I didn’t meet up with E. after all because she had to cancel last-minute. It seemed that she was in some sort of trouble but she wouldn’t tell me what was going on. I texted her again a couple of days after we were supposed to meet and she never replied. She’s not the type of person to do that usually so I’m a little worried. 3 weeks ago

I’m meeting up with E. again in Central London on Sunday after a long hiatus. I still appreciate her a lot even though we don’t see each other as much as we used to anymore. Hopefully that will change before I move out. 1 month ago

I travel to the US a lot as my boyfriend currently lives there. I’ve met the most amazing people at airports and on airplanes. Even though these friendships are usually shortlived, they’re very special. You get on the plane and sit next to a complete stranger and 9 hrs later, you know more about them than most of the people they know. Because talking to a person for 9 hrs can be a long time. I’ve had people sitting next to me that wouldn’t say a word to me for 9 hrs even though I’d try and it upsets me a bit but it’s rare.

I will not forget the woman from Chicago who was very motherly to me when I flew to the US for the very first time. She made me feel special. She told me about her children and how proud she was of them because they were both going to be doctors. She offered me her magazines too.

I will not forget the old Indian couple who flew from New Delhi to Detroit (via London and Chicago!) to visit their son and his family. The woman liked me so much that she took a picture of us on the airplane to keep me in her memories.

I will not forget the man who flew to San Antonio for Thanksgiving. He grew up in Nebraska, then moved to California, then London, UK. He works for a company which builds wind turbines. He said he didn’t like Texas particularly much and he complained about the many carbohydrates they gave the passengers (which is true!).

I will not forget the Asian woman who grew up in India and moved to Wisconsin with her son in 2006 after she divorced her husband. She had flown to India with an American friend to visit family. She told me how her husband tried to convince her to get back with him.

Trust me, friendships on long-haul flights are the closest and most short-lived ones you’ll ever have. As strange as it may sound but it’s interesting how people reveal the most personal things about themselves. Sometimes I wish I’d see one of them again but it’s very unlikely. So next time you’re on a long journey and have to sit next to a stranger, try and strike up a conversation. Most of the people will respond and happily talk to you. You’ll hear the best stories so you don’t even need the book you brought to entertain yourself. 2 months ago

Some people make me so incredibly angry, it’s unreal. A part of me says I shouldn’t give them the privilege to make me angry like that but a different part of me says ‘I need to rant now’ and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

How the hell do some people find the courage to intentionally ignore someone they’ve spoken to at length at some point when they were, say, on their own, not surrounded by their ‘clique’ or ‘usual, better friends’? How is that considered OK? I had never experienced that in my home country but I KEEP experiencing it here in the UK making me think that it must be a British thing. No, I won’t generalise. I know some lovely Brits that I love to bits but some of them are so stuck-up and abominable that I feel like throwing up.

One particular girl started ‘blanking’ me when she found out I wasn’t English. I don’t know if that was the cause but that’s when she started doing it. And, mind you, ‘to blank sb’ is a British expression. Interestingly enough… My boyfriend is American and had no idea what ‘blanking’ sb meant. He also told me that when he was in the UK he had experienced that quite a lot. I don’t want to sound offensive towards Brits. I love Britain, there’s a reason why I chose to live here, but sometimes the nationalists among them are a pain. And they are in every country I guess. Every international student or a person coming from abroad told me how hard it is to make friends with English people.

My housemates (English) keep saying that foreigners are different, strange, you name it. They’re lovely people my housemates, however, I don’t understand how they can say such a thing in front of me, an effing foreigner… They even say they smell differently. What in the world? Are they aware that they are foreigners too? If they went to a different country they’d be the aliens, the strange ones. So what the hell…? One of my housemates’ boyfriend’s mother is Filipino, why would she then proceed to say such a thing?

Furthermore, the usual ‘I’m not racist BUT (insert racist comment here)’ is slowly getting on my nerves. I wrote extensively on this topic in an essay last semester and got a very good grade on it. If I can I will keep writing on this topic, especially coming from a multicultural country AND family. Ethnicity and race are something that desperately need to be addressed in a different way here in Britain. London is a melting pot, you see people who come from all over the world and then there are ‘purists’ who come and judge on those ‘foreigners’ as if they were the rub of the world. That needs to be sorted out. I cannot tolerate this kind of perspective and I wouldn’t want a child to grow up in such an environment either. 3 months ago

Meeting up with E. tomorrow after my exam. I guess I could definitely say I made one new friend :) 5 months ago

• I had lunch on my own on Monday but then saw a friend of mine and she was with a girl I didn’t know. They joined me and I got along really well with my friend’s friend. Before the girls joined me, a girl from class saw me, then smiled and winked at me even though we have never really talked to each other. She’s that bubbly girl I wrote about in one of my other posts here on 43things. I thought it was funny because I didn’t realise that people from my class actually acknowledge me haha! I just wonder why they won’t talk to me.

• I went on a Study Abroad Meeting on Monday afternoon and after the meeting a girl from my English class recognised me and we started talking after I smiled at her. I guess that was good because that’s what made her turn around and talk to me. She seemed very sociable and nice and I’m glad I got to know her. Too bad it’s almost the end of the semester because I won’t see her in class anymore.

• I had a group presentation for one of my Film classes. I knew my group members but we got along really well while working on the presentation and during the presentation we had really great chemistry and it was so much fun too.

• I’m still on good terms with the Russian girl and I really like her. I can tell that she does too because she does contact me every so often to ask me if I’m free to hang out.

I’m really happy about all this! I was close to giving up on making new friends so I’m really relieved all of these positive things have happened lately. My boyfriend’s happy for me too because all he wanted was for me to be able to hang out with people I can connect with. I hope it will stay this way. 5 months ago

I have been through so many friends in my life. They come and go, like the wind. I’ve been stabbed and the back so many times. I tell them everything, then they go tell everyone my secrets. I don’t talk about any of my friends, like they have done to me. I know how it feels. If I have something to say about you, I’ll either keep it too myself or tell you it to your face. I’m not mean, so I’ll probably keep it to myself. 13 months ago