Tag Archives: reflection

Parting is such sweet sorrow. Goodbye, London

It’s been 2 days since I came home in Shanghai. I am still in shock that I left London. I had a fair share of short trips outside of UK here and there and I would dread going “back” to London at the end of each trip. But now I left the city, how much London felt like home to me (not to say how much I took it for granted!) started to sink in. I’ve met a lot of people, left my mark and beheld many things I could only dream about. In the wise words of my much-missed Westminster neighbor, Celia, I’ve “done quite a lot” in a very short time. It was one heck of eventful semester but 5 months wasn’t enough. To talk about the very few regrets, I haven’t visited Stonehenge yet. But that would be a good excuse to come back. And I didn’t make too many British friends. Many whom I was close with were American, Japanese and Chinese. I am not complaining though, it was a valuable experience nonetheless to bond with these people. Also I haven’t gone to any of the extracurricular activities of the Uni (although I went to one guest speaker lecture). I will miss London dearly. I will miss how cosmopolitan this city is, how different centuries coexist in such proximity, how connected it is to other major European cities. And I will miss the semi-robotic public transport announcements reminding me to ” mind the gap.” I believe I will run into the adventurous bunch of people I met in the future in the most obscure corners of the world. And I also firmly believe that this will not be my last time visiting London. But until then… fare thee well ye jolly olde England! I await for the day we are reunited again! Thank you all for reading, following and commenting on my posts! You have been incredibly patient!! And to future study abroad students: bon voyage. Only YOU can stop yourself from embarking on a life-changing journey.