🎼just another hopeless romantic🎼
🎼caffeinated, little dramatic🎼
🎼in an age increasingly manic🎼
🎼she's just on the hunt for some magic🎼
hello friends
my name is with Nhân with a hat
and welcome back to my channel
as you guys know, right now I'm in London
London is a big city with so many things to do
whenever I tell people that I'm not from London
they always ask me
what am I doing here?
and honestly
I always tell them that
I have no other choices
besides being here
many of you know that I was born
and grew up in Vietnam until I was 16
and then I decided to study abroad in the US
when I was about to graduate from university
certain president became president
and he made it so hard for international students
like me to get a job
all the big companies that I applied to
don't take international applicants
for their entry level jobs
so I was left with this huge uncertainty
but if you know me
you know that I thrive on uncertainty
but this
this is the biggest uncertainty
that I have in my life
I look left and right
all of my friends had internships, jobs
but I had nothing
half of me, I wanted to go back to Vietnam
because I have my family and friends
there to support me
half of me, I wanted to stay abroad
because my parents spent so much money
for me to study abroad
so I wanted to get back some money for them
and then this job posting magically appeared
or should I say that
my professors sent an email
to all the students in the school
saying that he received an email
from a UK company
they wanted to take US professionals
US students to intern there, to work there
and then I applied
miraculously, I passed 3 rounds of interviews
and I became the only person actually
to get the internship
and came here to the UK, to London
so I actually went to London
4 years ago for an internship
and that was when my commitment to the UK started
so today, I'm going to take you guys with me
to relive my first day in London as an intern
when I was 19 years old
are you guys excited?
I'm so excited
today I will try to wear my old clothes
which I have with me since 2019
when I was 19, I was such a huge nerd
that I'm not a huge nerd right now
but back then, I was just studying and working
and of course I didn't have my YouTube channel
I didn't care a lot about what I wear
I think somebody complimented me on the street
that this shirt looks good
so I keep wearing it
and then this jean jacket from American Apparel
this is an impulsive purchase
I remember hanging out with my friends
we were going to do karaoke
until 3 in the morning
and we were walking down the street
we saw this store closing down
we went inside and bought this jacket
I think this costs me $150
I know it is a lot of money
so it was actually hating myself
for buying this jacket
for like 2 or 3 days afterwards
but it's fine
it is one memory
I added in a turtleneck
because it's kind of cold
and now we're ready to go
let's go
the blossoms 🌸
I'm not sure if you guys are the same as me or not
but although I live abroad
for a long time already
I'm still very nervous
whenever I go somewhere different
let’s go
you would think that I travel a lot
but when I first came to the UK
it was only my third time going out of Vietnam
and my first time in Europe
so I was really nervous
we need to catch bus 68
there she is
okay I'm officially here
let me see if I still remember the shortcut
when I first came to London
I got lost so so much
I remember this is the first place I lived in
when I first arrived in the UK
the company’s van picked me up at the airport
with my two big suitcases
and they drove me here directly
it was very convenient
I was excited to be in London
although my flight was 18 hours
I couldn't sleep
and when I got here I was so tired
but I still could not sleep
my body was physically tired
but mentally I was in the heaven
it was up here
I could not sleep anymore
so I decided to walk around and get some food
the first challenge when you get to a new country
is knowing where to get food
I didn't know where to get food
so I went on Google and searched
groceries near me
and this, right next to my apartment
is The People's Kitchen
it is like a small grocery store
that sells a lot of stuff
let me go inside and find something to eat
I think when I first got here
I didn't know what to eat
so I decided to buy instant oatmeal
it’s like a bag of oatmeal
that you can just pour hot water in
and put some fruit in and eat together
I bought that one
so let me see if I can still find it
IT’S STILL HERE!
excuse me
do you guys have hot water for me
to pour this one in and eat it immediately?
we don’t have hot water
okay thank you
that's okay
because they don't have hot water
so I'm going to buy something to eat
with the fruit instead of porridge
so maybe yogurt?
so I bought yogurt and raspberries
this area has a lot of people walking around
so I'm very nervous right now
so please
please don't mind me
if I sharp cut all of these videos
because I have to pause a little bit
when people walk around
because I'm really nervous
so let me tell you briefly about this apartment
while eating my yogurt
so this is yogurt
and they didn't give me a spoon
there's no spoon
so I have to eat it by drinking it
and then put a little bit of fruit in my mouth
it’s not even drinkable
it's really thick
I think I'm going to go to the cafe
near here and ask for a spoon
let me be brave for a moment
I got a spoon
let me eat this first
I'm so hungry right now
this is the yogurt
it's not what I expected
this is vegan yogurt
it's not dairy yogurt
I just came in and bought a random yogurt
but the total of these two is £6
can you believe that?
it is so expensive in central London?
