How does the real world work?

[Josquius]

I met up with a friend of mine from university earlier today.
Its the first time I've seen her for a fair few months so we had a lot of catching up to do and then generally just talked about random crap.
It turns out she's not studying this semester and for the past few weeks has been working a internship in Stockholm (today was a rare escape for her). Though its been good in some ways in others it's been...not so much. The main negative being something I've long feared myself.
The real world.

In university you're basically in one big adult creche. You're forced together with a bunch of other people of the same age and in a similar life situation to you- you've both been dumped in this strange town where you don't know anyone.
Its easy to meet people and crack with them, the entire setup of university is just geared towards this.

But the working environment?
Just how do you manage things when moving to a new city where you don't know anyone for work?
Your coworkers are pretty much the only people you're forced together with but they can come from a wide variety of age groups and life situations and most of them are already fully settled in the city. Also the expression "Don't shit in your bed" somewhat comes to mind here

So I beseech you elders of languish. Just how the hell did you do it?

[Eddie Teach]

[Syt]

Meet coworkers. Meet friends of coworkers. Meet the friends of friends of coworkers.

[swallow]

Live in a shared house, then it's basically a continuation of university, but with new people.  Also try to get work in a biggish city - that way, some of your university friends will still be within travelling distance, with even the possibility of crossing paths with some old associates by chance

[saskganesh]

if you work in a field and have a career, I think it's just like being in a bigger creche.

if it's just a jobjob, people don't stick. just an endless succession of faces and personalities, some memorable, most replaceable.

socially, if you are new in.a place, you gotta put a little more work into it. knowing ONE person in town beforehand opens up a whole new network of people. otherwise, join a  club, take a class, hang out in a certain bar... that kind of thing. and learn to talk to strangers.

[Ideologue]

How the hell should I know?  I don't even know how my fake world works.

[Admiral Yi]

You try to bang all your friends' coworkers.

[Monoriu]

In the real world, settling in a new city is the least of your worries. 

[garbon]

In the real world, settling in a new city is the least of your worries. 

[Grey Fox]

Retirement, garbon.

[garbon]

Retirement, garbon.

Seems weird to make that one's first priority when one might not even live that long.

[Grey Fox]

It's Mono.

[Monoriu]

When I was in university, the most pressing and most urgent problem was to find a job.  When that was solved, the matters that occupied my minds were -

Accumulate enough money to buy a flat;
How to invest the money;
How to please the bosses;
Whether I could pass probation;
And yes, retirement 

Compared with the above, settling in a new city, how to make friends etc are non-issues.  I've done my share of settling in a new city (Vancouver).  It is no big deal.  Finding a job is a big deal.  Securing the money to buy a flat and to retire are big deals. 

[Monoriu]

Retirement, garbon.

Incidentally, now that I've solved the problems of finding a job, passing probation, and buying a flat, retirement *is* my biggest worry.  I've been reading a lot lately.  The more I read, the more depressed I become.

One thing I learned is that planning for averages is useless.  You don't build a structure that can withstand average wind speeds.  You build it to withstand the worst wind speeds anticipated. 

Another thing is, average returns are meaningless.  For the sake of argument, let's say in a 30 year period, on average, you get 15 good years and 15 bad.  But you can't plan retirement based on the average of those 30 years.  Because the order that they happen is of extreme importance.  If you get 15 bad years in a row immediately after retirement, the portfolio will be so diminished that the subsequent 15 good years are meaningless.

[Grey Fox]

Right now I'm starting to go into: accumulate enough money to buy a flat; except replace "flat" by house.