UK Living – heroic hearts

Let me preface this post by saying, first and foremost, how sorry I am for not writing sooner. It’s safe to say that I have yet to instill a solid writing regime in myself when it comes to blogging. Or writing of any sort, lately. I kind of suck… but I’m working on it!

Sometimes you just need a little perspective when observing a situation and I guess that’s what I’ve been doing with the start of my journey here. Upon arriving here, I was overwhelmed from the start. Everything seems so simple in theory before you leave home but, once you get here, it hits you hard that you actually have to do all the stuff you’ve been talking about and planning for.

Despite the fact that I’ve already lived and studied in another country before, leaving home this time was so much harder. In fact, the first time wasn’t hard at all. Sweden was such a controlled situation with a pre-arranged environment just waiting for me to get there. Coming here felt so different and much scarier because everything was entirely up to me. I’ll never forget sitting at the departure gate in Toronto and fighting so hard not to cry in front of all the people. Weird, right? Anyone who knows me well or spent any time with me before I left should know that I could not wait to leave and get over here!

This experience felt different in a way that I still have trouble defining. Tomorrow marks 3 months since I arrived in Edinburgh and, in some ways, it feels like I’ve been here a lifetime. I feel like I’ve known my amazing friends here all my life, which isn’t surprising when you consider we’re all on different and undetermined timelines. When you realize how fleeting your time together is, it brings you closer than you can imagine. At the same time, though, I get the feeling that this is only the beginning and there is still so much ahead of me (which I know that there is). Not only is this the first city I’ve settled in, but I know for a fact that this will not be the last time I live abroad. As one of the “young ones” here, I no longer feel as though I’m running out of travel time and being forced towards settling down. The only person who gets to determine when I’m ready for that is me and this is exactly what I want to be doing for a long, long time. I don’t think anyone could convince me otherwise.

Now, getting a job over here wasn’t necessarily difficult but it was certainly different than at home. Submitting my CV online got me one call for an interview. One. I dreaded pounding the pavement so I avoided it for as long as I could. It’s so much more daunting in a city that you’re barely familiar with and truly exhausting but it’s the most efficient way to be successful. I lucked out and didn’t have to pound very far as I walked downstairs to reception at the hostel to print out my resumes. One of the girls there noticed I was applying to the hostel and, after chatting a while, she went on to recommend me to management. It all happened really quickly but I couldn’t be happier that it did. Working here has brought me into this crazy, wild, and always amusing hostel world filled with incredible people and endless amounts of fun. It’s like boarding school for adults. We all hate it at times and resent the amount of drama and shenanigans, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t change a thing. I could get a flat and live a normal working life at some pub, but where’s the fun in that? I could easily be doing that at home and I came here to have a unique experience.

Eventually I will move on and go somewhere else and that day will be really difficult because this place has been an amazing first home away from home. It has already given me countless beautiful friendships that I hope will stand the test of time and miles. It has given me a family for when I am missing my own and endless memories and laughs to last me a lifetime. I am sure there are people here who will be in my life forever and there are surely those who will be lost along the way. To quote John Green in the cheesiest of ways (don’t judge me), I will always be thankful for our little infinity in the numbered days we had here. There is still so much more fun to be had (festival time isn’t even here yet!) but I will never forget the summer I spent in Edinburgh. All the ups and downs were certainly worth it to get to where I am now.

Oh right, I also went on a 3 day tour with my BEST BUD who was so nice to come visit me and I went to Sterling with some of my closest friends and I crawled through our corridor drinking and spent every sunny day in the Meadows and watched the sun set on Calton Hill (my favourite place in Edinburgh).

Here are some photos!