Four years on

The Golden Gate Bridge between San Francisco and Marin County
(Photo by Leong Weihao)

     

‘This was Edinburgh, after all. One did not go about the place declaring oneself like some lovesick Californian.’

— p43, Love Over Scotland (a 44 Scotland Street novel), by Alexander McCall Smith

     

I moved from California to the UK, and started this blog, in September 2009; four years ago. Being a nerd, I’ve often thought about life in four-year, school-based chunks: four years of high school, four years of college. The six years I took for the PhD also feel easily divisible into the first four years (courses, Qualifying Papers, dead-end dissertation proposals, and getting an MA) versus the last two (the dissertation). In short, four years is the amount of time I associate with obtaining a degree.

So do I get a degree in UK living? No, surely not. I’m still too much of a lovesick Californian. And probably always will be. The difference now is that I have yet another beautiful place I honestly call ‘home’….

     

The Forth Bridge between Edinburgh and Fife
(Photo by Lauren Hall-Lew)

     

(That’s the trouble with ex-pat life. One is always homesick for somewhere.)