To be fair...
This is a term that the British use a whole lot. For the past seven years, I've lived in London and I've never felt like it was the right place for me. Feeling disconnected from where you live can have a lot of pretty negative impacts on your state of mind. For me, it's led to depression, isolation and a growing reluctance to even leave the house. Along the way, I've longed for so many things that I associated with America/home/where I belong that I'm pretty sure I've never even thought about letting go of my anchor. Over the past two months, I upped and quit my job and decided that I need to move back to America. It seemed really easy until I started to enjoy living here.
So, in good British fashion and fairness, I've decided to give it another try and see if I can make a home out of London after all this time. Here's my plan:
What better way to process such a decision and/or existential crisis than in public? I'll use it as an opportunity to show off the stuff I do at home (knitting, sewing, cooking and gardening) and more importantly, as a way to force myself to leave the house and get involved because I would be ashamed for people to think my only contribution to the world is through crafting. In honour of this challenge, I'm going to Berlin tomorrow, although that could be considered cheating.
Going back to being fair to London, here's my list of positives about living here:
* free healthcare
* 5 weeks of vacation standard in most jobs
* can afford to work part-time
* decent bike network which means hardly ever having to ride the tube (a major negative)
* garden where I grow vegetables
* close to farmer's market
* people don't think I'm a commie because I'm a union member
* can get train across the country
* can get train out of the country
* great cinemas
* people from all over the world come to live here (this makes it crowded and full of people just
frantically trying to make money but it can also be exciting)
* good parks and green spaces
If this list grows in the course of this experiment, it might just outweigh the negatives.
PS Yeah I know. It's my bad for being away so long but this is a valid excuse!
So, in good British fashion and fairness, I've decided to give it another try and see if I can make a home out of London after all this time. Here's my plan:
What better way to process such a decision and/or existential crisis than in public? I'll use it as an opportunity to show off the stuff I do at home (knitting, sewing, cooking and gardening) and more importantly, as a way to force myself to leave the house and get involved because I would be ashamed for people to think my only contribution to the world is through crafting. In honour of this challenge, I'm going to Berlin tomorrow, although that could be considered cheating.
Going back to being fair to London, here's my list of positives about living here:
* free healthcare
* 5 weeks of vacation standard in most jobs
* can afford to work part-time
* decent bike network which means hardly ever having to ride the tube (a major negative)
* garden where I grow vegetables
* close to farmer's market
* people don't think I'm a commie because I'm a union member
* can get train across the country
* can get train out of the country
* great cinemas
* people from all over the world come to live here (this makes it crowded and full of people just
frantically trying to make money but it can also be exciting)
* good parks and green spaces
If this list grows in the course of this experiment, it might just outweigh the negatives.
PS Yeah I know. It's my bad for being away so long but this is a valid excuse!