From Brazil to England

The weeks before my departing date were probably the craziest weeks I’ve ever had. I was a torn between getting things packed and ready for the exchange program and trying to have as much time as I could spending my last minutes with everyone in Brazil. I kept myself so occupied that I really only thought about the exchange program when I set foot in the airplane, and then it was a very long journey.

I believe the only way to describe what I was feeling at that moment is to say that it was something like when you’re about to go on a rollercoaster. You know that its going to have ups and downs and that it’s going to be fun, but at the same time you can’t help think about the unlikely event of something wrong happening. All this mental chatter went on in a very turbulent – literally – flight from Brazil to England.

When I got here I was welcomed with a very nice lady from the High School Internationals that got me in the airport and took me to my temporary homestay – as my permanent one was on holidays. I only spend a couple of days in that homestay, but they were all very lovely to me and I’m sure I’ll keep in contact with them throughout my whole program here.

Right now I’m on my permanent homestay – I have a host mom, host sister and another international student – they are all very lovely and I’m slowly getting use to the feeling that this is my home now. My room has a bed, a closet, a desk and a very big window with a very nice view that I love waking up to.

Today was my first day of actual classes in the college and it was really good. I got to meet some of the teachers, talk to my friends and get the general idea of how the rest of the year is going to go by. The college is very big with a beautiful campus where we can eat our lunch seated on the grass. Although colder days are getting closer now, we still have been getting some very beautiful sunny days.

I love my city and I’ve been getting around quite well. I went to the city centre, explored nearby my house and I have even been to London for a day. Walking around the streets of Southampton I feel like I’ve made the right choice and that this is the right place for me to be right now.

I’ve not yet had a lot of contact with British people, as I have been mainly hanging out with international students. I’ve met people from all over the world and I’m loving getting to know all the different cultures from all of them and in some way this is making me get to know myself a little better. Moving to a place that I’ve never been before, where no one knows me was a lot less difficult than I thought and I’ve been enjoying myself quite a lot.

Although it has been a lot of fun getting to explore and go out with friends every day before the start of classes, I’m actually excited to have a routine here and to be able to have a taste of how life is here in Southampton and in this first day of school I felt like I was starting to do just that.