Laura during her internship in London

Hey! Who are you and where are you from? Where do you study/live/work?

Hi! I’m Laura, I studied International Management and I come from Nijmegen. Currently I’m living in London for my internship at an entertainment PR agency!

What was your first thought when you arrived in London?

‘’Wow, here we go’’.
This wasn’t the first time that I was in London, but it was the first time that I would stay in a foreign country, alone, for 3 months. So pretty exciting!

What was the most shocking difference between your home country and your new country?

Man that’s a difficult one, it doesn’t really feel very different at all.

What does your usual working day look like?

My workday starts at 10.00 in the morning and ends around 18.00. As PR intern you really do a lot, loads of “cuttings” as they call it. That’s when you collect articles in where artists are mentioned, to send them to the artists team. Furthermore, I fill the day with other assisting tasks, that being sending CDs, doing research and sometimes doing follow-up calls; a nice and varied set of tasks!

What's the working-atmosphere at your internship-company like?

Very formal, cozy and busy. It’s a small company with an open office, so you can nicely talk to each other in all comfort. It’s very busy though, that being because it’s such a small company, so you must understand that it can be quite stressy at some moments.

Did you ever feel homesick? How did you cope with this?

Not necessarily homesick, there are moments when I miss my friends and family and I can call them, because, luckily, the time difference isn’t that bad.

Do you feel at home in London? Why (not)?

Yes, I feel pretty much at home in London. It’s a beautiful and big city, where there’s always something to see or experience. Every weekend you can discover and explore a new part of the city!

Please give us tips about who to befriend when living abroad. The Russians? The Irish? The Chileans? (Honestly, we want to know some gossip about other internationals you’ve met.)

Well I share my apartment with Spaniards, French and a girl from Taiwan. All of them are pretty nice, of course I also have British colleagues. I would say, meet as many people as possible, then you learn something from every culture!

Describe the inhabitants of the new country in three words.

Polite, diverse and busy. It’s a city with loads of nationalities!

What did you learn from your experience abroad? Was it the loving community you liked? The cheap cocktails? The overwhelming nature? Or was the experience less helpful than expected? Details, we want details!

It is really cool, London is a very diverse city and there is loads to see. Even nature parks are beautiful! The great thing is that you keep busy there since there is so much to see and do! Furthermore, I came here for the music industry and over there I have learned that being in a big city really doesn’t make it easier. Of course I have gotten to experience the music industry here in London and I will take that experience back with me to the Netherlands. I also gotten to know people here that I will definitely keep in touch with. It is a very educative experience and I sure am going to miss London when I’m gone, luckily it’s not that far away ;)