The first thing you worry about when moving abroad is mostly how lonely you're going to be. With family a good distance away and certainly not within reaching-distance if something were to go wrong, you rely entirely upon the friends you make when you move away.
The very first true friend I made I am sure will stick with me for life. Meg and I were mostly joined at the hip from the moment we met in October until she left for Germany in March. She helped me get settled in and introduced me to a lot of the good friends I have now, and I in turn took great pleasure in cooking for her most evenings. We shared food, gossip, the same taste in alcohol and the same views on some people. Be they good or bad. Also the same address (more or less). We were never too far away and never too busy to find something to do together.
Coming just at a time when I really needed her, Ellie turned up, both of us ex-school-friends excited at the prospect of living so close to each other after almost three years living at opposite ends of the country. Her energy, excitement and enthusiasm seemingly never-ending, we'd often have intense conversations about our futures, our fears and our ultimate goals. And then, after the briefest of moments, she went. Her brave decision to leave Italy and head to Germany instead still inspires me and will remain something I think back on whenever I have an important choice to make.
Without these two important figures in my life here, each of us helping each other through the difficulties you encounter during a year abroad, I thought I'd find myself lost and lonely as I'd been convinced I would be at the beginning.
But the truth is along the journey of this year I've picked up some truly inspiring friends. Each of them heading down a different path in life and each with their own outlook on the future/past/present. And we always have such a wonderful time together.
Take yesterday for example. An example of the snowball effect. What went from meeting one friend, to inviting another and another resulted in the perfect Sunday afternoon with some great girls.
I know by the end of my time here, I'll be thanking these girls for everything they've given me (including tonnes of support) throughout the year.
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