Moving out

Hello again Charlie !

Well, as I told you in my last article, I have a lot to write about now that I live in Glasgow. And as I've about settled into my new life, I feel it's time to write about moving out – and into a new place.

First things first, it was very hard emotionally. Like many teenagers, I could not wait to be independent. Months ago, I started cooking for myself every now and then, and I have been doing most of my laundry separately for years – independence seemed like full freedom, and not the freedom of partying every night, but the one of fully getting to decide how my life goes.

But as summer was coming to an end, I started realising that it would be much harder, and having « la flemme » (what a wonderful french expression) of being independent.

Home was as comfy to me as the man's lap for the cat.

And then I actually had to leave. Sadness had grown over me, and for the whole trip I was not able to listen to any kind of music but the bittersweet, upbeat but depressed twenty one pilots, stressed about finding my way to my accomodation from the airport, and breaking down into tears in Amsterdam because I was so lost (okay, I also cried of happiness when the plane touched down in Glasgow airport, but this is to talk about how difficult it is before going back to happy stuff).

Luckily, I found my way to Murano student village and dragged my two huge suitcases up to the second floor.

The first few days were hazy – people were constantly arriving, I had to go shopping several times, and unpacking my suitcases required a lot of emotional effort as it was marking the fact that I was settling into another place and that I had left home. So for the first few days, I was sad a lot, and to forget about that, went out to a lot of events – that's my freshers' week.

But that's okay. A lot of people felt like that, and it is a much bigger step than we think it is to move out.

And now that I have settled in, I can also promise that this sadness goes away, and that I probably have never been as happy with my general life as I am now.

Okay, there are bad sides, starting with a certain number of flatmates that make the kitchen a constant mess – but the good side to this is, the very basic thing to have a clean kitchen sometimes makes me very happy !

And, on the other hand, the most basic "adult" tasks, like grocery shopping or balancing my money became things I love doing. I've learnt to cook quickly, efficiently and without a recipe (and now I actually enjoy my food instead of just having a "meh, I need to eat" relation with it!), and I was able to become a vegan because I only have to think of what I would like to eat. It is truly fulfilling to be taking care of myself on all aspects (hum, aside from receiving money), and helped me grow so much.

Moreover, being away from my family made me realise how much they actually mean to me, and skyping them is not something I need to do to calm down anxious parents, it is a pleasure to update them on my daily life, and hear updates back.

Not in this sense. Figuratively.

If I want you to remember anything from this article, it is that do not be scared to leave your family for your studies, but do not be too eager either. It will be hard at first, but you learn so much about yourself and about life, and at the end of the day, you have the satisfaction to know that you are now controlling your entire life, and when you have it together, it is the best feeling ever.

I will be back soon to talk about the university of Glasgow and how the studying aspect of it is going, because come on, I need to publicise it ! (come to Glasgow, it's great)

Judith