A big move?

I spent most of the summer considering whether to accept the offer. It would mean moving to another country, away from everything I knew. It would mean packing all my stuff into two boxes and leaving to a town, to a country I have never visited before. When I received the offer for accommodation, everything became more palpable. I decided that I would use this one and only opportunity that I worked hard towards, together with help of many people around me and most importantly the financial support of Kellner Family Foundation.

And so on the 8th September I sent the two boxes by post and on the 9th I was already on my way to Edinburgh. I did not know what to expect, but I would not say that I was scared. I decided that I would handle things as they come, I did not really have a choice anyway. My newly acquired philosophy was put in practice the moment I landed. The person I asked what bus to take gave me bad advice, and so I found myself in the middle of Edinburgh, not knowing where I am. Whatever, I can do this, I will just ask someone. I forgot that most of the people in the city center are tourists, who, when I asked, kept asking me back about how to get to all the famous monuments. I could only tell them how to get back to the airport, since that was the only way I knew. After few bad turns and reading the badly designed tourist maps with pictures of monuments I finally managed to find my accommodation.

The week that every Fresher is planning several months in advance is the Welcome Week, full of parties and events designed just for the newly arrived students. In the end, however, you find yourself spending the week in Ikea, where you had to return for the third time, after you realized you forgot to buy most of the stuff the first time and to buy the things you never even realized you needed after the second time. There are so many confused people on the campus that you don’t really feel awkward after you enter the wrong building for the fifth time or when you stop on your way home and realize that that is most certainly not the way home. And food is something you don’t even have to think about since there is so much free pizza that you become an expert and can actually decide which free pizza you will eat that day for dinner. And after this week of confusion, the school finally starts. It is strange to go back to school after such long holidays, but I was glad to get back into a routine and mostly to see how the lectures and tutorials work.

I would like to conclude on a note about big changes. If you are facing an important and big decision, don’t hesitate. You will later realize that moving to a different country is not so difficult, everyone will be nice to you and you will learn how to get around really quickly. The only thing you need to do is to take the first step.