Cheers to my Mates
As I write this weeks entry (am I moving into writing these on Fridays instead of Wednesdays?), I am on the bus home from Brighton, a coastal city about an hour away from London. Home being London I guess. Because it really has started feeling like home.
In honor of Valentines day this Monday, I decided to dedicate this entry to my galentines, the amazing friends I’ve made across the pond. And obviously I couldn’t write this without mentioning how great my friends back home are too. I miss you all like crazy and to everyone whose taken the time to download WhatsApp, watch my travel clothing hauls on Snapchat, text or call me to catch up, and read my blogs— thanks for keeping me sane. Especially these first couple of weeks, I definitely needed all your love more than ever and am grateful I have the best family and friends waiting for me when I get back. I was worried I would lose touch with my friends in Champaign and Buffalo Grove but these weeks have already proved that while I miss you all a lot, I know each of you is just a text away. Oh and a special shoutout to Serena Daley who had the audacity to turn 22 without my presence, I’m glad it was still the best time:) Plus another shoutout to my friends who have been quarantining after getting covid this week, tgfs (lmao iykyk) to all of you guys and yay you’re free!
Anyway while I miss you all x10000, I am so grateful to the really special group of friends (or mates as Katie reminded me they call them here) that I’ve made here. This past week (as per usual recap), we’ve had the best time: watching Step Up (10/10) in our dorm cinema, having a bit of a covid flat scare, touring and punting in Cambridge, celebrating third birthdays until 3 am (and witnessing a fast food fight ofc), watching bad rom-coms while drinking boozy hot cocoa in the kitchen, exploring Westminster abbey together, watching phantom of the opera (and some of us enjoying it more than others but in my opinion it was AMAZING), blowing out the half birthday candles (and if you know me, you already know I put a piece of uncooked pasta and half a tangerine piece on a cupcake), shopping on Oxford street, and visiting cool “faraway” places like Brighton beach today.
Even though that sounds like a lot of stuff, we spend 90 percent of the time laughing until we cry or can’t breathe anymore. I won’t thank all of you by name bc you guys know who you are but I can say that this trip has been made worthwhile because I met genuinely amazing people like you.
But I will shoutout my amazing flatmate Ellen— thanks for spending half an hour on Wednesday putting balloons all over my room for my half birthday. You’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met and have made the UK feel so much more welcoming (and let’s be real, I laugh every time one of my home friends says you sound “so British” so that’s a good reason to love you too xx).
Katie and Yami— a little shoutout for you two because I don’t think I’ve stopped laughing since you guys got here. Between Yami taking one bite of her food and immediately offering it to others, spending 20 pounds on the rigged claw machine, and our fuckoffee trips, I love that we can bond over anything. And Kelly—sorry I mean Katie— you are one of the most badass, hilarious people, and I live for our flatmates thinking we’ve lost it as we play would you rather at 3 am in the kitchen. Mind the gap, please.
Theres so many other people to thank, from my pretty cool flatMATES who use an instagram dm groupchat to my classMATES (hahaha get it?), but I don’t want to make this super long. I’m so lucky to have friends that are so giving, adventurous, loyal, and drama free. There’s something special to be said about so many of the people I’ve met here and I’m beginning to think the UK is just a breeding ground for awesome people.
I’m almost back to my dorm and this entry has been sappy enough so I guess thats enough for this week. I’ll try to add a list of funny stories in next weeks post but for now, happy Valentine’s Day weekend! Thanks for reading, mate!