so let me tell you briefly about this apartment
this apartment is in Holborn
specifically Russell Square
it is right in central London
and the good thing about it
is that it is totally free
I was and still am very grateful
for this internship opportunity
it is a paid internship
but they also pay
for housing, return flight
and transport from the airport
so I feel like I got paid to do everything
it's really good
also, I got to stay in this apartment
for 3 months
and I asked them
how much do I need to pay for 1 month
if the company didn't pay for me?
and they say it's about £5,000 per month
I am like WHAT!
it is a lot
I can’t
there are so many people here
after I had breakfast
I wanted to walk around to discover the area
I wanted to see the shops, the restaurants
because I'm going to be here for 3 months
so first of all, let me take you to my favorite shop
I love stationery shops very much
they sell all kind of things
from pens, pencils to toys
I love going there and buy random toys
to go to my apartment and play
I also remember buying a lot of cards
and hand-writing them to give to my coworkers
who I worked with during the internship
that took a lot of effort
it was a nice gesture
and I received so many emails saying thank you
I remember I was very into coloring books
so I bought lots of coloring books
and then colors
oh my god, this is a Harry Potter coloring book
should I get back into coloring books?
this is the first GP
that I went to when I was sick
GP stands for General Practitioners
they are more like doctors and medical centers
this is a very nice and safe area to live in
this whole street is filled with boutique shops and restaurants
but actually I've never tried any restaurants
or bought anything on this street
because they're too expensive
believe it or not
when I first came here
I always cooked
because the prices here in London
were so shocking to me
I barely went to any restaurants
but whenever I went, I went to this place
there're so many pigeons
look at those chickens
Itsu is like a “Japanese” chain restaurant
their food is not cheap
but the special thing is half an hour
on an hour before their stores close
their food got 50% discount
sometimes they even give food out for free
so it's really cheap
actually when I just arrived here
I googled cheap food in London
and Itsu showed up
and also, it's kind of funny
because an hour before the store closes
there's a whole line of people waiting here
if you got in late
there will be no food left for you
because everybody would just take, take, and take
there are a lot of restaurants and stores around here
that I want to try them out
but I haven't tried them out because
again, they're very expensive
but there's one particular store
that I want to try out very much
and I want to try it out now
which is the ice cream store
they sell ice cream and cookies
so it's like a sandwich like this
should I get it now?
can I have one cookie
and one scoop of ice cream please?
and I’ll get the matcha and white chocolate
and the sea salted caramel ice cream
it is a good idea to order sweet cookie
and salty ice cream
because they kind of compensate for each other
so good
it's been a while since I sit down
and eat ice cream
and enjoy the view
because I always do something
I'll give this an 8 out of 10
it is really delicious
this is the first area in London that I lived in
I really like it
the area is really nice
I definitely will come back if I can afford it
this is the Northern line terminating at Edgware
if you watch more than one of my videos
you would know that I absolutely love Harry Potter
I used a lot of Harry Potter references in my videos
but do you know that I just got into Harry Potter
quite recently, about 4 years ago?
when I was an intern here
as I mentioned earlier in my video
I was the only intern in my intern class
usually there’re around 5 or 10 interns
they can talk and hang out with each other
but I was the only one, so I got really lonely
and also the weather from September to December
when I was interning wasn't really great
it was gloomy and rainy basically every single day
so seasonal depression plus loneliness
wasn't the best combination
it really made me question
if London was the best option for me
because I was so sad
what I did was
I went online and searched for any books or movies
that take place in England
or specifically in London
and I found Harry Potter
in like a weekend, I finished all 7 movies of Harry Potter
and during that internship
I finished every book of Harry Potter
that's how fast I got into it
and I went on a walking tour
all of the places that Harry Potter got inspired
and the first Harry Potter’s related place that I visited
is the King’s Cross station
King’s Cross station was only 15 minutes
walk away from my apartment
from the apartment I showed you
so I came here
and let me show you around
this is the outside of King’s Cross station
where Ron and Harry drive that flying car
the weather's not the best
it is raining right now
but this is a very big station
let me go inside and find platform 9 and 3/4
where everything begins
excuse me where can I find
platform 9 and 3/4
the Harry Potter place
that way? thank you!
it got to be between platform 9 and 10
I think I found it
there's a long queue of people
who want to take picture with the trolley
but I'm not going to be in the queue
because it seems like it's going to be forever
also, I'm going by myself
nobody's going to take pictures of me
and it's kind of awkward to put the camera down
but let me go inside the Harry Potter shop
to get something
also this is where I got my Harry Potter wand
when I first came here
I left it in Vietnam
I am so sad right now
wingardium leviosa
should I get a Dobby?
