People are Goldfish: upheaval and adaption

They say that goldfish change in size to fit their environment. Humans may follow a relatively more normal pattern of growth during their lives, but I’ve been learning that we do mold to our environments, a bit like a goldfish does.

Contrary to popular belief, the Americans and the British do NOT speak the same language. We can often understand each other but we just as often can get quite confused. When my aunt told me she had washed my beige pants I was pretty confused. The only pants I had were jeans. I am definitely not the owner of any beige pants. But here, jeans are trousers and pants are underwear. I know that, but I don't always think like this. Since I will be living here, I have to change my frame of thought. In the meantime, i will have clean underwear. I'm already shifting my language; today, I said boot instead of trunk without thinking and I’m getting to the point where the word I use to refer to mothers tends to sound more like “mum” than “mom.” When I write the word organization I type organisation. It shouldn’t be surprising that my language has changed a bit after over a month of living among the British. In a way, it almost makes sense. If I’m speaking to someone who, for example, speaks both French and English, it is natural to simply respond in the language I’m being spoken to in, even though I can definitely speak English better. Similarly, if I’m talking to someone who’s got an English accent, which I sometimes do not register, I’m more likely to say mum or boot. However, I think when I talk to those of you who are still in the states I probably sound pretty normal because I’m simply responding to what I’m hearing. Isn’t language interesting!?

In studying culture at home, I knew that different cultures have different views of time, and maybe I’m also learning some of the practical reasons why. The US and the UK are on pretty much the same end of the spectrum, but things are a little more flexible here and I’ve had to learn to be flexible as someone who tends to value punctuality. Living in London and relying on public transport, when you have somewhere to be, you get on a train or a bus, and when you get there, you get there. You can stress about it if you want or you can just sit there and read your free copy of the Evening Standard and just deal with it and you can’t even let anyone know where you are because there’s no phone service on the tube.

So in a way, just like a goldfish might grow in a bigger tank, I’ve molded into my new environment.

Another massive change is that I am no longer living in college world, or university world as I might rather say here. I am living in real life, adult world where being 20 makes you a baby and everyone is getting married or has children and pays bills because they can somehow afford to live in London as a normal person.

Because I’m in a new tank, I’ve learned quite a lot about myself already. I’ve expanded my comfort zone and in my internship at the Disasters Emergency Committee. I’ve learned a lot about what I like and don’t like and what I might be interested in for a future career. I’ve realized the importance of having real job experience before graduating. I never really thought, “Oh I really ought to try this out because I might hate it and I should make sure before I graduate that this is really what I want to do,” but I suppose that does happen to some people and then they know and they can go back to the drawing board and figure out what the heck they want to do. Luckily I have not come to that realization but my experience has shown me a lot about the field I’m interested in. Most importantly, I feel much more equipped to answer the question that all uni students, especially those of us in the humanities and social sciences, dread: “Oh, you’re studying ____? What are you going to do with that?” I can answer that question now that I've started to do something with that degree. I know I'm interested in the humanitarian sector and the role of the media in raising money and awareness surrounding disasters and disaster relief. Sometimes charities and other NGOs get a bad rap from the media and I think some kind of humanitarian journalism or another type of work on the ground could be in my future. Accountability to those who benefit from humanitarian aid as well as to donors and the general public is extremely important and a transparent media could really help bridge that gap.

I have definitely been keeping busy and doing lots of weekend trips which has been really fun. Last weekend was Leamington Spa and Straford Upon Avon, This weekend is Cornwall, and next weekend I will be in Scotland for the first time visiting Glasgow, where my parents used to live! I can guarantee I will NOT be picking up a Scottish accent.