Moving to Canada, Take 3: High High's, and Low Low's

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November was a very strange month for me. However, this was the first WHOLE month I spent in Calgary so I finally got an accurate picture of what living here is actually like.First off let's talk about the high's. Since I got my routine figured out in October, in November I was able to break out of my shell a little bit. I would go on walks around the city by myself, I would take breaks to go work in different cafe's, and I signed up for ClassPass to try and find some fitness classes that I liked where I might be able to meet people. I've even been skiing every weekend in an effort to improve my deplorable skills before a group ski trip in a couple weeks.

My social calendar was also surprisingly full. There were dinners with my boyfriend's family, one of my boyfriend's friends came to stay with us for a week, there was a banquet at the flying club where my boyfriend won an award for most proficient private pilot (yes he flies planes, it's nbd), there was a fondue night with friends,  I cooked my very own Thanksgiving dinner, and we hosted a game night which of course, got very heated (Monopoly will do that to a person).

However, even though November was super busy and a lot of the activities I described above made me smile, there was also the feeling of soul-crushing loneliness brewing beneath the surface. Ok, ok, I know. There's no need to be so dramatic, BUT, this month was the definitely hardest thus far. My poor boyfriend doesn't know what to do with himself because he'll see me happy at an event on one day, and the next day I'm crying in the bathtub all evening.

Even though I've been extremely busy, I can't help but feel that I'm losing myself in this new place, and allowing myself to be absorbed by my boyfriend's life. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hanging out with his family and friend's and am enjoying (mostly) learning new skills like skiing, but I don't have anything yet that's my own. Back in L.A., even on my loneliest days, I had things that would make me feel peaceful and grounded. I would go to the beach alone for hours, and I had restaurants and cafe's near my apartment that I could rely on for comfort food or green juice, as it is in SoCal. And of course, most importantly, I had friends nearby that I could reach out to who could help me through any negative feelings or just to discuss life with. I realized the other day that I hadn't had a deep or open conversation with anyone here besides my boyfriend. Those types of dialogues are how I build friendships and not having them has really been taking its toll on my emotions.

Overall, this month still had more high's than low's, but the lows were just super low. I'm trying new things all the time, but I'm just at a loss with how to create my own life here. I know building a new social life takes time, but in the interim, I would at least love to find a few things here that make me feel independent and in control. Honestly, the mission for December is to just do as much as possible before I leave for Chicago to celebrate the holidays (AND my 23rd birthday, wow). I know that trip will perk me up a bit, so right now it's my light at the end of the 2017 tunnel.