Iron-clad Britain, flowing international students. Year after year, groups of "we" have either pulled up the curtain of dreams here with long-cherished wishes, or they have fallen into nightmares since then, trying to escape day and night. Those "we" who returned to China always had a sense of trance after work and leisure: those days in England were a dream, right? The "we" who remained gradually turned other places into hometowns.
I still remember the feeling of "England, I'm finally back" when I looked down over London on the plane again a year after graduation: a hint of joy, a hint of nervousness, and a hint of sadness that things were not human. I walked out of the airport, the Costa, Boots, and ATMs in the terminal, and they all broke into my line of sight in turn, as if to say, "Hey, welcome back." ”
As I sat on the bus to Southampton, I spent more than two hours looking for what Britain looked like that had left in my mind. Watching the crazy trees and weeds on the side of the highway hurrying past the car window, somehow I suddenly red eyes.
Southampton is much larger than Coventry, where I used to live, but the business district is still occupied by familiar brands, the city is also scattered with churches of different sizes, the squirrels and pigeons in the park are still not afraid of people, but there are more seabirds here, and the weather outside the window is still rainy. In such a familiar environment, I still feel that something is missing. It wasn't until I saw this scene on a train to London:
As the train was heading towards downtown London, more and more buildings appeared outside the window, when a little girl exclaimed, "Amazing! I looked back and saw her two little hands on the window, her eyes shining. The passengers around them were all impressed by her innocence and cuteness, and everyone laughed.
Yeah, London is all so new to this little girl who is only three or four years old. This world, which had never been there, was waiting for her to find out. And now I always feel that "less" is the curiosity when I first came to the UK. It is often said that if life is only as it first appears, it is the same for a country and a city.
Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland
Scottish Highlands
I came to the UK in 2014. On the plane, I kept telling myself, don't live up to this hard-won year. In order to realize this dream, I resigned from the public institution under pressure, and I was in a state of flux in the process of applying for school and taking IELTS. Now that everything is in order, it would be a sin to mess up time.
Later, I inevitably encountered various difficulties in integrating into life and learning courses, and I also experienced the feeling of helplessness and loneliness of walking alone on a rainy night, but I never regretted making this decision. Because I know that in the future, I will definitely be very grateful to this person who is gradually becoming stronger at this time.
Time seems to have really been swallowed up by Cambridge's "time-eating bug" clock. No, two years have passed in a flash, and the difficulties at that time have long been solved and become their own milestones.
Cambridge
The tutor sent us an email with a "late arrival penalty"
Books and materials for writing papers
The tutor charges a "late fee" box
The first time I arrived in the UK was in June, when the sky was clear and the grass was everywhere. In addition to daily study, every day I get my life skills in this country, such as taking the train, bus, shopping, going to the restaurant to order food, recognizing the denomination of coins... Slowly I began to get used to the British habit of "making an appointment" for everything; sending emails more frequently than texting; smiling generously at oncoming strangers; even walking under the Queen's lights, remembering to give a thumbs up to the driver who stopped for him... At the same time, I also found that I could be so patriotic that I couldn't hear others say that China was not good at all.
Churches and peach blossoms in Coventry
Bass Jane Austen Museum
Free hug on the streets of Oxford on Valentine's Day
A handsome guy from Cambridge
Of course, he also did something humiliating and stupid. For example, the first time I reported to the student center, a teacher looked at me with a cute face and asked me, "How are you?" Then I replied headlessly: "I am 25 years old." The teacher shrugged his shoulders slightly, don't look at me again; a friend bought the unopened daffodils as garlic seedlings and fried meat to eat, resulting in food poisoning; some classmates went to the restaurant to eat, and the waiter said that he could enter the amount of the tip on the machine, but he was stupid and thought that the waiter was making a new payment, so he entered 20+ pounds and pressed the confirmation button; because he couldn't understand the operation system of the British train, Confused to do the wrong car a few times; went to the city at seven o'clock to buy something, found that most of the shops were closed...
A corner of Bristol
York's wild ducks
A corner of London Park
Stupidity and learning go hand in hand, so that the previous somewhat timid me became not humble, and learned to enjoy the life I have now. In more than a year, I have traveled with my friends through many cities in the UK, stood on the streets of London to cheer for the gay parade, watched the naked riding event with great curiosity, and went crazy at the outdoor music festival...
Liverpool Beatles Museum
London Rainbow double-decker bus
The English who love tattoos love Nando's
After laughing, seeing everything on the road also made me re-examine and think again about the so-called "right" and "wrong", "should" and "should not" in my educational background. Gradually, I came to understand that "existence is reasonable", and many of the great rebellions in your eyes are just the natural righteousness in other people's worlds. You can have your own attitude toward the ideas and behaviors of others, and even if you don't agree with them, you don't have to dislike and correct them, because the world is so all-encompassing.
North Wales, a small town facing the Atlantic Ocean
The streets of Belfast
The British Back Garden Peak Area
In the circle of friends, I always see friends sharing articles reminiscing about britain, or saying a few words about their thoughts about britain in the middle of the night. Especially when the work is not satisfactory, the mood is not good, and the body and mind are uncomfortable, the miss of Britain will suddenly break the embankment. But in fact, the United Kingdom did not miss us very much, and we always missed only ourselves at that time and a touch of the First Sight of Britain.
Scottish man without underwear
Vintage bike
The Queen's Guard
Just like some time ago I went back to Coventry. As I walked through the familiar streets step by step, little by little, I woke up the memories of the past, and it was like a montage in the movie, and the crowd was edited into my familiar classmates and friends. However, the poster of "Welcome 2017 Freshmen" posted on the wall of the college suddenly pulled me back to reality. Suddenly, a kind of indissoluble sorrow arose in my heart: everything that seemed to have not changed had long been human, and I would never be able to return to that Britain.
Stone stele of Xu Zhimo in Cambridge
When I was a child, every winter and summer vacation, I felt that this holiday could not be finished for a lifetime, and the 20-day vacation seemed to be as long as ever for a small me. It's just that the older I get, the more I feel that time flies by, it is really like a river rushing forward, and the time in England has already flowed a long way.
Instead of thinking about it, cheer yourself up. May we who have lived and struggled in England be able to find a balance in the turbulent waters of time. When you return to your hometown in the Uk again, you will not only be satisfied with the sentimentality and escapism in your heart, but also with full gratitude, thank you for your fearless self at that time. The stupid things that were once done here, the sweat and tears that were shed, are now so precious.
Note: Some of the photos are from the internet
About the author
After four years as a teacher, I came to the United Kingdom for a long-time study and am currently living in Southampton.
The interesting stories of the collision of Chinese and British cultures, unique and memorable movies and books, not only the travelogues of the raiders, but also the stories I want to tell you in words and pictures.
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