As I'm sure you've all heard, there has been a mild amount of chaos around here due to a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland hovering around the UK and most of continental Europe. Unfortunately, I was one of the many victims and my weekend trip to Zurich was canceled. For as much as I wanted to go to Zurich (and still do for that matter) it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise because I was still recovering from being pretty violently ill for most of the week, and I also had a big research paper due on Tuesday, which would have never happened if I didn't have the weekend to work on it. Saturday was the first day since I had been sick that I finally felt up to leaving the flat, and since it was a beautiful day, I decided to stroll over to St. James' Park with my book and do some lounging/reading/people watching.
On the way to the park, I stopped by the London Center because I had received an e-mail saying that I had mail. Just to preface, right around the corner from school is the meeting point/drop-off point for the Sightseeing Tours of London on big double-decker buses. Everyday when I walk to school, the same guy is out there, and he always says something to say to me. Usually it's an off-hand comment about I never bring him coffee (since more often than not I'm holding a Starbucks cup), and sometimes he'll say, "give me a smile!", usually if I'm not holding a coffee cup (there is a direct correlation between me smiling and having coffee). Well Saturday I was walking with my headphones in (listening to the Harry Potter books, which is totally awesome walking around London), and when I walked by, this guy who is usually pretty casual, stopped me, motioned me to take my headphones out and the dialogue went something like this
Tour Guy: "I see you everyday. Do you work here?"
Me: "No, I'm studying here for the semester."
Tour Guy: "from that smile I can see you're from the States. Whereabouts?"
Me: "Uh, Washington, D.C."
Tour Guy: "That's great. Why are you studying on a beautiful Saturday?"
Me: "Just going to the park."
Tour Guy: "Ah, well then, have a lovely day!"
For as harmless and as odd as this interaction was, it prompted me to think about the other friends I've made just around town. Here are a few:
Kevin: Probably my best London friend. He's the regular bartender at Exmouth Arms, also the man who taught me how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. He's from Belfast but he moved to London almost twenty years ago. Some of the other kids and I are thinking about pooling our money and flying Kevin to South Bend next year. We love him that much.
The Starbucks Girl: She is just the sweetest Eastern European girl. She's almost always there when I go, and when I go up to the counter she says, "tall coffee no room?" Ah, yes that would be lovely! Gotta love it when they know your order. Just makes me feel at home.
The Orsini Guy: This is the sandwich shop around the corner from school when I tend to pop in for lunch. They make some delicious take-away sandwiches for pretty cheap, including a clutch chicken, brie, and cranberry sauce sandwich on ciabatta bread that they put in the panini press took make it all warm, melty and delicious. The Orsini Guy always gives me the biggest smile when I walk in, and while he's making my sandwich he always strikes up a conversation. "How was your spring break?" "Where are you traveling this weekend?" "Did you have a nice time with your family?" And when I'm being indecisive about the sandwich I'm going to order he always makes good recommendations. Just nice to know that he's got my best interests at heart.
These are the people that make London feel homey. In such a big city, a sense of familiarity makes a world of difference, even if you don't know their names.
Love/Hate
No, this is not a shameless promotion for New Balance, but they do have a point (and my horribly dated reference is a clear illustration of how long I've been away). I've got a little less than four weeks left of studying abroad, and the only comparable feeling that I've ever had to what I'm feeling now is 3/4 of the way through summer camp when you wake up and you're so excited for all of the fun stuff that happens the last few days, but you really don't want to shower wearing flip-flops anymore and you haven't really gotten a good night of sleep and every day your privacy is becoming more and more precious.
It's pretty similar here. This weekend a group of us went to Nice, and for as lovely as it was, the combination of laying out on the beach, reading a book for pleasure for once, seeing my family last week, and knowing that summer is in the very foreseeable future, I'm experiencing some serious love/hate feelings every day. The first thing that really prompted this sentiment was waiting in the arrivals area at the Nice airport for my friends to arrive (I was on a different flight that got in a little earlier). In my first-ever blogging attempt I expressed my love/hate relationship with airports. So sitting in the arrival gate, I saw all sorts of reunions - husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, parents and children - and it just made me so happy, but it also made me ache a little bit every time, since I want nothing more than to be reunited with all of the people who I haven't seen in so long.
