Living in Aberdeen Part 10

Now back home and with some free time, I've had the chance to recharge and unwind after my 10 weeks in Aberdeen. This blog post is the final edition to the 'Living in Aberdeen' series, where I'll go through some of the key takeaways I've got from this summer.

1. Welcome change

Moving to a new town or city often brings with it a different way of life, whether that's to do with the pace, the people, your surroundings or any language barriers. For me Aberdeen was quite different from living in London. There was a lot less traffic during rush hour, and I found that the people there were generally more friendly and welcoming than back home. Simple things like saying 'thank you' to the bus driver as you get off at your stop, or saying 'good morning' to a passer by on your run were common in Aberdeen. More broadly, when moving to somewhere new you learn to accept change and the fact that things may be different from back home which you'll have to adapt to. I think over the past 10 weeks I've got better at that, and a few weeks in to living in Aberdeen I felt settled and comfortable with the city. It's an important skill to have as it enables you to be more agile and flexible with whatever is thrown your way.

2. You may have to figure things out on the spot

I'm a big believer of preparing as much as you can for a situation or event that's coming up, to give yourself the best shot at doing well at the given activity. Personally, I feel less stressed when I know I have put in the time, effort and hard work into something before having to perform in that area. This could be related to my university studies, sports or anything else that needs some sort of preparation. However, there is a limit to how much you can prepare for events, and what this summer has taught me is to be prepared to 'prepare on the spot' - the ability to think on your feet in a new situation and figure out what you need to do. As hinted in my earlier blogs in this series, when moving to a city things that I took for granted like knowing how the public transport works or where the nearest supermarket is in London, I had to refigure out in Aberdeen. It is hence useful to be able to adapt to a situation you are put in, and is a big advantage when it comes to planning weekend trips or even smaller tasks such as navigating around the city.

3. You're not the only one in the situation

There were 10 other interns up in Aberdeen at the same time as me, and after initially talking to them I quickly realised that the worries, questions and thoughts I had were commonly shared by many in the group! I would say that often it can be easy to feel like you're the only one still finding your feet when moving somewhere to work, but be reassured that someone will most likely be thinking the same thing as you! Talking to the other interns about anything and everything helped in settling in, and I found that often talking through any problems we had we could come up with solutions to them. I remember asking about things like 'how do I pay for the buses?', or 'how do I get to the beach?' along with probably a million other questions. So remember that you're not alone!

4. Adventure won't happen on it's own

When moving to an unfamiliar environment, away from our family and friends, we can be apprehensive to explore and venture beyond the boundaries of our room, and so some proactiveness needs to be injected into your plans to let you make the most of your time there. As a group of interns we were really good at planning different things to do each weekend, as you would have read about in my previous blogs. There was such a wide range of things I got up to when I was in Aberdeen, and I'm glad that we took the initiative to organise those trips. So it's important that whilst you may have lots of cool things to do on your doorstep, you need to be proactive and take initiative to go out and experience them.

5. Document what you do

10 weeks have flown by up in Aberdeen! It's easy to forget all the adventures, moments and memories you create, so documenting my time out there was a great way for me to remember what I did. I use blogging to do this, but I think documenting what you do in any form (whether that's pictures, videos, voice notes etc) is great. Thanks to all of you who read the blogs, I've received some lovely comments on my Aberdeen adventures, which wouldn't have been possible if I didn't decide to document my time there. It can be a bit of a pain at the start, but once you get into a habit of writing regularly it becomes part of your routine. I now have something that I can look back on in the future and remember the summer of '22!

That wraps up the final blog of my time 'Living in Aberdeen'. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have, and I look forward to sharing with you what my next adventure or challenge will be!

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