The first 3 weeks of my exchange semester have reminded me
of the fluidity of time. Sometimes it surrounds you like an ocean and other
times, it flows through you like a rapid stream. I can’t believe that I’ve been
in Washington D.C. for 3 weeks, it seems like only yesterday that I was tugging
my suitcases off the luggage belt after that 8-hour flight. I simultaneously feel surrounded by the vastness of the memories that I’ve
created in the past 3 weeks, as if though I have been here for months.
It’s a strange paradox, to feel like I’ve arrived only yesterday yet also that I’ve
already been here for months. Time, after all, is a human construct that does
not account for the influence of experiences.
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| The blanket of clouds |
The first few weeks are definitely
an experience that I won’t be forgetting. When my best friend turned 14, I
wrote in her birthday card that one day we would go and live in America for a
while (specifically California), although I’m on the East Coast rather than the
West, I feel like I’m living out mine and Asli’s teenage dream. It felt like
every day I was doing something for the first time; such as the novelty of
drinking out of a red solo cup, going to a basketball game or the adult
milestones of setting up a bank account and phone account in a new country, or
learning how to use the public transport system. I’m becoming more accustomed
to the novel facets of American college life and have reduced the frequency
that I exclaim, “That’s so American!”
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| Probably the most stereotypically American meal I will consume |
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| Transfixed by the ceiling in the Library of Congress |
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| "Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light..." |
I’m optimistic about the months
ahead and the adventure that it will bring. I endeavour to continue keeping
myself busy and attempt to make the most out of my short time here.
- Roop xx
- Roop xx
Library of Congress is so beautiful, nearly as beautiful as that teenage dream, glad it almost came true.
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