What If London Doesn't Like Me?

As the time gets closer to the commencement of my journey, I am beginning to build up a minor complex. Starting to get excited by the endless amount of possibilities, I am looking into unexpected cultural feats and other ways that I can immerse myself into London and become a true local. Although the idea of becoming a real Londoner is exciting, in reality, I'll be yet another expatriate fascinated by the European architecture and Royal history of my short-lived-new home. Although there's probably somewhere close to 200,000 Americans living in the United Kingdom (maybe even more), I'm still afraid that I won't be accepted by London. What if London doesn’t like me?

Okay, that question may be a little immature considering the estimated population of Greater London is about 8 million people. I’m most certainly not trying to win the affections of 8 million individuals, but I can’t help being slightly self-conscious about this issue. Aside from worrying about the safety of my new home, the exorbitant cost of living, having to suffer through excessively long commutes, and the state of my general well-being, I am absolutely still concerned about fitting in. I don’t want to end up sitting home alone on a Saturday night, watching True Blood, and wishing I had a social life (yes, I’m bringing my True Blood DVDs. A little piece of home isn’t too much to ask).

I’ve never been much of an extrovert, and moving to a new city requires a certain amount of that in order to meet new people. The problem with pretending to be an outgoing person is that once you make friends and they get to know the “real you,” they are then confronted with the fact that you are actually, well, kind of shy. Then you risk losing the friends that you’ve already made, and you have to start all over again. There’s also the option of practicing the art of extroversion enough to truly become a gregarious type of person, which I’m assuming is the route I will eventually have to succumb to since I’m not interested in deceiving anyone about my true self. Now, although that sounds all well and good, this path would require me to change my personality, and that doesn’t sound appealing either.

So, that brings me full circle back to my original problem. Will I make friends or will I be disliked for being the shy American girl? Then again, this may not be a problem at all being that I’ll probably have to spend most of my time working or in school. So I guess what I really should be concerned about is the issue of possibly not having any free time at all. Instead of being home on a Saturday night with True Blood, I’ll be home on a Saturday night with my text books. Great! Just great!