Nine years in London now. More of my life has happened here than in Cork at this stage, which is a strange thing to realise. I went home at Christmas and the city felt smaller than I remembered, and I felt larger than I feel here, and I can't make much sense of that.
Working in London is different. Everything's different here, that's the thing about London. It swallows the particular into the general very quickly. In Cork, if you're doing something unusual, everyone knows. In London you can do anything and the city just absorbs it and moves on.
For work, that's good. The market's bigger, the clients are spread out so there's no network of them comparing notes, and there's enough volume to be selective without it hurting your income.
On the other hand there's no community. Not the same way. I've made friends in the industry here but it's been deliberate work rather than just happening, which is how things work in London generally. You have to build everything on purpose. Cork people appear at your door with sandwiches. London people send you a calendar invite for coffee in six weeks.
I had a funny one recently. Booking in a hotel in Marylebone, perfectly fine, very pleasant, one of the easier ones I've had this year. On the way out I walked almost directly into my dentist. Not literally into her, but she was in the lobby. We made eye contact. We both did the thing where you look just past the other person and pretend you haven't seen them.
I went home and cancelled my next appointment and booked with a different practice on the other side of the city. She's a good dentist. But there's a limit to what I'm willing to revisit every six months.
That's London though, to be fair. Everyone's living multiple lives and everyone's trying not to acknowledge everyone else's. It's quite well-suited to what I do.