It Feels Like...

"My knees are shakin', baby;
My heart, it beats like a drum..."

As the great singer/songwriter, Kelly Marie, confirmed, the feeling of finding romance can be a dizzying experience. One can suddenly lose control of one's senses, equilibrium, balance, even how frequently one's own heart will beat.

However, I'm going to come right out and say it: that's bollocks. In the words of the Harry Enfield character, "Marie - NO!"

In finding, and maintaining, what has become my first "relationship" (ie. the first time I've been seeing one person exclusively on a regular basis), I have felt calmer, more reasonable, and, dare I say it, more normal than ever before. I'd always wondered if my slightly manic personality had something to do with the fact that I didn't have anyone close enough to me who could calm me down, and improve my dress sense. Apart from my best friends, of course...

For a whole month, now, I've been enjoying the company of an intelligent, like-minded, politically intuitive young man, whose enthusiasm has reminded me of exactly why I came here. Meet new people, experience a foreign culture first-hand, and have fun in the process. Of course, one month is not very long, but it's the longest I've ever managed (not for want of trying, I might add); and I have actually surprised myself, as well as being surprised by my new boyfriend, by managing to be a considerate, compromising, even nice person - not just to him, but to people I've never met before!

Am I in love? I don't know - it is probably too early to tell. Whatever it is, it does feel nice; and although I'm not prancing about on HMS Belfast with a couple of gay-looking sailors (see above post), I'm having a lot more fun getting to know him, and, who knows, this could be he start of something beautiful...

"Ooh, baby"...