Spain: Beauty in the ordinary

The moment I stepped out of the Madrid airport, I felt like I was entering a storybook adventure. I had only learned about Spain and its culture through textbooks, and I was so excited to surround myself with the language and the people.

Madrid was much less crowded than London and beautiful, peaceful streets weaved through the heart of the city. Walking through, I truly felt like I was experiencing a new world with minimal English and no trace of the American commercialism that surrounded me back home and in London. Where in London I would see busy people eating alone for a quick meal, in Spain everyone was truly enjoying their time to share a meal with friends, drinking beer under the sun and chatting for hours.

Spain was my first excursion while studying abroad in Europe (super cheap tickets on the one and only, Ryanair) and the fact that I could so easily fly to a new country - just for a few days - enthralled me. I was traveling with my friend that I met in my dorm.

The first place we visited was Plaza Mayor, a huge, square space with crowds of people eating, drinking, chatting, and enjoying their day under the sun. The two must try things in Madrid, according to Google, were churros (of course) and the bocadillo de calamares (calamari sandwich). The calamari sandwich - which is literally a stack of calamari in between a crispy roll - was surprisingly really, really good. I never imagined fried squid and bread could be so strangely addicting.

The next day, we visited Buen Retiro Park, which is a huge, beautiful park - one of Madrid's largest. There was a small lake in which people could pay to ride a boat, and when my friend first asked me, I simply said "No way." I never even gave it a thought because I have a slight fear of water. But then I decided that I didn't want to disappoint my friend and stood in the long line. Boating in Buen Retiro Park was one of the most memorable moments from my trip. The park was simply beautiful, and enjoying the view from the water made it all the more special. Unfortunately, I haven't kept in touch with that friend after we left London, but I'll know that we share that special memory that we probably will never forget. 

My friend and I also visited Toledo, a beautiful area two hours away from the busy city of Madrid, more famously known as the setting of the fictional adventures of Don Quixote. Toledo seemed truly separated from the world, a small city located on a hill, but filled with deep roots of history. I constantly stopped to look out and take in the amazing view of the narrow streets and old-styled houses and buildings. Because both of us were used to living within a commercial, materialistic society, walking through Toledo gave us a chance to relax and see the beauty of the world we lived in.

After I returned to London, I exited the storybook adventure of Spain and came back to my dull life. I had expected the trip to fulfill the emptiness that I always felt, even in the greatest city of London, but nothing changed. I wasn’t a new person, and I didn’t have a new, positive outlook on life. Most people expect one specific moment to change our lives. We barely get by each day, just waiting for something exciting to happen, failing to realize that every day is an opportunity to change how we see the world. I had thought going to Spain would help me escape my old life and create a new me.

But Spain actually did the opposite: it helped me see the beauties of the ordinary that surrounds me every day. We sometimes should take the time to relax and grab a coffee break with friends, or take a stroll through the park listening to music. We shouldn’t try to escape life, because our life is what makes us beautiful - we should try and grab onto the small bits that connect us to the world that make us who we are.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

— anonymous

Brick lane & vintage

People look for old in the new. It may be ironic, but as our society modernizes and every aspect of our lives become more and more convenient, we wish to hold on to a piece of the past. Brick Lane was the getaway niche for Londoners, a small break away from the fast pace of the city.

Brick Lane is a long street in east London known for its vintage markets, bagel shops, and curry. It is also one of the streets I visited the most during my 3 months. As soon as you walk into this area, the vibe is different from other parts of London. It has an artsy vibe and attracts mostly young people who are interested in art and fashion. On the weekends, Brick Lane is packed with people enjoying the various food vendors, watching musical performances, and waiting in line to try the famous Brick Lane beigel.

The beigel is a traditional Jewish style bagel that Brick Lane is most well-known for, due to its history of a large Jewish immigrant community. There are two beigel shops right next to each other, and they sell exactly the same menu. Both shops are open 24/7 and you can tell where they are from far away, because they always have lines out the door with people waiting for the salt and beef beigel. Personally, I wasn't blown away by the salt beef beigel (a bagel sandwich with salt beef, mustard, pickles) but it was definitely worth a try.

I would walk through Brick Lane alone or go with my friend, who also likes vintage shopping and cute artsy stores. We visited a famous cocoa shop called Dark Sugars. Dark Sugars is a chocolate heaven you've never seen before. The shop is filled with truffles of all flavors, shapes and colors, and you can pick and choose any combination you want. However, the store is most famous for its hot chocolate, which is made fresh at the counter. The workers dance along to loud music while they cut off chocolate shavings from a huge chocolate bar. The freshly shaven chocolate makes for an amazing, rich texture. What makes this store is just the overall friendly, fun vibe, along with a great cup of hot chocolate.

Afterwards, we would go to the underground vintage market with endless racks of vintage clothing. We would have to constantly remind ourselves that we were broke study abroad students. Whenever I saw something I liked, I would check the price tag and mentally convert pounds to dollars, trying to tell myself that it wasn't that expensive.

