills swaps (you could meet up with Korean / Japanese people and practise each other's language) and hospitality websites (bewelcome, hospitality club) to meet locals for a coffee or drink and who'd be happy to show you around the city a bit.

Also, if you're not too clumsy I'd recommend buying a bicycle as this will really help you to get to know the city, cut-down on the terribly high transport costs, get you fitter (and more energetic) and increase your self-confidence. Of course if you haven't cycled before then take it easy to start and you can get free lessons from your local council.

London's an amazing place, have fun!