Days Blown By

A week has passed since I left America and already I've settled quite fine into the British lifestyle, though I'm not sure where the days went that brought me here. For the past week, I've been roaming the city as a tourist, climbing the winding tower of the Minster,

wandering the city center, and ordering my first sausage roll!

Everyday I've been feeling like more of a local. Just the other day, I was stopped by a British family and asked for directions and suprisingly, I knew where to send them! I was proud.

But there are times I still feel like I'm carrying a giant American flag down the Brit-filled street screaming, "Look at me! I'm American and I have no idea what I'm doing!" Then again, traveling in large packs of Americans doesn't help with this feeling as we take over every shop and pub—the average occupancy is about 25. 

And of course, the language I have not fully adapted to yet. 2 quid means 2 bucks, cooker means oven, and hob means stove, but the one I've been most fooled by is, "Are you okay?" As I was brushing my teeth yesterday, my flatmate waved in my room asking if I was okay, and my initial response was, "Yea, why?" thinking, do I not look okay? I quickly realized she was asking how I was doing. Oops. 

Although I stand out, I've actually rather enjoyed being the odd one—the one who says "Spring break" instead of "Easter vacation" and the one whose accent is apparently the greatest thing. Yesterday, classes started and I was amused by the looks of awe as people realized I wasn't British, and I was especially amused as I sat in an American lit lecture listening to the tutor (professor) rant about how "America is a huge, huge, huuuuuuuge country! It takes the same amount of time to get to a restaurant as it takes to get to London! It's amazing, really, compared to this little island!" she said. I felt strangely proud of my country for the first time since I arrived, and I remembered that I will always be a foreigner on this little island, never a local—and that's how I want it, to be apart of two cultures, not just one.