Brick Lane really offers an endless day of things to do if you like eating, exploring, shopping, taking photos, and enjoying good vibes. There is a reason this street gets so crowded even with the modern shopping malls and areas all around London. People come to enjoy a break from the clean, glossy, modern image that London gives off. We need that, a small reminder that we can always lean back and slow down in a society that is constantly telling us to be perfect. Sometimes we need a place in which can be ourselves and enjoy life as it unravels at its own pace.

quebec

When everything is new.. and unfamiliar

Pounds, not dollars. Pence (or just 'p', as they say), not cents. Tube, not subway. Toilet, not bathroom. Everything was unfamiliar and I had to adjust to these customs. Nothing was new, I was just placed in a different environment. However, when everything is unfamiliar, you see the world in an exciting way.

Every morning I woke up in London. (Technically, I was in Stratford, not London. But you know what I mean.) It was so much cooler than waking up in my bed in New Jersey. Commuting to school every morning was crazy. I woke up around 7 AM, showered in the teeny bathroom of my ensuite dorm room as my elbows hit against the walls each time I moved, and left for the tube before 8 on good mornings. I would grab a quick coffee and croissant from Pret and head off to the station...or complete chaos.  

The London tube is much cleaner than New York subways, but the tube itself feels much smaller because the walls are curved. So if you're standing on the edges, you have to crane your neck and scrunch over, which is really bad for your posture. And you have to stay in that position for thirty minutes, if you don't want to lose your spot to the other angry commuters.

For some reason, no one likes to stand in the middle of the aisle in between the seats, because it's awkward if you suddenly get pushed over and end up on top of someone sitting down. So everyone squeezes into the open standing areas right by the doors, which means no one else can get on. There is a lot of glaring and muttering going on (like "Why aren't you moving in?") but no one actually says anything to each other. 

Also, it's really important to "mind the gap," because there are signs everywhere, plus the announcements, and also the conductor reminding you again every few minutes. 

I would somehow make it, amidst all this stress and chaos, to Holborn Station (even the names give me nostalgia now), which was the closest to Kings College.

Being in class as the only one with the American accent felt so strange. Nothing is more obvious than an accent, and I felt like I had to drop the r's or something. (Even when I asked for water at a restaurant at a cafe, I thought about doing it in the British way, but never actually tried it.) When you become the one that stands out, you naturally feel like you need to do something to fit in.

But my accent didn't matter anyway, because most of my time I spent alone, wandering the beautiful city, and didn't have much reason to talk. After classes were over, I would casually walk out of the building (the school of Virginia Woolf!) and casually walk over to Covent Garden and pass by the Lyceum Theatre or some other amazing landmark.

Eating alone was easy in London. I found new cafes or went to either Caffe Nero or Costa, London's coffee chains, and for simple, healthy food I would go to Pret (Pret is a staple in London), Wasabi, or even Kimchee (for Korean food!). There would be other businessmen and women, students, who were grabbing a fast meal in between their work. Even in those simple moments where I sat alone with a coffee and a sandwich, everything felt so different, new, and exhilarating. 

Every day was an adventure. At least in the beginning, when everything was new. We love new things, but we also adjust quickly and get used to our surroundings. When things get familiar, we mistake that feeling as getting tired or sick of them. It's really hard to appreciate what you have all the way to the end - only when it's too late and you're looking back do you truly understand what you had.

3 months in London...the beginning

I never imagined that I would be studying in London, the city I had only read about in Sophie Kinsella books. September of 2016, I took two suitcases and flew alone to the United Kingdom for the first time in my life.

I was at London for a semester study abroad program at Kings College London. Going into college, I had never thought about studying abroad as an option, but when the time came, the possibility of exploring a whole new city was exhilarating.

My apartment in Stratford, about 30 minutes by tube from London, was amazing. It was the newest dorm and it was a beautiful building in an area that was more suburban than London. Although not the best neighborhood, my dorm was right by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, home of the 2012 Summer Olympics. That park was a 5-minute walk from me. It was even better than living near Central Park.

The first thing I did arriving in Stratford was go to the Westfield Mall (also a 5-minute walk, possibly even less) and shop for the necessities: a pillow, bedsheets, a blanket. All by myself. Now I had been in malls before, and super crowded ones, but this was a completely new experience. Growing up all my life in the States, it felt so exhilarating to be walking among people who were talking in a different accent, as silly as that may sound.

The Stratford Mall was packed. Back in the Garden State Mall, I would be annoyed at the crowds, but in Stratford, I simply wanted to stand and take everything in (which I did, by taking a bunch of photos, of the escalator, showing everyone I was a tourist). 

After lugging my sleeping necessities back to my dorm, I was exhausted. There were so many tasks left to do, and I couldn't stand up straight anymore, but everything was so exciting. Not only was I in a completely new city, country, continent, but I was also taking my steps to becoming an adult. I didn't feel scared at all - I was ready.