June 30, 2015, by Gemma Coleman

Surviving the long distance relationship

After the longest year of my life, I can finally say I have been in a long distance relationship and come out the other side relatively unscathed. One year of having a computer screen and an ocean between us hasn’t been easy, but reaching the Grand Finale at the end of this academic year has made the sitting and waiting worth more than I can summarise in this short piece.

 

At risk of turning my blog into an Agony Aunt column, I thought I’d give some quick tips for all the long-distance lovers out there (wow, this really does sound like something you’d read in Heat) whether you’re long-distancing it between Nottingham and Leeds or the UK and Mexico…

 

1. The Wonderful World of Skype: yes, it sometimes sounded like my boyfriend was speaking underwater and yes, his face was often pixelated beyond recognition, but Skype quickly became my best friend this year. Being able to see each other every few days (and not have to pay either- bonus) was something to look forward to, even if just for a quick moan about revision.

2. Letter writing: the opposite end of the keeping-in-touch spectrum (if there is such a spectrum), we thought it would be fun to write letters and postcards to each other. What we didn’t realise is that letters between the UK and Mexico have a tendency to go missing – I suspect there is a pile of soggy declarations of love at the bottom of the Atlantic.

3. Occupying yourself: I soon realised that sitting around sulking wasn’t going to make Stuart come back any quicker, so I began to distract myself by joining various groups and (hopefully) CV boosting things. I even tried taking up knitting, but it turns out I can’t even sew a button so that dream was fast abandoned.

4. Having an end in sight: knowing that we would be back together at Christmas and then again in May gave us a date to count down to and look forward to (yes, I did have a countdown on my calendar. No, this does not make me crazed – I rather like to think of myself as the tragic lovesick protagonist to some John Green novel).

 

One year down, one semester of me in France to go until I can officially call myself a love guru.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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