Month: July 2013

London for Introverts

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I don’t think you’d be hard-pressed to find people willing to admit that London presents a number of paradoxes.

It’s huge, yet suffocating. Close-knit, but lonely. 8 million people, but impossible to meet anyone. The tourism advertisement just writes itself…

The last one is the one I want to focus on in particular. It’s something that’s really struck me – especially coming from Canada, the land of unlocked doors and apologies.

A few weeks ago, I spent the afternoon in Hyde Park with a group of Canadians, some friends, some strangers. It made me laugh when I ended up making plans to hang out the next day with one of the girls I had just met. INSTAFRIENDS. But that’s how we do – if you like someone, why wouldn’t you be friends with them? Why deal with the year-long acquaintance zone (equivalent of the “we’re just seeing each other” stage perhaps) the Brits seem so comfortable with. To confirm I wasn’t extrapolating too far, I asked a few English friends and they admitted that no, they certainly would not spend solo time with someone they had just met the day before.

But I digress – all that to say London can be really lonely and challenging for introverts, who may find it difficult to connect with people in ideal situations.

Or is it?

I had THE most wonderful day yesterday. I went to Greenwich, perused the market, drank some Horchata, met some market vendors, bought some treasures,enjoyed a Byron milkshake and Nando’s wrap in the sun – all by my lonesome. But it was AMAZING. And that’s when I thought – maybe London is a city for introverts after all. People who can wander by themselves and just take it all in. Notice and experience things in a different way because they use the silences for good. People who can enjoy.

And enjoy I did.

LT x

Confession.

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I hate London.

That’s right, I said it!

I want to love it though – and that’s what this blog is about. A young Canadian girl and self-professed London skeptic discovering all the things the Big Smoke has to offer – and hoping to find home along the way.

I moved here in September, fresh off a Master’s degree and the happiest year of my life (lez be real – London didn’t stand a chance), to start a job. I knew from the start London wasn’t my cup of English Breakfast Tea – it’s big, it’s busy and it’s lonely, and I quickly found myself depressed.

Of course, things get worse before they get better. With January came heartache and the end of my long distance relationship, with a man with whom I shared a love that can only be described as desperate.

Here I was, in a city I hated, having to let go of the future I had already imagined and claimed as my own. It wasn’t pretty. You know that glazed look your friends get in their eyes when you bring up something for the zillionth time? Like, say, a breakup? I know that look well. We are very well acquainted.

Many bottles of wine and evenings of Adele on repeat later, I realised I needed to do something. Emphasis on DO – I needed to get out, keep busy and enjoy myself [insert cliché here], whether I wanted to or not. Not only was this vital for me to move on, but also to embrace my new surroundings, despite our rocky start.

So London, here is my olive branch. A skeptic I may be, but one that is open to conversion. Your move.

LT x