One year ago since moving to the UK
English below next photo
Da jeg forleden sad og kiggede mine billeder igennem på mit kamera, i et forsøg på at ‘rydde lidt op’ i dem, fandt jeg disse fra i sommers. De bragte nogle minder frem fra min tid i England og fra den gang da jeg faktisk annoncerede min ‘moving to the UK’ i en video her på bloggen. Det er et år siden jeg tog springet og rykkede til England i syv måneder. Nogle af jer husker måske at jeg lige var kommet hjem fra New York i december efter 10 fantastiske måneder der. Jeg var jobsøgende og havde endnu ikke fundet en lejlighed herhjemme, så da muligheden for at rykke til England for syv måneder, bød sig slog jeg til. En ret spontan beslutning.
Jeg har været omgivet af de sødeste mennesker, men jeg har også været utroligt meget alene! Prøvet ensomhed, men det har tvunget mig til at være meget mere opsøgende i forhold til nye bekendtskaber. Det har udviklet mig på mange punkter. Jeg har fået en hverdag op og køre; Meldt mig ind i det lokale gym og svømmehal, fundet mine favorit steder at handle ind og læst bøger på de lokale coffee shops. Det har været sundt for mig at starte en hverdag op et nyt sted, helt på egen hånd. Det har været skønt at opleve et nyt lille lokal samfund, som er så hyggeligt og sammensluttet, selvom jeg kun var en 45 minutters togtur væk fra London.
Jeg har virkelig nydt alle de gange jeg har haft besøg fra Danmark, og har kunne vise mit ‘hjem’ frem til dem som står mig nær. 7 x besøg fra Danmark på mine 7 måneder i England. Tiden var på mange måder god, men også hård. Det er virkelig hårdt at starte forfra med det sociale igen. Derfor følte jeg mig også klar til at komme hjem til Danmark i september, selvom jeg ingen planer havde. Heldigvis fandt jeg ret hurtigt job herhjemme, som jeg stadig er utroligt glad for. Det er skønt at have familie og venner lige om hjørnet igen, og jeg glæder mig til for første gang i 3 år at opleve det danske forår og sommer. Sådan rigtigt. Det betyder dog ikke at jeg ikke kunne finde på at rykke udenlands igen. Only time will tell.
The other day when I was decluttering my camera (yes that’s a thing) I found these photos from my time in England. It made me think of the fact that this month it’s been a year since my moving to the UK. I was there for seven months. It was quite a spontanious decision. Nevertheless I had found myself just coming back to Denmark after 10 months in New York. I had no job, no apartment so when I was offered to go I didn’t really hesitate. I’ve been surrounded by some really sweet people but I have also experienced loneliness first hand.
It’s been rough starting from rock bottom again trying to meet new people. At the same time it’s really forced me to put myself much more out there and reach out to others a lot more. That’s truly a valuable lesson. I had to create my life there. Join the gym and the local swimming pool, find my favorite supermarkets, go to my local coffee shops to read a book and go out for a drink with whomever wanted to. In many ways it’s really been nice moving to this small town where everyone knows one another. Still I was always only a 45 minute train ride away from London. I have also been fortunate enough to have loads of visits from Denmark during my time in the UK. 7 visits in 7 months! It’s been great to show my near and dear ones where I lived and what I was doing.
As you can hear it’s been good at times and it’s been really challenging at times. I must admit that when my seven months in the UK were about to come to an end I was more than ready to go back home to Denmark. The hardest would definitely be to leave the people whom I’ve got to know during my time there. Luckily I found a job as soon as I came back to Denmark. I really can’t stress enough how good it’s felt to have my friends and family just around the corner again. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do this whole moving away to another country all over again though. Only time will tell.
