I know... it's been a while! The last few months have been a whirlwind of exams, making sure I'd seen everything I'd wanted to in Oslo before I left, moving back home, and adjusting to life back in Blighty. Towards the end of my time abroad I'd felt like I was ready to come back home, but I found coming back harder than I thought I would.
It takes a while to get used to somewhere, and by the time I left Oslo, I'd really carved out a life for myself. Strangely enough, moving back home felt like leaving behind normality and what had become my main life. It was weird losing my independence, leaving my new friends and returning to old ones, getting used to another lifestyle, and just generally returning to my old life as a very different person.
Initially, I was terrified of moving abroad and having to start over again, but now I was scared of going back to my old life, when I felt that I'd changed and grown so much. Living alone, in a strange new country, really makes you aware of who you are, and I've learnt so much. It's taking time, but I'm slowly adjusting back to my life here, with memories which I know will last a lifetime.
There's been so many things I've discovered and learnt from studying abroad, but these are the most important ones I've found.
1. Time alone isn't the worst thing in the world
I've always been terrible at relaxing and doing nothing, not just because I get bored fairly easily, but because I hated being left alone with my thoughts. I would never have gone a day without interacting with friends or family in person, and making sure almost every of my day was filled.
But when I first moved to Oslo without knowing anyone, with a week until classes started, I was forced to learn how to spend time with myself. And with a little help from Gilmore Girls and The Good Wife, spending a day in bed or without much company, is no longer the awful, horrible thing I once thought it was.
2. I'm stronger than I think
I've always been pretty independent, but living abroad on my own has made me realise how much I'm capable of, and how I can rely on myself to carry me through life. Obviously I'll always need my family and friends, but I think I now stand on my own two feet a bit more, whether it's actually calling the doctors myself (anyone else still get their mum to call up for them whenever they're back home?!) or figuring out the answer to problems on my own.
3. Friendships can transcend languages, backgrounds and cultures
I'm lucky with my friends, I have the most amazing network of incredible people I can always trust and rely on. Before I came to Oslo, I was pretty happy with my social scene, and in all honesty wasn't expecting to make friends for life in such a short space of time.
But boy oh boy was I wrong. I now count people from New Zealand, Singapore, Minnesota and so many more places as some of my best friends and people I'll always keep in contact with. I had so much in common with people who grew up in backgrounds which couldn't be more different to my own, and learnt about cultures and histories I knew so little about previously.
The people I've met have been the highlight of my trip without a shadow of a doubt, and I know I'll always remember everything who made my trip nothing short of incredible.
4. Travel teaches me more than anything else could
Education is wonderful, I love studying, but I think that travelling teaches you so many things which could never be taught in a classroom.
Tolerance. Respect. Love. Wonderment. Awe. Pain. Happiness.
I've encountered a spectrum of emotions during my time away, and become a far more rounded and openminded individual as a result of it. I've never been close-minded, but since befriending people from every corner of the earth and living in a way that's so different to life in London, my eyes have been opened so much.
I truly believe that I've seen some of the best in humanity, and in life, seen awe inspiring places, received kindness from strangers, and learnt just how big and vibrant this world is.
5. There's so much beauty and amazement in this messed up world
Yes, there are some indescribably cruel and twisted people, some awful and devastating diseases, extreme poverty like I can barely imagine, and so many other terrible things in the world, but there is also so many incredible things.
The warmth and friendship of people you would never otherwise have met. Scenes of nature which words could never do justice. Endless rolling mountains crusted with ice towering over fjords teeming with life.
I could go on, and on, and on...
But I suppose the point of this slightly rambling, , somewhat retrospective and very sentimental blog post, is that studying and living abroad was the most amazing experience of my life, and that if you ever get the chance to do something similar, jump at the chance and go for it! There's a great big world out there, just waiting to be explored...
Over and out Norway, you've been better than I ever could have imagined <3
Honor xxx
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