Something like a Routine

The chaos from the beginning settles down. Even though I wouldn't have thought so a month ago I think I finally arrived. Arrived in the city with all the new people, unknown streets and a whole new life feeling.

I guess you all know this one scene in a film, when someone gets into a car, drives off, and all that's left is a big cloud of dust. It mostly happens at the end of a movie when the happy couple starts a new life. What happens after that is left to your imagination. At the moment, I feel like as if I'm living the "after". The cloud of dust was my start, not my ending.

I'm in London since 1 1/2 months, my uni started already and I found a job! I kind of know how to get from A to B and I know all of my housemates (knowing doesn't imply remembering all the names). I have some sort of life rhythm. My fears from the beginning to find new friends, earn money and have orientation in the new system now feel unnecessary. When I call my friends from home I even say my life is boring! Still, every day is unique in its own way.

You can't even compare my uni workload in London with the one from Lüneburg. With only one class a week I basically have nothing to do. Finding stuff to do is the bigger task. But I'm also here to grow and that is more than enough right now. I love planning, I love busy days and being outside, drinking coffee, meeting up with this and that friend and have a chat. I always knew how my week would look like days before it started. I knew where I would go, who I would see, when my shifts at work start and where to squeeze in uni. But here it's different. It's a veeery big challenge to just live, start every day without a plan, but: I begin to like it.

The nice thing about student accommodation is having my friends as neighbours. You meet in the kitchen, on your way out or just stop by the others rooms. I still hang out with the girls I met in the very beginning, but I begin to become friends with the others from my townhouse. We went to a bar and for Halloween, Kesha, Maeve and I plan to go out together. Maeve grew up in Switzerland so she knows my struggles with translating some words into English. Kesha is from Malaysia and we have amazing talks about cultural differences and the ways we grew up. Both are such lovely people and they totally make the townhouse home.

I can't even remember how long ago I asked Jess and James for a job. I noticed the little coffee shop, the Fork Deli, next to Garden Halls (my student accommodation), more than once. And so I decided to just walk in and ask for a job. Jess and James are very kind people so work feels more like hanging out with friends than actual work. The two are best friends and live above the Fork Deli. After one trial shift I got hired as a girl-for-everything. Who would've thought that I would take a job where I have to be nice to people all day? But, to be honest, it is not as hard as I thought. The Fork Deli has a very chill vibe, same as Jess and James. Metal tables, dried flowers in glass bottles, pastel-coloured walls and striped pillows work more than well together. The industrial-style shelves in the back are filled with wines (I would buy every single bottle because the labels are so pretty) and the air is filled with the smell of chai. If you stand right behind the coffeemachine, you have the perfect spot to watch people on the street. Even though the standing and running around is exhausting, I have to smile every time I start a shift and get welcomed with the words "Jo, would you like some coffee?".

Apart from that there is not much to write about. I go to yoga classes, the gym, and next week my first badminton training is scheduled. Sometimes we go to a pub or on a walk through Regents Park. I read my papers for uni, make lists with vegan places in London and look up free museums. For that, the student art pass was definitely one of my best investments. It's a card for students where you can get free entry to cultural institutions all over the UK.

The times flies by so fast at the moment, that I can't accept 2021 being over soon. Maybe that's the thing of having a routine. Everything feels normal. And time goes by quicker if you have found your rhythm.