The technology we have at home is seriously lacking here (only because I’m not in possession of it, not because it doesn’t exist).
I have no TV, no car (not that I had a car at home…sad), no GPS, and no phone with the super fast internet (well…my droid gets the internet when I have wi-fi, but that’s beside the point).
There’s a simple joy to be found here, without all that technology though. (Except, of course, my trusty laptop).
The pace of my life has slowed down a lot being here. I don’t feel as much pressure here as I did back home. I go on walks! And don’t feel about it either, like I’m wasting time. When the sun shines, I open my window, put my feet up on the radiator, and just read. I enjoy life.
Need to get groceries? No worries. You can walk, yes walk, to town. It’s less than a mile and it’s quite pleasant on sunny days.
Fancy a walk? There’s Ruff woods in the opposite direction of town (I like to go running down there and back).
But the best part is that I’m not as afraid of getting lost here. One of my biggest fears back home was getting lost and it really prevented me from branching out and going new places. Some of the buildings on AU’s campus I’ve never really explored thoroughly in fear of getting lost or trapped or in trouble. But here, I feel okay with getting lost.
Keep calm and carry on.
I remember the first time I went down to Ruff Woods…I always took the left path just in case I had to double back on my way out…a nice person with a dog was sitting on a bench and we ended up walking through the woods, off the path, back to the gate. Through the woods. I wouldn’t have ever imagined stepping off the path with my carefully calculated route. The next time I went to the woods to run, I went right instead of left and just hoped that the paths made a big loop…and if not…there were a smattering of people and dogs to ask for help…and if not…well…I could just walk off the path again in the direction I thought the gate was.
Moreover, I used to love my droid back home because it had, thank you God, a GPS system built into it. And since Android’s are google powered, it means I had google maps at my disposal. When I traveled to different cities I could just punch in my hotel address and then walk and get lost and then have my GPS walk me back home. It was a blessing for those who fear getting lost and not being able to get home before dark. I don’t have that here though. So you either have to remember how you got where you are, or you have to be okay with being lost and asking for directions.
I’m not 100% okay with being lost. (I still fear getting on the wrong train or bus…but I usually have an all-day pass so I can get off and get back on the train for free). But sometimes getting lost leads you to amazing things. Prime example: Paris. We got off the metro and were looking for an ATM and le muse de l’armee. The place Napoleon is buried. I thoughtttt it was this dome shaped building across the river so we walked across the river…false. It was almost exactly where we started. My bad! We got a little turned around (because of me, I apologize) but we ended up crossing the Seine via the Pont Alexandre III bridge. The bridge Adele’s music video for Someone Like You is filmed on.
