As of Monday, it will officially have been a week since I left home. Since I closed my suitcase, hugged goodbye, and stepped out the door. Monday was the last time that i got to hold Ollie (my kitten) for the next four months, which is something that pains me to write. Monday was the last time I got to hug my Mom and Dad. Monday was a day for goodbyes, which is something i've never been good at. No matter how you put it goodbyes are hard, and it's something that I prefer to avoid if possible. Sometimes it hurts less to just to walk away, it seems easier that way.
But Monday was also a day for hello's as I met up at the Logan airport in Boston with other people who will be studying in England with me. Together we boarded a 6 hour and 5 minute flight to Heathrow airport in London, England to spend our next four months studying and traveling.
I landed in London at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and arrived on campus around 10:30 a.m. that same morning. After meeting my roommate we walked around town for a little bit with a friend of hers, and that marked my first day in England.
I have to say that the hardest part about leaving home so far is feeling like I belong. I've always wanted to go to England, and being here is a dream come true. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and for the most part I feel like I belong here. It's the subtle things that make me feel out of place. The most noticeable one is when I speak, I automatically feel out of place with my New York accent, but then again that's only when i'm walking down the streets of London. The next hardest part is making friends.
I don't have the best track record with friends. I don't know what it is but it always seems like my friends get tired of me after a while, decide i'm not worth it, or just don't want to deal with me after a while and one by one they all leave me. The most recent happening last fall and I still haven't really recovered from that. So to say I was nervous about making friends in a foreign country would be a little bit of an understatement. Terrified seems like the better word to use, and once I figured out that my roommate and I probably weren't going to be besties like I hopped I was a little lost. I can do a lot on my own but conquering a new city in a different country isn't on that list.
So I started out small and did something I never do, I put myself out there. On Wednesday we went on a sight seeing tour of London. I decided to sit with another girl who was sitting alone and shortly we became friends, I'm actually hanging out with her as soon as i'm done with this. Together we saw different the different sights of London, and for the first time since I got here I didn't feel so alone.
And if that wasn't a big enough step for me, that night during dinner I asked to sit with a group of strangers, and sure enough we became friends and hung out that night during orientation and went Thursday to go shopping on Oxford Street. Together we discovered the tube and for the first time since i've been here I don't feel so alone. I've finally found my place and i couldn't be more thrilled about it!
I know it may not seem that impressive, but for me it is. I'm the type of person to take what life gives me and quietly sit in the corner. I don't really make a fuse about things, i'm not a person who stands out from across the room, in fact I tend to stand in the background and try to blend in with the shadows. I don't want to stick out and draw attention to myself, but for the first time I feel okay with being me.
While out with this new group of friends, we went over to Borough Market for some lunch, which was extremely overwhelming due to the amount of options.
Eventually I settled on this little cart that was offering stir fry, it cost 7 pounds, but it was worth every dollar. It was a nice way to be introduced to the diversity that can be found in England, and I can't wait until my next market adventure. I heard that they only get better from here.
This basically sums up my first week abroad. Today i'm going on a boat cruise along the river Thames, but that will probably be it's own separate post. So on that note i'm off to go buy a phone, razor, and lint roller (oh the joys of forgetting stuff/international barriers). Thank you for taking the time to read this.
As Always,
Talia