Your Broad (Soon-to-be) Abroad (Again!),
Dacy
These pictures are from my hometown of 30 years. Upon returning to California after six wonderful months abroad, I thought I might hate being in California. Untrue. I was sad, definitely. I missed England and traveling and my friends. But I had a renewed and unexpected appreciation for my home. It wasn't as classically beautiful and old, there weren't ancient cobblestone streets or fields of green stretching before me. But California certainly has its own unique beauty. Long Beach has a history of art deco-style which can still be seen in some of the architecture. My little dinky hometown, Bellflower, has its charms as well. Something about the vast urban sprawl of a suburban neighborhood can have its own appeal. On that note, however, let me be clear that while I appreciate home and all its charms, I certainly hope I get to travel as much as possible. And it's starting off a good year because today I have all the joy of going to the airport and hopping on a 10.5 hour long flight. England, I'm coming back for ya!
Your Broad (Soon-to-be) Abroad (Again!), Dacy
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It's hard to believe it's the end of the year. This time last year I was giddy with excitement about leaving for England. I had just started this blog, specifically to fulfill a project for a scholarship requirement, and even though I've finished my study abroad program and the scholarship project, I've continued posting. I can't say why, really, because I'm about 99.9% sure no one but me reads this (though that's not really the point, is it?). I suppose I've come to enjoy the scant bit of blogging I've done this year, despite my weird fear of putting things out on the interwebs.
This year has been so full. I've done things I didn't think I could (traveling alone in a country with a foreign language), things I should have done years ago (graduated!), and things that helped me grow as a person (being alone A LOT). I have a plethora of people who love and care for me, and am immensely lucky to not only be who I am and where I am, but to be overall happy with my life. Also, I've booked a flight to England to kickstart my new year, so there's really no way for me to be unhappy right now. Here's to the unbelievable year I've had and the unexpected ups and downs that will inevitably come with the new year. Happy New Year! Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy I know I just posted a blog all about loneliness, but there are also times of such fullness that the lonely parts fade away to the edges. The past few days have been so full of family, friends, laughing, eating, cooking, and just plain old good times. I may have occasional bouts of loneliness and sadness, but those bouts are surrounded by so much love and laughter. I am thankful that my life, mind, and belly are so full of the things that make me smile.
Life is pretty good. Thanks for reading. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy I have always enjoyed the industrial skyline that Terminal Island offers up in place of the traditional landscape. Stacks of shipping containers, giant freighter ships, and the dirty isolated streets of a strictly industrial zone make up Terminal Island, which is nestled in between San Pedro and Long Beach. It takes two bridges to get to Terminal Island, but other than some beautiful industrial landscapes and a small yet touching memorial to the Japanese Fishing Village, which had every last one of its inhabitants sent to internment camps, there isn't much else. If you look up pictures of the Japanese Fishing Village and then compare them to what Terminal Island is now, it's a little heartbreaking. It used to be a thriving community and now the one restaurant/convenience store I saw was dangerously dilapidated and though the sign said open, looked very much closed. It's a wasteland now. . More pictures, more writing soon.
Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy I imagined that all the learning, growing, and changing would happen while I was in England. And it did. But I'm still, and will always be, learning, growing, and changing. One of my more recent lessons is on loneliness. When I'm traveling, it's all good. The loneliness is to be expected, even welcomed. It's so rare to really be alone and solo traveling seems to offer that escape from social interaction I sometimes crave so deeply. I was lonely plenty of times during my solo travels, sometimes to the point of wanting to cut trips short and go back to my home away from home, Canterbury. But sticking through that loneliness is a great feat of independence. It's proof I can find my way on my own, make decisions on my own,
Now that I'm back in Long Beach, loneliness takes on a different form. It's knowing all sorts of people, but never really feeling connected, or familiar. It's knowing where everything is, but still not knowing where to go. Loneliness here feels distinctly sharper because I feel like I should not be lonely. I am surrounded by friends, family, coworkers. Yet I have this sort of loneliness hanging over me, which could potentially be attributed to post-study abroad blues. It's been a solid 4 months since I've been back, so I can't fully agree with that idea. Maybe it's the growing need for connectivity via phones, computers, television. Everything is connected to everything. You can't open a Spotify account without being asked to link your facebook. You can't read an article without the website suggesting to share said article on facebook, twitter, or whatever else. You can't use MapMyRide without the app asking if you want to share your most recent run with your friends. All these things are meant to make us feel closer, more in tune. more connected. But, really, it just pushes us further and further apart. I feel like there's a growing anxiety about social media- one that preys on our inherent need to belong. That anxiety is a result of being able to see when a person read a message, or being constantly able to check what other people are doing, thinking, liking. Just the idea of posting something and viewing how many likes you can get...it's a bizarre new social world we live in. But I digress. This is about loneliness, which I feel can be facilitated by technology. But is also a result of working too much and trying to coordinate schedules with family and friends. It's living in a more isolated environment, it's living far away enough to have to drive places, it's just a different sort of loneliness. It's not all bad. It's not all loneliness. In my 4 months back there have also been plenty of smiles and laughing and good (really great) times with friends and family. It's not all bad, certainly. Life is good, but it wouldn't be life without the downs to balance the ups. Also, wouldn't it be better if I could just be in England all the time? It would. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy |
DacyLimFrom Long Beach, CA to Canterbury, England and back. Archives
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