Foreign in a Pandemic- Part Three

*For the privacy of the school, staff, students, and program itself, I’m going to leave the region/town names out of these pieces. Despite now living in the largest town in the academy region, it is still a small region with even smaller towns. If I gave even one piece of information, many other things could be uncovered, and I don’t wish to risk the privacy and breach trust of anyone I work alongside. For more notes and stories of my experiences, read Foreign in a Pandemic-parts one and two available on my page*

Immediately after living in a small town nestled deep in the countryside, living in a large city is a bit strange. Even though the two are less than an hour apart, there’s a huge culture shock in the way things are set up, as well as daily life and social movement. Not to mention, it’s the first large city I’ve ever lived in, let alone the largest. And yet, everyone keeps telling me this Giant Social Hub is small compared to many other large cities that name their academy regions.

I’m sorry, you’re telling me this Monster of a City is Small?

Sure, it’s no Houston, Paris, or NYC, but there’s still over 130,000 residents annually- not including people like myself, who are here short term. In the case of my colleagues and myself, that means language assistants. But what about people like my roommate, or my colleagues roommates, who are all students and only live here for a few months at a time? This place is larger than is given credit.

The first thing I needed to get used to, and let’s be honest I’m still struggling to get used to, is the noise. Even with a 6pm curfew due to the pandemic, there are loud cars, trucks, and motorbikes barreling down the street at any given hour. Just when I think it has finally quieted down for the night, at 10pm-4am, VROOOOM! Another loud vehicle races down the road as if their lives depended on it. With all the buildings and otherwise quietness at this time, the sound seems amplified, drowning out any other sound that may have been there.

It really makes me miss the silence of being alone in the rolling hills.

However, there’s a lot more to see and do, despite a strict curfew and covid limitations. Even if I don’t do anything or have something particular in mind, I have the space to walk around and just look at the area’s architecture. While my current habitation is still the same walking distance from the train station here as it was in my old residence, at least this walk is much more interesting. I can pass countless shops, city hall, the library, one of the university buildings, the city center, and so much more. Here, I also have the option to take the bus! There are so many buses!! On most streets, bus stops are within view, and I never go more than a few minutes without being passed by one.

Well, unless it’s before 6am, which is when I have to make my way to the station. Even though I live in this large city, I work at a school in a smaller village further north. That means that my train needs to be there by 7:40am, since schools start at 8am. When it’s a 35-45 minute train ride- depending on whether it’s direct or regional, respectively- that means I need to be at the station between 6:10am-6:55am, depending on time of departure. There are no buses to get me to the station by then, so I walk.

Honestly though, I really like that early morning walk. Rarely do I encounter anyone, mostly just a stray car here or there. I can’t see the stars due to all the city lights, even at this early hour, which is unfortunate. Nevertheless, the quiet darkness as the city slumbers soothes me. It’s peaceful, seeing the small twinkling lights in the windows, the streetlights cascading over the cobblestone streets. The sounds are dull, muted, if they’re even there at all. In these moments, the big bad city doesn’t seem so… scary. It’s tamed in these early hours. Like a lion, the awake, aggressive city becomes nothing more than an overgrown house cat as she sleeps.

Walking at these times has always made me feel more alive and connected to the world itself. I still like walking through the city during the day and seeing everything there is to see, but it’s not as easy. All the noise, people, vehicles, smells, lights… it can quickly become overwhelming. Not knowing where I am, and getting easily lost, I can find myself turned around and disoriented from one moment to the next. At these times, it’s much easier for me to walk with someone else, usually the other assistant who works at the same school as I do. We’ve become great friends, and I will often walk around the town and really explore when I’m with them. By myself risks too much, unless it’s before the city wakes. Chances are though, unless I have to work, I’m not waking up that early either.

Even though covid has put a damper on some of the things we assistants would have typically done, there’s still a lot that we have been able to see, do, and experience. While we may not be able to go eat in a restaurant, or stay out past 6pm, or go on trips every few weekends, or even have more than a few assistants get together at the same time, we’ve still had the opportunity to have at least lower levels of these things.

No restaurant? We can bring food home. No cafes? We can get a coffee and walk around the city center instead of sitting down. We can’t all get together and meet? We can hang out in small groups and walk along the river. Not able to travel often? We can save money for the next trip, or go to the mall and get something we really want, or treat ourselves to a nice dinner. Home by 6pm? Great, I don’t have to be rude by kicking someone out if I’m emotionally exhausted. They need to leave anyway. Or I do, if I’m the one not at home.

In the month that I’ve been here, I’ve done so much more than I ever could have in the countryside. Just last week, I was able to get food from a street vendor in the city center. This is something I have NEVER experienced, and was a little intimidated by. However, it was quick, cheap, and delicious. I was able to go to the mall and get new shoes after it had rained for weeks nonstop, and my shoes were so waterlogged I thought I’d never have dry feet again. I was able to window shop, and just see the dozens of different stores on a single street, let alone the countless streets available. I could sit in the park, walk along the river, go to the library, walk the streets with no destination in mind and still be in the city an hour later. Even with covid, the world is my oyster, and this city is becoming the pearl inside.

Living in the big city has also been great for my physical health. With all this walking, you can bet my legs are getting toned! Uphill, downhill, on average I’m walking 5-7 miles the days I work. This is just from walking to the station in the morning, walking to the school, and vice versa on the way back. The days that I don’t work are a toss up. If I stay home, I’m pretty sedentary. If I go for a walk, or go exploring with my friend? I’ll be walking anywhere from 3-10 miles that day, 2-3 more days a week. That’s way more walking than I did during my stint in the country, or back home in the U.S. running around a pharmacy all day. I have a little more than 2 months left of this, so we’ll see if my legs are iron by the end of my contract!

Overall, there are a lot of ups and downs about living in such a large city. This is especially true during a global pandemic, while in a country where I have to get by using my second language. To say it’s been interesting is so much of an understatement, it would be like saying the observable universe is big. While technically accurate, it doesn't even begin to describe the extent to which this has been interesting or the universe is big. It wouldn’t be able to be fully comprehended until lived, and I am still just breaking the surface of its experience.