I'll write about about my town and my school and my life here in Cornwall soon. First I wanted to write a bit about London because it deserves its spot here. This week London got hit with another blow from a**holes who think they can ruin the spirit of a city that will never be ruined.
I first went to London in January of 2014. I would go on to have one of the most emotional and trying times of my life in the four months I spent there, but also made some of the best memories. Most of all I remember feeling at ease. Everything in my life was changing, I was dealing with mortality head on for the first time, but things felt in place in London. I felt in place. I had routines - a trip to Ben's Cookies after class on Thursdays, dinner with friends after lecture on Monday nights, the long walk from Bloomsbury to Borough Market on Fridays where I'd buy a slice of cheesecake, sausage from the devastatingly good looking meat vendor from Cannon and Cannon Charcuterie, and whatever little grocery items that would make my week brighter when talk about cancer would bring me to my lows. I saw some of the most amazing theater and dance performances, learned to feel comfortable as a sober person in a pub filled with British drunks, took the bus like I'd lived there all my life. Leaving London that May was conflicting. It meant going home to spend time with Dad, something I knew I wouldn't have enough of, but it also meant leaving behind a version of myself that was happier, healthier and more confident. I returned in August of 2016. I bookended my first Big Feastival trip with days in London. I went to Borough Market to eat the cheesecake and was sad that the "meat boy" had moved on. I ate Ben's Cookies and went out for dinner on my own. I still knew the bus routes. I made new friends and spent time exploring Alex James' version of London. The time in the countryside had cleared my head from the chaos New York and grief and leaving college had inflicted on it. When I came into Paddington Station fresh off the Feastival, the Maddie I'd grown into during my study abroad semester was back. She went and got bangs ("fringe") and knew this was the place she'd in which she'd have to make her life. I applied to grad school to two places - Goldsmiths College in London and Falmouth University in Cornwall. Goldsmiths was tempting -- not only was there the opportunity to skulk around the halls where Alex James met Graham Coxon, I could start that life in London I knew I was suited for. I had friends in London and knew my way around. I had favorite restaurants and grocery stores and record shops. It would be going home. I picked Falmouth because home will always be there; adventure only is offered every so often. So home will wait. When I arrived in England for my Big Move I spent a few days in London. I crashed in the spare room of my London-by-way-of-Wisconsin angel, Molly; it was too serendipitous that her new flat just happened to be mere feet from the spot where I'd sat outside the Globe Theatre a year earlier and made up my mind that London was my town. Over the few days I visited with some friends, ate Ben's Cookies (twice), saw a movie, got fringe again. I found two records I'd ben wanting for ages - Graham Coxon's "A+E" and Bowie's "Lodger" - and bought a vintage dress to wear in Paris. I sat in Soho Square each of the days and thought about the life I'll have there someday. I didn't go to walk around the Goldsmiths campus. I thought it would be too hard; it had taken me a month after I put down my money to attend Falmouth to turn down Goldsmiths offer. I was afraid that I would step onto campus and feel too at home. But home can wait. Click here to see some photos from all of my different London adventures over the last 3 trips!
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AuthorMadeleine Saaf is an expat in Cornwall and is pursuing a masters in Professional Writing at Falmouth University. ArchivesCategories |