A lot can happen in two weeks.

Two weeks ago I had no friends outside of my host family and job, I wasn’t involved in any activities or organizations, and I hadn’t even started my official job. As I write this I have a few friends, I’m a part of several local organizations, and I’ve started my work full-force.

Let me start from the beginning: Scottish Dancing. One fateful Monday night I decided to attend a traditional dance at the Scottish Society, a club for those of Scottish heritage or those interested in Scottish culture that met just down my street. I was desperate to make friends and meet new people, so I decided to pop in with my house mate’s partner, Melissa, since I had nothing better to do. Were Melissa and I the only people under the age of sixty? Yes. But something really beautiful happened at the end of the night: one of the dancers, Nicola, invited me to her church, and it just so happened to be the church that I was planning on visiting that weekend. That following Sunday I met so many kind people and even made a few friends my age. Since then, I’ve started taking fiddle lessons (something I’ve always wanted to do!), joined a football (soccer) club and a running club, started playing at open jams (I would have never done this a year ago), attended my church’s youth group, and formed a full live band. 

This is the church where I take fiddle lessons! What a dream!

There’s something very humbling about starting back at square one. For years I haven’t had to go out of my way to make new friends, but the only way I’ll make any now is to intentionally put myself in social settings. I’m scanning the signs on every lamppost, checking the weekly events at cafes, searching for signs of compatibility in the strangers I pass on the street. It’s exciting to have a major life shake-up. Now is the time I can be all of the versions of myself I’ve always wanted to be but never had the time for, and I’m proud of how I’ve handled it thus far. 

Last week we went to the city library to hang up all the activity sheets I handed out to schools.

This past weekend was the Arts by the Sea Festival, the event I’d been promoting at primary schools during my first few weeks here. Lots of families stopped by to hear more about our charity and engage in some story-based activities. Several adults expressed interest in either helping promote our charity or attending workshops with us, and it dawned on me that I was the one who’d be making these decisions. Our founder, Dee, said that I could design an adult class if I wanted to, even though it’s something we’ve never done before. It’s new and exciting to have all this freedom, but I’ve also been met with the age-old imposter syndrome. I’ve never run a charity before, so I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know that I’m passionate about our charity’s cause and can figure things out. 

Me and our student volunteers at the Arts by the Sea Festival

Something I have struggled with is how to schedule my time and find a good work-life balance: I want to design a new songwriting course and an adult writing group, but that’s extra work on top of my pre-existing work. This job will be entirely what I make of it, so I want to push myself to work hard and try new things, but I also want to enjoy my time here without stressing too much. I’m currently working on finding that happy medium. 

All in all, I’m so grateful that I get to be here, and I’m excited to see how my life will continue to surprise me.

Bournemouth beach 

English majors will get this. Shout out to my ENG 200 class and Dr J. I miss y’all.