The month that saw me in London, Israel, and saw my return to the other L-town is coming to a close in a few minutes. I am impatient. It has been two weeks and I expect too much. Thought, too soon. My adjustment to home has taken place, but not without some bumps and snags along the way.A major adjustment is not traveling somewhere completely new and exciting every day. I didn’t realize it until today, but this has given me some light bouts of depression in the last couple of weeks. Graduating has only complicated the problem while contributing additional stress.
I realize I came straight from paradise; a new world opened before me everyday, to a world of routine and menial tasks. The transition has not been carefree. Seeing family and friends has been wonderful. There really is nothing like being reunited with the truest of friends. Even better, it is such a high when you see how happy people are to see you. This moment can make you feel so special; it made me feel special and blessed to have such strong and faithful friends. Time stretches the bonds of affection so thin that they snap back with so much joy at the reunion of two people that any coming together after that might seem for a while joyless because it is measured by that hallmark reunion. I know people are still happy to see me, and I them, but it is a little sad when you take notice of the reactions changing. When we are next door to each other we don't seem to care as much about one another.
This is my most prized journal in the house. Memories of London are the hardest to hold on to because everything that is so different back home works 24/7 at eroding away the environment, city, and lifestyle that I was immersed in during those months. However, my love for that time fights back and engraves London and the reasons why I love it deep into my memory. What a wondrous time it was.
Stuff on the last page of the journal…
… A sticker from Patisserie Valerie, est. 1926. It is a French pastry shop a few blocks down from Piccadilly Circus. Everything in the store is absolutely delectable. See picture of gigantic jelly-filled doughnut above.
…Short Hebrew phrases or words and their meanings. The very basics:
Makore = what’s up
Toda = thanks
Hawksomare = happy holidays (loosely)
Kem = yes
Tove = okay/yeah
Lo = no
Yahle = leave, or lets go
…Some British lingo or words that the British use more frequently than Americans: proper, footy, lorrie, Oi, Posh and Becks, blimey, bloke, chap, trainers, bloody, carriage, coach vs. bus, treble, I can’t be bothered, no worries, that’s brilliant (this isn’t slang, but they use it so much), extraordinary, and wicked (same story as “brilliant”).
That is it. No more London entries. Probably not all of you have taken the time to read these ones but that is okay. I needed to finish them. I don’t really have much of a reaction to what I wrote on April 30. I enjoyed visiting the pages of this journal. The journal is inestimable in its value to me. I can remember London without reading the pages, but the words can bring back the smell of the Tube, the grime of the city, rush hour, and cold walks through empty streets on Sundays.
Upon my return I found that I had another journal about my experience in London. My parents printed every email I sent to them (a stack of them) and put them into a binder for me. Don’t worry. I am not going to put them on the blog.
Stuff on the last page of the journal…
… A sticker from Patisserie Valerie, est. 1926. It is a French pastry shop a few blocks down from Piccadilly Circus. Everything in the store is absolutely delectable. See picture of gigantic jelly-filled doughnut above.
…Short Hebrew phrases or words and their meanings. The very basics:
Makore = what’s up
Toda = thanks
Hawksomare = happy holidays (loosely)
Kem = yes
Tove = okay/yeah
Lo = no
Yahle = leave, or lets go
…Some British lingo or words that the British use more frequently than Americans: proper, footy, lorrie, Oi, Posh and Becks, blimey, bloke, chap, trainers, bloody, carriage, coach vs. bus, treble, I can’t be bothered, no worries, that’s brilliant (this isn’t slang, but they use it so much), extraordinary, and wicked (same story as “brilliant”).
That is it. No more London entries. Probably not all of you have taken the time to read these ones but that is okay. I needed to finish them. I don’t really have much of a reaction to what I wrote on April 30. I enjoyed visiting the pages of this journal. The journal is inestimable in its value to me. I can remember London without reading the pages, but the words can bring back the smell of the Tube, the grime of the city, rush hour, and cold walks through empty streets on Sundays.
Upon my return I found that I had another journal about my experience in London. My parents printed every email I sent to them (a stack of them) and put them into a binder for me. Don’t worry. I am not going to put them on the blog.
1 comment:
I will miss your London blogs. Thanks for sharing them. I felt like I was actually there when you described your travels. Only an amazing writer can do that.
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