So I’ve been home for several weeks now and the culture shock has subsided. I no longer look at everything and think it’s strange compared to life in London. I do feel quite lonesome for Europe though. It isn’t as much of an emotional feeling as an intellectual one now. I have been contemplating life in America and my life in the time I spent in London and I have to say that the difference is extreme and London consistently comes out on top. I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that my time there was really very idyllic. I did not have to deal with much real life issues so of course my view of it is considerably more favourable (that’s right, I used the British spelling!). Regardless, I do feel that the overall positive feeling I have for England is based on realistic issues. I love how environmentally aware they are, how everyone walks so much, how the portions are so much smaller than those here (omg, food is so giant here!), etc. I like how they view drinking and how the lifestyle I led there was a healthier and more positive one than mine here. I love that every weekend when I wondered what I could do it included: visiting another country, going to a museum, going to a festival, visiting a religious site, seeing historical sites, viewing a foreign film, going to a nightclub, shopping, etc. Now my options for the weekend are pretty much limited to: shopping.
I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to live in the UK again in my lifetime but I sincerely hope that I do. I would probably appreciate living in the US more if I had to deal with real life issues in another country but I know that living in London with all of the culture and history was the best experience of my life and I’d love to repeat it.
