The universal dilemma for every student when they first go to university, is the question of finding community in the new home you have made for yourself. For many different people, this can manifest itself in many different ways - that could be joining a society, learning new recipes, or - in my case - trying everything you possibly could to find semblance of your home life. Having grown up in the Cayman Islands (near Jamaica!), almost every single facet of life in Newcastle was different to what I was used to, which made this goal much more challenging than I first thought. It was scary!
Although I grew up in the Caribbean, I had been visiting the UK for my entire life, and have countless family members from England that did their best to make sure I settled in as best as I could. I also quickly realised the extremely obvious fact that Newcastle is filled with some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met in my life, which made me feel much less alone in my pursuit to belonging. In a lot of ways, this almost left me feeling a sense of guilt that despite all this, something wasn't quite clicking; it was just so different to what I was used to.
To anyone reading this who is also from the Caribbean, you might relate to my struggles in finding restaurants that serve good Caribbean food (and I do not mean Turtle Bay!), or bars that play Caribbean music. While this was hard at first, what I learned from this experience was that I was actually a lot more resilient in new environments than I thought I ever could be. In that time, I've learned a lot - including how to hone my own recipes that reminded me of home, and take every opportunity to teach my amazing new friends about the history and culture of my home. In the absence of resources to lean on, I worked to be my own ambassador, and created a wonderful network of people who wanted to learn more about the place I missed so much. It is my hope that when I eventually leave Newcastle, I leave this legacy in the city I have grown to love so deeply.
"In the absence of resources to lean on, I worked to be my own ambassador, and created a wonderful network of people who wanted to learn more about the place I missed so much."
In turn, being thrown in the deep end this way has made me expand my own horizons more than I ever thought possible! I have had the amazing opportunity to learn about so many other cultures and backgrounds that I never would have otherwise, and I will leave this city so proud of the person I have grown into. My advice to any other students coming to Newcastle, who might be feeling even a little bit similar to how I did, is to trust that you will be okay! Embrace this change for what it is, and you may even learn a few things about yourself as you navigate this new journey.
Although finding food that reminds you of home can be hard, there are still a few options! The Quayside markets on the weekend often have at least one Caribbean food stall, and Grainger Market also has a lot of great ingredients like scotch bonnet peppers, cassava, and ripe mango if you're lucky.