My Life Overseas

The truth is, after a while, living overseas becomes pretty ordinary.  But these moments still come, those moments where you just have to stop and wonder at the fact that you’re not in the States.  This is one of the things that helps make living abroad worth it.  Here’s a little something I wrote back in March when I was still living in London about this:

I’m headed for the bus stop, on my way home for the night.  It’s closing in on half twelve…  It’ll be Friday soon.  At the bus stop, I look up.  The rain – more of a mist, really, is slowly coming down, and reflecting the light.  It’s not really dark, of course – it never is in London.  The streetlights shine, and all the lights of the city reflect off the clouds, creating a soft glow.  Cars drive up and down the street, but I don’t really hear them since I have my headphones on.  The night, the mist, the buildings create the mood.  It happens once in a while: I get this feeling of awe and amazement; a fluttering in my chest, a feeling of energy.  I’m living in London.  LONDON.  Never mind that I’ve been here over a year.  I’m thousands of miles from where I grew up, with an ocean between us.  But I’m here, and it’s amazing.

The rain starts to pick up, and the temperature feels like it’s dropping.  A couple of people hail cabs rather than wait any longer.  The ubiquitous black cabs – not the only ones you see on the street these days – but the ones that scream London stop and pick them up.  It’s raining harder now, and the atmosphere is changed.  The awe slowly fades, and I wonder: where’s the damn bus?

I make no claim as to the quality of my writing, but hopefully this will start to give you an idea of what it means to live overseas.