The only thing constant is change

You've probably read this, but Nelson Mandela said, "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." While Mr. Mandela was likely referring to his nearly three decades in prison, and it's incredibly presumptuous to say so, I definitely know the feeling. It's been two years since I was here last, and I'm continually surprised (though I probably shouldn't be) about how different I am from the naive girl who came here at 20. Mostly I now look the correct way (to the right) before crossing the street, and I don't get lost on buses.

On the other hand, and with all due respect, I'd like to amend Mr. Mandela's words a bit. While there's nothing like returning to a place to discover you've changed, there's really nothing like returning to an old friend to realize that despite years and miles apart, nothing's really changed at all. Tonight I had dinner with Carly, one of the the most lovely people from my previous stay in London, and was delighted to find that she is as warm and funny as ever, and that we could still talk for hours over some good wine and ice cream.

Walking home, I was thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of this generation. Because no matter the lattitudes and longitudes that separate me from people I care about, they're always just a couple of double clicks away.

On a less sentimental note, I had another semantical misunderstanding last night. Niall and I were talking about something-- forgive me Niall because I'm sure it was memorable--and he said, "Oh yeah, that's such an aunty agony problem." Clearly I had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently over here they call a "Dear Abby"-type figure an agony aunt. I think I might try to spread this across the Atlantic.

P.S. You know how they also say that a person is so nice he would give you the shirt off of his back? Tonight Carly gave me a butter knife. To me right now, and to my mutilated toast from the past few days, they're practically the same thing.