Goodbye England (and Hello Tears)

Despite the fact that today I'm en route back to the good ol' United States (Dunkin Donuts!), this is not going to be my last post as I still have some Viennese and Spanish adventures to write about. But I wanted to take a quick minute to try and sum up how much this year in London has truly meant to me. I'll try to keep the sappiness to a minimum (no promises).

While attempting to be as emotionally open as possible and not hide behind my typical sarcasm (I like to call it WIT), I have to say that this year has been without a doubt the best year of my life. I've been able to travel to 11 cities and 7 countries. I drove an English car without dying. I extended my education and was able to use my brain for more than drafting work emails and scheduling meetings. But most of all, and as it turns out most importantly, I got to meet some of the greatest people. People who took in a solo foreigner who didn't know anyone here and helped her to never once feel homesick (though I did miss you, parentals!).

So thank you for calling me up and inviting me to your birthday pub crawls, your football viewing gatherings, your roasts and TV marathons, your gigs and get-togethers. Thank you for the dissertation writing sessions and for helping to keep me from jumping from my window. Thank you for taking me in at Christmas when I was dealing with my first holiday away from my family. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family's NYE celebrations and making me feel immediately at home. Thanks for just being you (and you all know who you are).

Before I moved, a few different people told me it would be hard to make friends in a city like London. Well, I call bullshit on that. They are everywhere. You just have to be lucky enough to find them. And oh man, was I lucky.

Until next time London!

Cheers,

Sarah/Pippa

Laura Marling, "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)