Berkeley always felt like a city I happened to live in for school. Over the course of two years, I’ve grown to realize that the unfamiliar school where I only knew the street name, “Telegraph” slowly turned into a place where I knew all the best coffee shops and restaurants. Studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, I often found myself referring to Berkeley as “back home.”
In Berkeley, I always found comfort visiting Los Angeles since it was the place I grew up in. I looked forward to going back to my favorite restaurants and stores every break. But being in a new school and environment has made me realize that I’ve started seeing Berkeley in the same light. Attending a new school felt exciting and filled with new opportunities from the various school clubs and classes to choose from. At the same time, I couldn’t help but find myself making comments such as “back home, we would get Yogurt Park as a post-midterms celebration” and “back home, we would stay up all night in Moffitt.” I often find myself looking back at the memories of sitting outside on the Glade and studying at my favorite coffee shop, Way Station Brew. Once spring semester begins, I know that I will be revisiting my favorite restaurants such as Imm Thai and Racha. It’s the daily routines I’ve built over at Berkeley, and being away from it that really makes me realize that it really has slowly become my second home.
I remember my excitement each school break going back home to see my friends from high school. Each break, we would continue our annual tradition of going to Meet Fresh and sharing a shaved ice dessert while updating each other on our lives. My brother and I had our own traditions of weekly lunches at a new restaurant each time. Being away from Berkeley has made me realize that my friends and I have made traditions of our own. I’m excited to return back to school for movie nights in my apartment with a dinner cooked based on whatever meat was on sale at Safeway that week. In the past two years at Berkeley, I’ve created long-lasting friendships that really made the school feel like home.
Being away from both Berkeley and Los Angeles has made me realize that I now have two places that bring me comfort and familiarity, ultimately becoming a place I can call home. I’m sure by the end of this semester I will look at Edinburgh in a similar light as I’m starting to make a home for myself here. My dorm is slowly becoming decorated with memories of my time abroad with souvenirs, photos, and postcards filled with memories I made with new friends. Even coming back from a weekend trip to a new city, I feel a sense of comfort walking back from the train station to my dorm in Edinburgh.