di Davide Furlan, 5A PNI
Last May on an ordinary day I decided to prove to myself that I was able to live on my own abroad for two months. That’s why I left Italy on the 25th July: destination London.
On the first day of my adventure I found a really cheap hostel and I immediately began to look for a job. I had written my CV and I was walking all over the city applying to pubs and restaurants.
On the very next day I found the best vacancy ever as a bar tender at a restaurant called Balfour in Russell Square. The place was nice, the food was great and I met a lot of friendly colleagues.
The tips were awesome. It was not like in Italy where tips are extremely rare. I used to have six shifts a week but parts of them were on the same day and so I had a lot of spare time. My role was mainly making coffees and drinks, serving dishes and keeping the counter clean.
During my days off I visited the city and now I know London as well as Mestre where I live.
A week later two friends of mine came to London so we could move to our first flat. They had both found a job in town and we shared the rent for more than a month. In the meantime we moved to a flat in Westferry and then to a place in South Ealing, the opposite part of the city. The last one was the most convenient accommodation of all.
Unfortunately with the opening of the Olympic Games, London became exceedingly busy and the prices rose incredibly. Because of that we had to go back to Italy in a few days. We had managed to survive in London for a month and a half altogether!
Now that we are back we are still keeping in touch with the guys we worked with. We all miss the people we met there!