I’ve been home for about 2 weeks now, I’ve been back working for 2 weeks, and things are becoming ‘normal’ again. I figured now I can sit down and do my final blog post.
I’m supposed to write about how I have changed or how my view of the world has changed from my first post.
The Office of International Programs wants me to talk about how my perceptions of other people and all that jazz but honestly I only made 1 friend in the UK, so it is really hard for me to talk about peoples’ identities and what-not. I guess I can use my girlfriend (the one person I met over there) as an example.
The way that I would describe the differences in how we see the world is kinda like a filter. She has a British filter to the things she experiences and I have an American filter. The british filter contains the basics like right-hand driving on the left side of the road, tube rides, talking quietly, avoiding eye contact with strangers, and a general avoidance of confrontation. The American filter is all about ‘me me me’. I found myself expecting to have more personal space, I wanted to talk loudly so people could hear me, I wanted my own big space to live, and I was always want to debate.
I guess the difference is super minute between english speaking nations, so it wasn’t that big a difference on a micro level. On the macro scale, the brits are just quieter, and they are a whole lot less selfish. Everyone lives in smaller spaces (which is literally all you need, Florida manages space in the most stupid way possible), people train their dogs so that they can walk without leashes, people avoid driving unless completely necessary, public transit is a thing, they are more environmentally conscious, they share green spaces, and people are nicer. I prefer that way of living completely and I feel like I’m being suffocated here in Florida and it makes me sad. I guess my big critique isn’t of American culture but rather of Floridian culture.
My time in London has given me a passion for sustainable urban development and I’m pointing my life in that direction so that I can help design places to make more sense.
I kinda hate living back home right now, but I guess I hated London my first 3 months too, so I’ll get over it. Worst part of being home is that my favorite human is over 4,000 miles away.
Long story short, I miss being in England and I think they live their lives better so now I’m trying to live my life like a brit in Florida and it is frustrating but necessary.