Visiting London

The End… or maybe…

August 8, 2008

I cannot believe it. Six weeks gone by like six days. Well, yesterday was the last day of the Summer School program. Though I haven’t left London yet (I’m leaving on the 13th), it seems as if a part of my life is over. I know, it might sound dramatic, it sounds so even to myself, but it’s true. I could have never even imagined these six weeks would be so significant in my life. As one of my friends put it in his own blog, it is very rare that one gets a chance for a fresh start. Going to a place where you don’t know anyone and don’t know what to expect. It’s very rare where you actually build your own life – where you want to go and what you want to do. One factor, however, that you cannot manipulate, is the people that you meet. I believe that the most important aspect of such a trip, or life in general, is the people you interact with. You see a new world from their eyes, a world you could have never imagined on your own. I believe that this was the most important part of my trip – the amazing people I met. I’m not only talking about my friends, but even the ones I didn’t get along with. The friends I’ve made here are now my friends for life. I remember talking to one of my friends, a local Londoner who was in the program. I didn’t get a chance to say bye to her yesterday, and she called me up to do just that. While I was talking to her just about general things, she actually started crying! This shows that the people I met really connected with me on an emotional level, and that shows how close I got with complete strangers in just six weeks. This trip gave me an opportunity to break self created barriers, to actually tough it out. I believe everything that happens to oneself, happens for a reason. Whatever experiences I’ve had in this trip have happened because they were meant to. Though I may not immediately understand why they happened, I know that at some point in my life, I will. This trip, really, has been so important for me on so many levels, some that I may not even know right now. I mean imagine this- a boy who never left home, who depended on his parents, who had his particular set of New Yorker friends, now living in London by himself, with complete strangers, most of whom come from all across the United States. I mean in this trip, I didn’t just learn about the UK, which I thought would be the only place I’d learn about, but a lot about America. I now see America in a different light. This is why I believe that though the program has ended, it has changed me immensely. This is why I look upon this end only as a starting point of a new phase in my life.

On another note, I will not reflect on London today, because though I have four days left, there is a lot of exploring I still need to do. I will only write a general reflection once the trip is completely over. Even after that, I will keep on writing even when I’m in New York, about the particular places I visited in London. I believe that will be an experience by itself, reflecting on the trips I took in London while I sit in New York.

Till further notice,

Rachit

Entry Filed under: Trip To London. .