These are undoubtedly the biggest differences between small city life and life in the Toon

When you've lived in a small city prior to uni, you can often fall into the trap of thinking of yourself as a streetwise city slicker who will be able to cope with big city life way better than your country kid counterparts.

Don't be fooled, as Newcastle is full of things which will be both terrifyingly and excitingly new to you as a first year, and here's just a few of them:

The Metro

Chances are, if you come from a smaller city, the quickest way of travelling from one end to the other was by bus. You probably even found this stressful, and would often unduly worry about when was the right time to press the "STOP" button, or whether or not you had stood up to alight at the right time (no one likes the awkward loiter at the front of the bus after anticipating one’s stop too eagerly).

However, in hindsight, those buses were truly the 10-day Mediterranean cruises of intra-city travel. Your first-year fear of the Newcastle Metro causes you to avoid going further out of the city centre as much as possible, and you feel extreme premature angst about when you will probably have to move to Jesmond in your second year. Why must there be such a short window to board/leave the train? Why are the station escalators so unbearably vertical?

You do know the answer to these questions, of course, but your small-city mindset still makes the Metro embarrassingly difficult to comprehend.

There are more events

Grey's Monument, where the 'Africa' singalong will take place

It’s true, back in your hometown you always fancied going to a giant singalong of Toto’s "Africa", right? Unfortunately, due to the population of the city, there weren’t enough people who (rightly) shared your dream, so you were overjoyed to find out that, in Newcastle, there are.

Whereas in the past scrolling down your Facebook newsfeed meant seeing tonnes of fun-sounding events that were always in the next big city closest to you (and, despite having good intentions, you could never be bothered to trek over there for half an hour on the train), in Newcastle there are loads of things to do right on your doorstep.

You know deep down that you’ll probably decide not to go right at the last minute anyway but even so, just by being near them makes it feels like you’re actually there.

Pedestrian crossings

In your hometown there were maybe one or two four-lane roads, and you always secretly felt mild dread every time you had to cross them. In Newcastle city centre, most of the roads seem to be like this.

This may not be much of a problem if you can manage a fairly quick pace, but if you have short legs or are a slow walker then you will be familiar with the annoyance of reaching the central island knowing that you aren’t going to get to the other side before the lights change.

All you can do is awkwardly check your phone as you watch the lights flash from green to red and look longingly towards the fast-walkers as they march off happily to their destinations.

The shops are way bigger here

Of course, in smaller cities there are always a smattering of department stores and the odd charitably titled "shopping centre", but these pale in significance to the gargantuan Eldon Square and out-of-town Metrocentre. Even the single shops are huge in comparison to their small-city counterparts – who knew Primark had such a comprehensive homeware collection?

Also, who can forget the absolutely mind-blowing moment when they first realised that if they entered the Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall from the streets, then went up the escalator they would end up in – you guessed it – Eldon Square? How is one supermarket so big it can be in multiple places at once? I’ll leave that to the physicists among you to work out.

There are more people with your interests

You know that in a small city you will find at least one person who fits into each subculture – there’ll always be "that punk guy" or the "cool arty girls" or the "boy who dresses like a bit of a mod". Maybe you existed as the sole example of your subculture in your city.

However, in Newcastle you were pleased to discover that they offer club nights/themed music nights for pretty much every type of music there is, so it's easy to meet other people who are more like you.

Even if you don’t bother going to any of these events, seeing that your other mates are interested in going to them on Facebook and giving them a cheeky "like" is basically the same as going up to someone and saying, "Hey, we both like the same things and that's cool so we’re pretty much best mates now." Dreamy.

Diversity of nightlife

Back at home in Small Citysville you probably only had one or two proper nightclubs, and the rest of your nightlife consisted of bars with dancefloors and pubs. You often wished there were more club nights that catered to your specific music taste, and here in Newcastle your prayers have been answered.

Now you’ve started first year you’ve probably either completely thrown yourself into it and gone to a new club a few times a week (and gotten horrendously lost while you’ve been at it), or you've carried on your hometown routine of going to the same couple of bars for drinks and then the same club afterwards.

You know there are better clubs in Newcastle than your current haunt, but you’re just too nervous to find them. You reason that you’ll stumble upon a new favourite soon enough. Some day. When you’re ready.

Photo credits: Michael Trimble Photography (for Voodoo Saturdays Riverside); Chris Gray Photography (for Soho Rooms)