The Wanderer

I’m the type of person who exhaustively researches a place before arrival, both out of curiosity and a need to at least create a sense of preparation. Unsurprisingly, not all of this information proves useful during the actual trip. That said, where employment and travel mix, it’s better to be over prepared. Here are some thoughts from my summer teaching internship in Shaoxing, China.

As the end of the school year approaches (give or take a dissertation for some of us), a certain demand for summaries and conclusions is in the air. The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and with the finest Hollywood internalization I feel like any minute now a pop-rock song will start playing, just in time for my final monologue. Luckily none of this is actually happening in reality; my end credits might prove embarrassingly short. But as one of many international students in St Andrews, I do feel that my soon-to-be-over studying abroad experience is worth looking into broodingly. 

Gelato in Florence; my friends and I ate it with every meal. We wandered those springy alleys, marveled at the winding Renaissance architecture, and the rich, red tiled roofs and the yellowness of the buildings. We fell in love with the food, the smells, the sights, and became enchanted by the city from which the Renaissance sprung. The city was inspiring, and the scoops of gelato that we were spooned were heavenly.

Instead of being (logically) rather creepy, the West Country greeting of ‘Arright me lover?’ hallooed by everyone from bus drivers to bank managers is strangely endearing, and a comforting sign that I have come home.