I remember the last time I wrote in this blog. I was in my car waiting for my friend Chuan to get out of the BART station. The computer was perched on the steering wheel and I was writing because I felt like I hadn't written in a while and the urge was overwhelming. I was in California, wearing a sundress waiting. Just waiting to get here.
I made it to London safe but not exactly sound. How do I sum up the last few months of my life? It has been a dream of mine to attend graduate school for Journalism in London for as long as I can remember. I've wanted to live in this foggy city forever. It's weird and pretty amazing when one of your dreams that you never thought would happen, finally reaches fruition. I am sitting in my heated room, the gentle glow of my Argos lamp flickering, an empty mug with a leftover tea bag in it, a messy bed, a bare wall now covered with pictures and fliers--I finally feel like I've made it. My room feels like home. I just took a shower and took off the travel towel I still use from Asia. Maybe I should get a new towel. I look at it laying on my bed rumpled in a pile in the corner and flashbacks of Asia start flooding my brain. Wearing that towel tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos. On the beach in Vietnam, hanging from a branch in Indonesia--I miss it. I'll always miss it.
Traveling made me feel alive and it still does. London is amazing. There's so much here to explore and I find myself falling in love everyday--with a store, with a piece of architecture, a hidden street, with a cute boy at the local coffee shop, with a new bar or a new friend--London is full of nothing but newness. It's a fresh start and the kind I've needed for a long time.
I live with all students from the UK in a tiny four bedroom flat with raggedy blue carpet in the burrough of Islington. Nothing seems to work properly and I'm paying more than I've ever paid for rent. The hot water in the kitchen, the lights, the shower all failed to function at one point ... but I love my roommates and I adore the location. My room is my respite from this chaotic city. Once buried in my duvet, I feel the comfort of home. I miss my family and I miss my friends more than I can explain. They are such a big part of my life and it's sad to be separated from them yet again. Yet again. It's what I get from the life I've chosen to live. My love of exploring and new experiences means constantly saying goodbye to the ones you love most. But what I've realized about life is that your best friend could be around the corner or in your next destination. You just have to leave in order to find them. My friend Jenna said to me once when we were backpacking around Asia that you never know when you are going to make your next friend or meet a new love. Traveling provides you with those types of adventures and that beautiful outlook on life. I wouldn't change that for anything.
I've been in school for about a month now and have met so many brilliant, young, and motivated individuals. The professors have so much experience and I feel lucky everyday to be in London at City University. I'm trying to write as much as humanly possible. I'm trying to become a complete news junkie. I'm trying to be a lot of things and it's hard, but I can see myself evolving daily. Sometimes I have so much fun here that it reminds me of Barcelona. I never thought that I could feel happiness like that again--it's a different kind of happiness. A kind of understated bliss. Barcelona was never understated, it was always excess and all in fun. London is challenging. It's work, but for the first time in a long time I feel as if my brain and heart are finally starting to be understood by each other. If that makes any sense at all.