But instead of harping on the things that I will certainly NOT miss about my abroad experience - hostels, small kitchens with dirty dishes, RyanAir, horrendously long trips on public transportation, cars speeding up in attempts to hit you when you cross the street - I think it would be better to list all the things that I LOVE about London.
The Pub Culture: Frankly, there's really nothing like it. Knowing that no matter where you are, there;s a place where you can sit down in a comfy chair and have a drink and chat with friends. It's really nothing like bars, because if you find the right one it like your own living room with a whole bunch of beer on tap. And if you find a good one, they have board games and delicious food too. What's not to love.
Walking Everywhere: I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss driving, but I have grown to love walking as my form of commuting. It's a great way to see the city and it is very conducive to exploring new ways of getting places. And unfortunately, I very rarely feel guilty about stopping at the pub because, hey! I walked all over the city today! I've definitely earned that Guinness. (TANGENT: Guinness. It just doesn't taste the same in the states. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when I go home...)
The Theater: I have seen more than my fair share of shows while I've been here, but there are going to be so many that I haven't seen and wanted to when I get on the plane to go home. I mean, South Bend is great, but it's not exactly a hub of arts and culture...
HobNobs, Crunchy Nut, Waitrose in general: HobNobs are a "knobbly and oaty" biscuit covered in dark chocolate on one side, which I've only ever seen at Waitrose. A delicious invention and great with coffee. Crunchy Nut (the "nutty" variety) is one of the most delicious cereals, and I've only ever found it at the Waitrose, too. Basically I'm going to miss my grocery store and all of it's beautiful, delicious things. The Martin's down the street from my apartment just won't be the same.
Jet-Setting: I guess it's good for my bank account that I won't be able to travel around the world nearly as easily when I go home, but I am definitely going to miss being able to fly to some exotic location for the weekend. By the time I get home, I will have six different countries stamps in my passport just from this semester, and that doesn't even count the different cities I visited in the same country. Pretty sweet.
And so the countdown begins. 25 days of walking, theater, Crunchy Nut, and traveling to hold me over until I get the chance to come back!
It's pretty similar here. This weekend a group of us went to Nice, and for as lovely as it was, the combination of laying out on the beach, reading a book for pleasure for once, seeing my family last week, and knowing that summer is in the very foreseeable future, I'm experiencing some serious love/hate feelings every day. The first thing that really prompted this sentiment was waiting in the arrivals area at the Nice airport for my friends to arrive (I was on a different flight that got in a little earlier). In my first-ever blogging attempt I expressed my love/hate relationship with airports. So sitting in the arrival gate, I saw all sorts of reunions - husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, parents and children - and it just made me so happy, but it also made me ache a little bit every time, since I want nothing more than to be reunited with all of the people who I haven't seen in so long.
But instead of harping on the things that I will certainly NOT miss about my abroad experience - hostels, small kitchens with dirty dishes, RyanAir, horrendously long trips on public transportation, cars speeding up in attempts to hit you when you cross the street - I think it would be better to list all the things that I LOVE about London.
The Pub Culture: Frankly, there's really nothing like it. Knowing that no matter where you are, there;s a place where you can sit down in a comfy chair and have a drink and chat with friends. It's really nothing like bars, because if you find the right one it like your own living room with a whole bunch of beer on tap. And if you find a good one, they have board games and delicious food too. What's not to love.
Walking Everywhere: I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss driving, but I have grown to love walking as my form of commuting. It's a great way to see the city and it is very conducive to exploring new ways of getting places. And unfortunately, I very rarely feel guilty about stopping at the pub because, hey! I walked all over the city today! I've definitely earned that Guinness. (TANGENT: Guinness. It just doesn't taste the same in the states. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when I go home...)
The Theater: I have seen more than my fair share of shows while I've been here, but there are going to be so many that I haven't seen and wanted to when I get on the plane to go home. I mean, South Bend is great, but it's not exactly a hub of arts and culture...
