As someone who grew up in Ha Noi – the vibrant capital city of little Viet Nam – and went to college in Indiana – a rural Midwest state in the United States, I like to think of Edinburgh as a nice balance between two ends of the spectrum. Ha Noi; a lively city hustling with 24/7 traffic, street vendors that get visitors until (or from) 3am, and coffee shops that never seem to exhaust conversations. On the contrary, if not for my home institution, barely anyone would visit Greencastle – a college town in its most traditional sense. Having lived in such different environments, this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson captures what I feel about Edinburgh: “Half a capital and half a country town, the whole city leads a double existence; it has long trances of the one and flashes of the other; like the king of the Black Isles, it is half alive and half a monumental marble.”
I chose to spend a semester abroad in Edinburgh for many reasons. Academically, the University of Edinburgh has a reputation in Arts and Literature, which are the subjects that I wanted to pursue. I’m taking a course in English Literature and another in Animation Studies, both of which are broadening my perspectives in a new and exciting way. These are the topics that I have never studied critically before – and there are no better places to think about poetry and films than in Edinburgh.
But the real catch – the feature that got me hooked on living and studying here – is Edinburgh’s richness. The richness in its beauty that makes me feel genuinely excited about getting out of bed in the morning to take a walk and discover a new scene. The richness in its history, as part of the wider Scottish history, that gives me a list of must-see historic sites and museums, where I can wander in all day long. Being away from friends at my home university and missing out on my campus dramas mean FOMO and loneliness sometimes, but Edinburgh gives me a lot to explore and to fall in love with.
I watched and saved a lot of Tik Toks of the city before coming here. The common disappointment you feel when you see a place in real life after watching too many aestheticised videos of it has yet to happen to me in the case of Edinburgh. I have been here for nearly a month and I feel like I will never get tired of it.
I recognise that I’m perhaps romanticising the city a little too much – everywhere in this world has its own problems. It is never my intention to disregard or take lightly the issues that people in Edinburgh have to deal with, but I want to take a moment to appreciate this city and all that it has to offer. In the crossroads of Gothic landmarks, virescent parks, and present-day structures, I find myself more grounded and more at peace with my own turbulent thoughts.
CC0 licensed photo by Taco Verdonschot from the WordPress Photo Directory: https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/6406485c6a
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