The United Kingdom is not stereotypically known for it’s sunshine and beautiful weather. When I was applying to study over here, I heard many people tell me “oh boy, it’s gonna rain a lot while you’re over there”. And I assumed such things would be true.
After all, in my experience, I’d always heard how the United Kingdom and Ireland are places of poor weather and wind.
When I arrived, the weather was terrible. I’m talking rain, wind, and I believe even light hail one day. But our Orientation guides assured us that the weather was especially awful, that it would get better.
We all sort of nodded along and went to bed at night hoping that they were telling the truth, and it wasn’t just an attempt to placate us.
Well, it’s true. Last week had a decent amount of sun, almost no rain, and the wind wasn’t even too bad. Which is weird, of course — but also nice. Especially since I do well when there’s sunshine. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate an intense rainstorm, but when I have to walk about 3/4 of a mile each way to class every day, pouring rain isn’t exactly the most appealing.
So I’m glad for every day of sunshine. It allows me to explore more, and to soak in all the sights without getting covered in water. But exploring the city in a rainstorm would be astounding as well, I’m certain.
In other news, I did laundry for the first time since arriving the other day. I didn’t explode anything/flood the room/catch anything on fire, so I consider it an accomplishment. The one issue I had was the first washer I tried to use didn’t want to accept my coin for payment, so I had to wait until another one was free. It feels strange not using my Student Card for payment for laundry like I do back at Smith!
I think some of my main goals for this upcoming week will be to cook something a bit more advanced than pasta or soup, and to go to a café and sit and read a book. I love doing that, as it allows me to soak in the culture of a new city. I need to make it to “The Elephant House” sometime — as it is the famous café where JK Rowling began the Harry Potter series. It just feels like something I should do at least once or twice while I’m here.
There’s so much I still want/need to/have been told to do while I’m here! I’ve been here nearing three weeks (as of this upcoming Tuesday). I want to explore so much, I should do more research on how to do so. It’s still terrifying being abroad, but each day is turning that terror into something more positive. A good kind of terror, if such a thing is possible. (Good kind of terror: The feeling of being uncertain but turning the uncertainty into feelings of positivity and trying to leap into the unknown with a metaphorical belay team back home telling you that you can do it.) I’m still very much someone who doesn’t do things with great spontaneity; the most you’ll get from me in that regard is maybe running to a market in the middle of the day because I need apples. But trying new things in a new place (or trying things I’m used to back home in a new place, even) is good and something to be proud of.
There’s always sunshine, somewhere.
Love,
Emily