HobNobs, Crunchy Nut, Waitrose in general: HobNobs are a "knobbly and oaty" biscuit covered in dark chocolate on one side, which I've only ever seen at Waitrose. A delicious invention and great with coffee. Crunchy Nut (the "nutty" variety) is one of the most delicious cereals, and I've only ever found it at the Waitrose, too. Basically I'm going to miss my grocery store and all of it's beautiful, delicious things. The Martin's down the street from my apartment just won't be the same.
Jet-Setting: I guess it's good for my bank account that I won't be able to travel around the world nearly as easily when I go home, but I am definitely going to miss being able to fly to some exotic location for the weekend. By the time I get home, I will have six different countries stamps in my passport just from this semester, and that doesn't even count the different cities I visited in the same country. Pretty sweet.
And so the countdown begins. 25 days of walking, theater, Crunchy Nut, and traveling to hold me over until I get the chance to come back!
Taking Advantage of Nothing
Wow. Have I been a total blogger failure or what. I just said goodbye to my family after their week-long visit to London and decided it would be a good time to blog, and then realized that I haven't blogged in two weeks. It has frankly been indescribably busy here since the spring break Q&A post - professors cramming in papers and assignments before the long Easter weekend, planning a skeletal itinerary for my family's visit, and also doing my best to actively take advantage of London while I'm still here, since I'm only abroad for four more weeks! Since March 24, I've done a ton of great London things - Camden Market, Borough Market, three plays and another tonight, a visit to the Churchill War Rooms, a tour of Westminster Abbey, and much more. For as cool as that stuff is, something that I have realized since my arrival in London is that you really can't beat just going to the pub around the corner, having a pint with the guys, and doing nothing in particular.
For me, when I was back on campus and especially in high school, I always felt like I was going going going and if I wasn't doing something right at that second, I was thinking about the plan for the next thing. I'd have to plan "Me Time" which was scheduled relaxation, basically. But here, even though I'm far busier than I anticipated, without having to go to 3-4 hour rehearsals every night and also having to cook most of my own meals, the dynamic of my routine is much more conducive to socializing and just enjoying the moment. I cook with my friends and then we sit down and eat together, we walk two minutes to Exmouth Arms for a beer afterward, and we just shoot the breeze talking about nothing in particular. Maybe this reflection is prompted by the rapidly approaching May 8, when I know I'll be back in the States looking at a summer full of work and also looking at senior year in which I'll need to make some decisions about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. But if London has taught me nothing else, it's definitely taught me to live in the moment. I know now that when I'm freaking out about not getting an internship that I really wanted or deciding whether or not to apply for jobs or go to grad school or trying to write my senior thesis, I can just take a step back and say that there's plenty of time. I'll call up the boys, find the nearest bar with Guinness on tap, and just remember those nights in London when we really don't do anything - the best nights there are.
For me, when I was back on campus and especially in high school, I always felt like I was going going going and if I wasn't doing something right at that second, I was thinking about the plan for the next thing. I'd have to plan "Me Time" which was scheduled relaxation, basically. But here, even though I'm far busier than I anticipated, without having to go to 3-4 hour rehearsals every night and also having to cook most of my own meals, the dynamic of my routine is much more conducive to socializing and just enjoying the moment. I cook with my friends and then we sit down and eat together, we walk two minutes to Exmouth Arms for a beer afterward, and we just shoot the breeze talking about nothing in particular. Maybe this reflection is prompted by the rapidly approaching May 8, when I know I'll be back in the States looking at a summer full of work and also looking at senior year in which I'll need to make some decisions about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. But if London has taught me nothing else, it's definitely taught me to live in the moment. I know now that when I'm freaking out about not getting an internship that I really wanted or deciding whether or not to apply for jobs or go to grad school or trying to write my senior thesis, I can just take a step back and say that there's plenty of time. I'll call up the boys, find the nearest bar with Guinness on tap, and just remember those nights in London when we really don't do anything - the best nights there are.
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