I’m not good at goodbyes. When I was leaving my Shoreditch apartment, my local newsagent, who would regularly give me free sweets, started to get suspicious when I bought some bin liners. ‘Are you moving?,’ he asked.
‘No,’ I patently lied. My new newsagent, in Holland Park, would direct me to skip the Sunday morning queue, adding, ‘You are our VIP customer’. I omitted to tell him of my imminent move when the time drew near, too. In Amsterdam, my local wine shop seller, who would jokingly ask me for ID during each purchase, wasn’t made aware of my move either.
‘Any thoughts of some type of leaving party?,’ Jess asked as my return to London neared. ‘I’ll be back for your birthday anyway,’ I replied.
‘You can’t just disappear,’ another friend said.
‘You’ll have to visit me when I’m settled,’ I replied.
‘I’ll give you until September to sort out your SW1 or SW3 pad,’ she teased.
‘Amsterdam will always be somewhere we’ll return to now we’ve lived here,’ another friend, who will be returning to London a few days after me, said during a dinner catch-up.
A time of change often leads to a time of reflection… Here are a few of the things life abroad has taught me:
- To have a fresh perspective. While it’s often tricky not to interpret Dutch directness as rudeness, their attitude also promotes intimacy (you certainly know where you stand with them); they aren’t afraid to jump into a situation where they think someone needs help (I’ve often seen people rush to the scene of a mild bicycle topple) which makes for a strong sense of community; and they seem to have found a much better work-life balance than us Brits.
- To let go of things. You can’t be precious about objects; things – that are worth less than the cost of moving them or get lost during a move – are replaceable. Moreover, the friends you make are likely to move to the other side of the world. And then you realise that friends from London are just as likely to move for a new job or for love.
- How English I am. Being a foreigner makes you realise how you’re viewed by locals. What’s more, you start looking at London through rose-tinted glasses. I like to think that I no longer take certain things for granted, including English banter, the NHS, and Waitrose.
