Category: 2018/ 19 Sofia A (Brazil) Blog Blogger School Year Abroad Study Abroad UK UK High School

Today I complete 1 month since I arrived in Brighton, it went so fast I didn’t even realised it! On my last day in Brazil I was terrified of leaving my comfort zone, and now I realised it was the best thing I ever did.

When I arrived in England I met another exchange student and the driver that was going to take us home, we chatted the whole trip from London to Brighton about our lives. She became my first friend!

On my second day I had to go to town to get my cellphone chip and open a bank account, I had no service and all my money was in an envelope.I met my host parent where he worked and we walked to town. He had to go back to work and I had to figure out the chip by myself. I had to get out of my comfort zone to get things done and find my way back home!

Everything worked out very well and I was so proud of myself that this moment was one of my favourite so far.

On my first day of school the teachers in charge of the international students made a social session between the students of different nationalities and that helped me form my group of friends.

At lunchtime we ate in an Italian restaurant and I sat on the table with other exchange students including Italians, a Slovakian girl and a Japanese girl. Because we come from around the world we spoke English and we all became friends instantly.

When classes started I felt so lost and the school was so big with so many people, my friends from the restaurant helped me go through this moment and I didn’t felt lonely at all. We explored Brighton together and kept company.

After walking around Brighton and exploring I concluded that Brighton is one of the most mesmerising and beautiful cities that I’ve ever seen, the people are very sweet and open minded and that made me fall in love with the place immediately!

 

Weeks later we planed a trip to the Seven Sisters to see the sunset, but that day an accident happened in the road and almost all of the roads were closed, leaving us all lost trying to find the a bus to get there.

In the meantime I could see a little bit of the English countryside and have an amazing time with my friends.

When we finally got there it was a beautiful beach with cliffs and the sunset over the sea, we all stayed in silence listening to music and enjoying that unique moment.

The next day we went to London, and it was nothing like I expected. I missed my bus to go to the train station and ended up missing the train and having to catch another train almost 1 hour later, which made me miss the Buckingham Palace tour and change my schedule.

The same day I heard about a protest relating to Brazilian politics in London and I met the other Brazilians to go there. When we arrived at the protest we met very famous activists from Brazil (like Monica, Marielle’s ex wife) and we were able to be on the front line of this huge event. There were samba groups playing instruments while we all sang activist songs against fascism, sexism, racism and homophobia.

There is still so much to look forward to and so many experiences to have, getting to know a new place with new people can bring you a different surprise each day.

Take a look at: