The honeymoon never lasts forever. It's inevitable that relationships become routine and comfortable. But for now I am still in love.
Living smack against 7 million people can be surprisingly lonely and daunting. Sunshine and a smile from a stranger on the tube are rare. Today's sunshine and warmer weather was like a much needed embrace from a friend. Afternoons like today make me stop, take a deep breath, and realize that I am lucky enough to be living my dream.
I have been warned, my love affair with London will not be without annoyance or abuse, I will forget the excitement of living in Europe, I will get irritated with the tube, I will be depressed by the cold, dark winters, and I will miss America. Over skype, Lawrence and I talked about our relationship with the city. His honeymoon phase is over, yet London will do something every now and then to make him love it all over again. I am lucky enough to still get excited seeing Tower Bridge and Big Ben, I still have my eyes wide open in each new neighborhood, and I still get surprised everytime I realize how far away I am from home.
Admittedly, I have been a hot mess here. Last night was no different but in my defense who wasn't, it was only the biggest drinking holiday of the year! I drunk dialed the boy and asked to sleep over. Yes, I am still avoiding my flat. I woke him up, he was obviously tired and most likely annoyed but he met me at the station an hour later anyway. Dressed like an idiot in green and orange, I ran up and planted a kiss on him, giggling over nothing the whole way home. We crawled into bed and cuddled. I didn't really care if we had sex, I was drunk and tired but he was wide awake and ready to go. It was an impressive marathon on both parts, mainly on his part, I was just impressed I didn't fall off the bed. We layed next to each other and he said something in Albanian. I asked for the translation: "My heart likes you so much" I told him I liked him too, in his language. It was adorable but made me incrediably nervous that our differences were going to be too much to handle. I voiced my concerns and he silenced them, at least for the moment. In his opinion as long as we like each other the rest will fall into place, our differences only matter if we let them. A very nice thought, I am going to try to follow the same school of thought.
He got ready for work and left me in his bed to sleep longer. I awoke a few hours later and headed home. It was only 8:30 and already a beautiful day! I walked home, motivated to not waste the day. I made myself a cup of terrible coffee and decided to make up for being lazy about contacting people from home. The longer I am here, the lazier I get about emails and phone calls to the states. It's not that I don't want to talk to people, it's just that sometimes I feel bad talking about trips I'm taking or friends I'm making here. I spent 3 hours on skype calling my grandparents, friends, and parents. My grandparents could not have been more excited to hear from me, in fact they didn't believe it was me and did not understand how I was calling them. Ahh, the wonders of technology! It's sad that it took me moving to Europe to really appreciate them, I have more contact with them now than I did when I lived at home. Talking to friends and family put me a great mood so I went to explore the park behind my flat.
I have been here two months and have never really explored Regent's Park. It's massive and stunning. It's amazing that a space like that can make you forget you are in a city. Waterfalls, fountains, wooden bridges, and vast fields drowned out the sounds of the city. I spend two hours getting lost in the park, every once in a while you could catch a glimpse of a skyscapper. People slept on benches (not bums), snuggled up to their significant other on the field, paddled down the lake, and played fetch with their dogs. And for those two hours, I forgot I shared space with 7 million people. I couldn't help falling in love with London all over again.
And just like all love stories, London will test and disappoint me but at least I loved it today. As I finish typing this, London is warning me not to fall too hard! Looks like I will be pulling my wellies out from the back of my closet again.....it's raining again!
Living smack against 7 million people can be surprisingly lonely and daunting. Sunshine and a smile from a stranger on the tube are rare. Today's sunshine and warmer weather was like a much needed embrace from a friend. Afternoons like today make me stop, take a deep breath, and realize that I am lucky enough to be living my dream.
I have been warned, my love affair with London will not be without annoyance or abuse, I will forget the excitement of living in Europe, I will get irritated with the tube, I will be depressed by the cold, dark winters, and I will miss America. Over skype, Lawrence and I talked about our relationship with the city. His honeymoon phase is over, yet London will do something every now and then to make him love it all over again. I am lucky enough to still get excited seeing Tower Bridge and Big Ben, I still have my eyes wide open in each new neighborhood, and I still get surprised everytime I realize how far away I am from home.
Admittedly, I have been a hot mess here. Last night was no different but in my defense who wasn't, it was only the biggest drinking holiday of the year! I drunk dialed the boy and asked to sleep over. Yes, I am still avoiding my flat. I woke him up, he was obviously tired and most likely annoyed but he met me at the station an hour later anyway. Dressed like an idiot in green and orange, I ran up and planted a kiss on him, giggling over nothing the whole way home. We crawled into bed and cuddled. I didn't really care if we had sex, I was drunk and tired but he was wide awake and ready to go. It was an impressive marathon on both parts, mainly on his part, I was just impressed I didn't fall off the bed. We layed next to each other and he said something in Albanian. I asked for the translation: "My heart likes you so much" I told him I liked him too, in his language. It was adorable but made me incrediably nervous that our differences were going to be too much to handle. I voiced my concerns and he silenced them, at least for the moment. In his opinion as long as we like each other the rest will fall into place, our differences only matter if we let them. A very nice thought, I am going to try to follow the same school of thought.
He got ready for work and left me in his bed to sleep longer. I awoke a few hours later and headed home. It was only 8:30 and already a beautiful day! I walked home, motivated to not waste the day. I made myself a cup of terrible coffee and decided to make up for being lazy about contacting people from home. The longer I am here, the lazier I get about emails and phone calls to the states. It's not that I don't want to talk to people, it's just that sometimes I feel bad talking about trips I'm taking or friends I'm making here. I spent 3 hours on skype calling my grandparents, friends, and parents. My grandparents could not have been more excited to hear from me, in fact they didn't believe it was me and did not understand how I was calling them. Ahh, the wonders of technology! It's sad that it took me moving to Europe to really appreciate them, I have more contact with them now than I did when I lived at home. Talking to friends and family put me a great mood so I went to explore the park behind my flat.
I have been here two months and have never really explored Regent's Park. It's massive and stunning. It's amazing that a space like that can make you forget you are in a city. Waterfalls, fountains, wooden bridges, and vast fields drowned out the sounds of the city. I spend two hours getting lost in the park, every once in a while you could catch a glimpse of a skyscapper. People slept on benches (not bums), snuggled up to their significant other on the field, paddled down the lake, and played fetch with their dogs. And for those two hours, I forgot I shared space with 7 million people. I couldn't help falling in love with London all over again.
Posts
So far this is one of my faves :)
ReplyDeleteps- I have fallen off the bed numerous times.