Week 1 (18.10. - 24.10.)

After boarding the plane in quiet provincial Dresden, your are in no way prepared to arrive in busy London Heathrow Airport.
Then to drive through London “wrong” going traffic in a mini-cab and finally to be placed in a typical suburbian flat.

The first thing you notice is the kindness of the people in london, who, allthough always in a rush, act friendly. The second thing is of course the traffic. The left going traffic is really strange and the traffic situation is really chaotic, so that you, especially as a pedestrian, really have to pay attention.
Overcrowded tubes, equally overcrowded shops and streets, and a linguistic cocktail, which carries the multicultural athmosphere of this world metropole all too well. You too have to do some sight-seeing in your first week, and so you notice for example the quite calm character of Hyde Park, who seems so completely apart from London and in which you almost can not believe that you actually are in London.
London at night is almost like London at day, still full of life and people. And a ride on one of the night buses is even better than the corresponding day experience, if you like fast and hard driving that is.

Week 2 (25.10. - 31.10.)

And so it starts. The placement. The work. The stress. Well, not actually stress, but a lot of work. On the plus side my colleagues are a real bliss. Funny, imaginative and the real source of my work experience.
As I started work tuesday I was really nervous. Nervous about the job not meeting my expectations, nervous about not meeting the expectations of all the others. But, as it all turned out, all went fine. My supervisor is a real cool IT guy and as I already wrote my colleagues and the bosses are all nice people. I have some problems understanding the guys with the heavy accents, but most of the time it is just fine. And the work is really interesting, although a bit too much hardware related. But as time goes by I hope we get to the really exciting parts.

Week 3 (01.11. - 07.11.)

A real lovely week has passed. You just get used to the job and the transportation in the city and then the tube unions strike. Which means that the whole city went by bus or drove by car. So starting on tuesday traffic really was hell. And as the strike continued on wednesday it wasn't getting better. But at least the weather was really warm so you could easiely be a pedestrian and do some sight seeing in your spare time. Which I hadn't much, but you have to do something on the weekends, right?
Friday! There was the bonfire night celebration. Where Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the houses of parliament, but failed. So the people here are celebrating a failed terrorist plot, which seems a little strange to me, but the fireworks were really great.

Week 4 (08.11. - 14.11.)

Another week passed lightning fast by. Poppies! Everywhere you went, there where Poppies. because of the remembrance day on 11th of November. The British people mourn there their fallen from the different armed conflicts and give a lot of support to families which lost a loved one in one of the conflicts. This is especially strange as we in Germany usually don't celebrate the remembrance of our fallen. But this is in Britain very common, as you can see all sorts of different war memorials everywhere.
The weather is very good in this november. Very warm for the month and few rainy days. And if we get rain, it's usually only one or two hours rain. So I guess we are being lucky and I hope the infamous english weather doesn't strike.

Week 5 (15.11. - 21.11.)

It seems that the time is going faster the longer we stay here. It's only one week and then we have to go (actually fly) home. This week has been really freezing cold, with some rain every now and then. But at the weekend it got finally warmer. So we can watch the Winter Wonder Land, which had opened this Friday, and not have to feel the cold.
As the time of our stay here in London gets fewer and fewer, we have to go to all the sight seeing sites we haven't been yet. For instance: I discovered the Absolute Icebar London a absolut (pun intended) great place to drink wodka. It is completly build of ice and the drinks are served in glasses of ice. The temperature is below zero, so put your winter shoes on. A winterjacket and gloves for the stay in the bar are included in the admittance fee. So pay some pounds for an nearly unforgetable experience in ice and wodka.

Week 6 (22.11. - 27.11.)

London really is a great and beautiful city and we only had six weeks to explore and get to know the way of the people. And now it’s all over. So the last week where very hectic, we had to do the presentation, our work, tidy up our living places and pack our luggage. Some of us will take good memories and experiences back home, but all of us had good times here. We grew stronger through the challenges we mastered and the hardships we had to endure. Met new friends and made an everlasting impression on our co-workers. I, personally, am leaving London, but a part of me will always be here.

Challenges

The first challenge you will have to face is of course the traffic. As I wrote earlier the direction of the travel is a real challenge for continental europeans. Next is the chaotic traffic situation in general, especially for people who are from rural areas. A lot of people get headaches when going by tube and breathing is a problem too because of the dust and the used air. But the greatest challenge you will encounter is using the English language in all situations and understanding the different accents of the people of London.