I always want a Dobby
it's so realistic though
but it's £30, a bit expensive
words cannot express how grateful I am for Harry Potter
I had a really tough time during my internship
not because of my performance
but because I felt very lonely
when I read Harry Potter
I feel like I had friends with me
who went through the same thing
well not all the sad stuff
but more like transitioning to a new environment
If you guys didn't know I'm a Slytherin
look at me
I'm a Slytherin
I do look like a Gryffindor, but I am a Slytherin
besides Harry Potter
I also found another reason to stay in London
which is most museums here are free
and they are very huge
on my first weekend here
I went to the British Museum
and I spent 6 hours there
I didn't even finish the museum
so right now I'm going to take you guys
to the British Museum
always stand on the right side
so people can walk or run on the left
the British Museum is only one stop away
from King’s Cross station
that's really convenient
that's why I love London
because you can take the underground to go anywhere
oh no it is raining harder now
while we are walking to the British Museum
I want to offer you my 2 cents advice
If you don't like where you're staying right now
find reasons to like it
there are a lot more reasons than you think
and also, if you cannot find any reasons
at least you were born there
your families are there
it's special enough, right?
well not really
if you don't like it, move
I don’t know
I know it is a privilege to be able
to move and to travel
you'll get there
we'll get there someday
we can do it
I want to travel more
London in the rain ☔
we are at the British Museum already
and my hair is so wet
I feel like I showed you many times
in my vlog the British Museum already
I've been here 3 times
but today I am going to show you
the exhibitions, other places
that I have not show you before
all right, let's come in
actually, come back this way
because this is backlit
look at the lighting
the lighting this way is not as good at the other way
so I have to turn around
see, my dedication as a YouTuber
so bad
oh my god, I'm so tired right now
I want to go to the British Museum
see, the lighting is really bad
I want to go into the British Museum
and just open my book and just read
this is the back entrance
I've never been to the back entrance before
I've been to the front one
so right now we are going to use the back entrance
back entrance
here we are, we are at the big space
look at this
it is huge
whenever I go to museums like this
I tend to get really overwhelmed
because they are so big
and there are so many things to read
so I just want to take my time and relax
and read slowly rather than rushing myself
and that was exactly the reason
why I spent 6 hours when I first came here
because there was a lot of things to read
but I don't know
I don't think I retained much of it
because there was a lot of information
I always go this way
whenever I visit the British Museum
so many people gathered around this stone
it is Rosetta Stone, one of the most important objects here
it is a script from the ancient Egypt
these are North African Mosaics
so many people here
it is so crowded today
I think because this is Sunday
so there are many tourists
but since I live here
I think I come back another day
I'm so small compared to the columns
look, they're very big
can you believe that you can get inside
this big museum for free?
I love it so much
♫when we wake♫
♫hear the birds and see the sun♫
♫side by side our fears are done♫
right now I'm at Chinatown
I want to get some food
the restaurant that I want to eat at is closed
it’s opening in April
so right now I'm going to eat
my second favorite restaurant
it is not really a restaurant
but more like a place that you buy food
and eat at your home
so it's like a to-go
I got the food
so now let's go home
♫call us crazy but things are finally right♫
so right now I'm eating duck rice at Chinatown
this is my second favorite restaurant in Chinatown
because it's so cheap
Chinatown is like a place of comfort for me
I found Chinatown
the second week that I stayed in London
and I love it so much
it reminds me so much of home
and I think that's the closest thing to home
that I can get in London
because there're so many restaurants
and good food, nice people
there’s bubble tea
Asian snacks, Asian markets, and everything
I always recommend people
to go to Chinatown to get food in London
this whole box of duck rice is only £7
it is really hard to find that price in London
and it's hard to find duck as well
let alone cheap duck rice
grateful for Chinatown!
I'm at home now
after reliving my first day in the UK
I felt a lot of joy and nostalgic
and honestly, I realized that the two things
that I lacked the most when I first came here
was lack of connections and lack of financial means
when I first came here
I didn't have a lot of friends
I had nobody around me
but now I have a lot more friends
I have people who listen to me when I'm sad
and who want to share my happiness with me
when I accomplish something
and also when I first came here
I didn't have a full time job yet
it was just an internship position
and my future was very uncertain
like I told you in the beginning of the video
but now I have a full time job
I've been doing it for 3 years
and also I have a side job with you guys
so I'm very grateful for that
I'm able to travel and
take you guys with me as well
just overall, I have more budget to do things
and I'm very grateful for it
and also it makes me emotional
how much I've grown during the past 3 years
they were not the easiest years of my life
but I've grown a lot
and I'm glad that you guys were with me
during the happy as well as the sad times
and thank you very much for sticking around
I expect there will be more changes in the future
actually coming very soon, but please stay here
and that is the end of this video
thank you very much for watching it
I hope that you know more about me
as well as my journey in the UK
my first day in the UK
if you are somebody who are uncertain about their future
looking for their journey
looking for their path, please be patient
it will coming very soon
the future will sort itself out
and I will see you guys in the next video
have a good day
or have a good week ahead
see you
bye bye