Couchsurfing into the country

Right now I'm sitting in Sue's sittingroom, or maybe it's an office or something, I'm not sure, I think they use this room for reading and drinking tea. In any case it's been my sleeping courters since I got to Kingston.

I found Sue through Couchsurfing, a wonderful webpage where people with room on their couches and in their hearts get connected with people traveling around and who wants a cheaper and more personal lodging than a hotel or a hostel. When I say cheaper I mean free. Since I never tried couch surfing before I'm happy that this was my first experience as Sue and her husband has been incredibly hospitable and helpful. The original agreement was that I would stay here for just a few days, but when they saw that I had some trouble finding a place to live, they offered me to stay until over the weekend.

Moving to another country is never without it's problems and worries and even if I do speak the language pretty well I've never been to London before, it's quite big. I mean, when I moved to Oslo, five years ago, even that seemed like an enormous place. I'm so happy that couchsurfing allowed me to find Sue and that Sue made me feel this welcome. She even introduced me to an artist friend of hers when she learned that I was studying art.

Over all it has given me a feeling of security, like I have a life line in this country in case something happens. Although I doubt I will call them the forst time I feel lost, I am rather independent, it's reasuring to know that the option is there.


Now I only hope I will get the chance to help somebody else in return, though I doubt it will happen soon, because I don't know the lady I'm going to live with that well and I wouldn't know how she felt about it yet. Time will tell.