Since January, I have been living in central London, taking classes through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and interning at Dimoso, a UK-based public relations and marketing agency. My time in London has been fantastic. I’ve traveled to six cities within the United Kingdom and to five different countries. I tried Indian food for the first time and visited more castles than I ever knew existed in this country. With less than one month left in London, I decided to reflect back on my time here and what I have learned about myself through this experience.
3,988 miles
On a regular day in January, I boarded a 7 hour flight from Raleigh to London Heathrow. This was no ordinary flight, however. I was flying across the ocean to live in another country for four months. It always takes a trans-Atlantic flight for me to realize just how small we are in comparison to our planet. It’s a really sobering feeling- one that makes you appreciate how grand and diverse our world is. I’ve seen this diversity first hand in London. I love living in a city where other cultures are not just tolerated but are celebrated. I even had the opportunity to venture to London’s ChinaTown for a celebration of Chinese New Year in February. I spent the whole day in awe of the sights, scents, and sounds of the second largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia.
Treat Yo’ Self
Studying, working, and traveling is time consuming. Abroad, you feel a constant pressure to say yes to everything, to seize every opportunity. But all of these yes’s can get overwhelming. At the beginning of February, I took my first weekend trip to Copenhagen, Denmark with a big group of my friends. Our flight coming home got delayed and it took us forever to get back from the airport. We ended up getting home around 2:30 in the morning. The next day, I was exhausted. I had a hamper full of dirty laundry, homework to catch up on, and I was sick after all of the cold rain in Denmark. Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling great. This moment was when I realized that always saying yes was difficult to maintain in the long run. So, every once and awhile, I “treat myself” (as Tom Haverford from Parks and Recreation would say) to some down time when I felt like I need it. This time for myself has enabled me to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle these past few months. I am so grateful to have discovered this balance between trying new things and being realistic about what I can handle.
Branching Out
Over the past four months I have tried a lot of new things. I tried new foods (which, as a picky eater, is super challenging), I joined a bible study at a local church, and learned about my heritage during a trip to Berlin over spring break. I went to museums I didn’t think I would like, stores I didn’t think I would buy anything in (I did), and explored places I was unfamiliar with. When I look back on this experience, I think I will remember these experiences the most. In my freshman psychology class, we talked about feeling like “kidults” at university. This term describes the odd place in life between being a child and being an adult. Living in London with a group of other 20-somethings has shown me how applicable this term really is. We are not quite able to do everything on our own, nor do we need to be told what to do every second of the day. Despite acting like a full-fledged working adult in London, there are still days when I find myself googling “how fast does turkey expire” or “how to defrost chicken fastest”.
Ballin’ on a Budget
Living in London is not cheap. Once I got here, I had to quickly figure out how to find the best deals for flights, hotels, and free walking tours. The biggest conclusion I have come to is that research really pays off. There are always coupons and discounts on the internet. You just have to be willing to dig a little deeper for these. But when you find that great deal on a flight, you will feel great, as will your wallet.
But most of all, appreciate where you are
It is so easy to keep comparing where you are with where you are from. There are countless differences between products in the US and products in the UK. The chocolate tastes different, words are spelled differently on the packages, and cars drive on the opposite side of the road. It can be overwhelming to dwell on all of these differences. Instead, I have found that embracing the culture you are in makes your experience that much more rewarding. If you’re always turning back to what’s familiar, you never really grow as a person. I’m not saying that you should forget about where you come from. I’m just saying that part of figuring out who you are comes from involves immersing yourself fully in another culture.
-Ann Mariah Burton
3 April, 2019