Like a local

A friend of mine once wrote;

"See this world with your very own eyes, breath in its air with your very own lungs. Let your God given hands touch the earth and feel its pulse, its landscapes, its people. Let your face feel the temperatures and climates."

As the girl with the suitcase travel is like breathing to me. It comes so naturally and yet it still exhilarates me, the experience never loses its charm. The majority of this year has passed in a blur of papers, presentations, part-time positions and plausible felicity. An uphill road which lead me to Reading station at 7am on the 25 August 2012. I had been there so many times, suitcase in hand, but this time it was different. 3 months, 3 months of clinical placement in a new culture, a new climate. I don't think I really had time to fully appreciate the gravity of what I had signed up for. 3 countries in 3 days meant that the time immediately preceding this trip was a blur of clothes, banks and oddly enough my genius of a hairdresser. I think it was only when I landed, in possibly the smallest airport I have ever seen, that I suddenly started to comprehend what I had done. It was one of those surreal moments, the moments when you feel so alone, so conflicted; exhilarated by the prospects, terrified by the challenges and everything inside of you is screaming, 'What are you doing?!' I think I was mentally talking my way through each step; 'collect bag'; 'proceed to passport control'; 'call for a taxi'. I went through the motions, doing my best not to look like a tourist (words to live by). It was at this moment in time that Stings, 'Legal Alien' conveniently came to mind.    

Well, a week has passed and with each day I have come to feel less and less alien like. An inspirational vocabulary of 3 Swedish words, a bicycle and a bus card and I'm practically human again! I know I still have much to learn but I feel as though I am finally starting to embrace this adventure. As I said, travelling is like breathing to me, an exhilarating experience which I embrace at every opportunity, but this has been so much more than travelling. Bills, classes, bus schedules and supermarket shelves have made this experience a unique one. I feel like a pioneer, a stranger in a new land. Over-dramatic? Possibly, but even though my suitcase will remain in my cupboard for the majority of the next three months and I will spend more time counting pennies and reading scientific papers, I will, eventually, ride the bus like a local.

Comments

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    meet and greet at Birmingham
    meet and greet at Heathrow

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