What were the highlights of your time here?
In list form (and in no particular order),
- my trips to Iceland, Spain, Scotland, Thailand/Vietnam and The Netherlands/Germany/Denmark/Norway/Scotland/France
- the Royal Ascot (which was unlike anything else I did and which I was inexplicably REALLY excited about all day)
- the Royal Wedding (which I didn't even intend to attend, but am so glad that I did)
- seeing Wicked (which was phenomenal) and the Lion King
- my little weekend to Battle and Canterbury (which was the only thing I really did alone, and was also the first time I ever cared about something considered history)
It's notable to me that very few of these highlights took place in London. For the most part, I used my time in London as a springboard to everything else I enjoyed. And I think that's related to my reasons for leaving. London was great for a short while, and I enjoyed the time I had there... But London just isn't the city for me. It's too big and I feel too disconnected and displaced. Turns out, I'm just better suited to a smaller city.
What will you take with you / What have you learned?
The obvious answer here is that I made some great friends. My housemates, travel buddies, fellow teachers and occasional pub partners made my trip what it was.
But I also learned a little bit about myself. Part of that is what I talked about earlier, relating to the kind of city I see myself in longterm. But another thing I know now is that I'm ready to start thinking about my life in a longterm way. I desire, unlike ever before, to start putting roots down somewhere. I want to settle, to live somewhere longer than a few months or years. I want to start investing and saving for a house. I've never wanted these things before (hence my tendency to just pick up and move to new cities). Now that I do, I really feel like something inside me has shifted - like I've grown up a little. I may even have become (dare I say it?) an ADULT. Yikes.
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Since returning to Victoria, I've had a lot of "um... weren't you going to stay there longer?" In a nice way, I think people are a little confused about why I would move to one of the most famous cities in the world... and then come back. But I never really committed to staying there forever. When I left, I knew that I would either stay 6 months (the minimum term, and the remainder of the school year) OR for a longer time, on the scale of years. And when it came time to decide between the two (around the 4 month mark, when I needed to seriously think about booking a return flight), I knew that I needed to return to Canada. Given the aforementioned desire to settle somewhere, and knowing that London wasn't a place I could see myself living long-term, well, any more time spent there would kind of be... wasting time.
So here I am. All settled (except for a place to live... I'm still workin' on that one...) and happy back here in Victoria. I love that I walk down the street and run into five people I know. I love teaching back at my favourite school. I love that as I typed this sitting in a local Starbucks, a woman beside me asked me to watch her stuff... and that was completely socially acceptable and normal! I love being able to walk to a friend's house (and it doesn't take an hour on the tube to get there). I love the sunny weather!
It's good to be home.
