I meet Vic over a Zoom call after an interview where the audio quality had failed me greatly. I am all in my head about whether the sound will work this time. On top of that, Vic and I have met a few times before, but mostly on nights out around Falmouth, so somehow I am twice as nervous.
When I first met them, I had assumed they were a loud-mouthed American, however I had taken a liking to their humour before we had ever really spoken. I later came to realise that what Vic had was that travels-all-the-time, international student accent that everybody assumes is American, when in actuality Vic is Finnish and Portuguese.
Now studying an MSC Human Rights and Politics degree in London, Vic is well-versed in what it is like to have many homes, however she says that very few places actually feel like one.
Before I even have a chance to ask Vic a proper question, she jokily says, So, you want my life story?
Yep!
As if she has practice from how often people ask where she is from, Vic recites:
Okay. Well, I was born in Switzerland in Zurich, where my parents met. And then at two years old, I moved to Bangalore in India, and I lived there until I was five. I learned English there. And then at five, I moved to Chatham, New Jersey, small town, actually had an Indian accent. I was a little white girl with an Indian accent, but then I got stuck with my American accent. Then I moved to a place called Cosgrove in Germany, where I was at a European school there. I started learning German, which was not fun for for an eight year old at all. I moved to Munich when I was 11, lived there for about five years – the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere. And then at 15, I moved to the US, and I did my last few years of high school there. Graduated high school there, and then at 17, I moved to Falmouth for uni. And now I live in London.
Wow. Could you tell me a bit more about your experience with moving to Falmouth, and how it differed from all the many other places that you’ve had as a home?
Honestly? British people don’t like when I say this, but Brits and Americans are very similar.
I must do a bit of an eyebrow raise, because she says,
I know, it’s shocking. You both have a very big focus on small talk and friendliness. But at the same time, a lot of people have an edge to humour. It was my first time living outside of home, especially in a post COVID environment. So I’d basically been cooped up with my parents for two years, directly to middle of nowhere in England, and I did not know what Cornwall was.
So why England?
I didn’t want to stay in the US, and I had applied for some universities in the Netherlands, but it was for psychology, and I didn’t take biology in high school because my teacher was a climate change denier, so I dropped out of that class. … I believe in climate change, so I took Environmental Science instead, and that didn’t really help out much. So I didn’t get into some universities there.
How can a biology teacher be a climate change denier?
I don’t know. He was a republican!
What were the main struggles of settling into the new environment in Falmouth?
Meeting people was difficult. I was seventeen, so I couldn’t go out or do any of the events. And British people hear that I sound American, and they run the other way.
I’ve had people stop me in the street because they think I’m American. You would you only be able to get away with that in Falmouth as well. If you did that in London, it’d be so odd, but in Falmouth, it’s so small that nobody really cares. But, I’m a social enough person that I was fine.
Yeah, everyone in Falmouth talks to each other, which is a strange experience, even being from somewhere else in England. In London, people don’t talk. They just glare at each other and move on.
Which is what I was used to in Germany. But people are friendly and strike up conversations everywhere.
Wait so you were seventeen in uni? Why were they under 18 year olds? Do they exist now, or just back in your day?
Vic laughs and rolls her eyes.
They exist now. I was put in a flat with all the international students. Everyone was under 18, so we couldn’t go clubbing.
How did you made your space feel more homely?
I put up flags. I went to an international student event, and they had flag linings, and I just started ripping all the flags that I felt connected to and stuffed them in my pocket, and then I blue tacked them to the top of my cupboards. I put posters of bands that reminded me of my brother and stuff, because my brother has always been attached to my idea of home, since he’s the only person that has lived in the same places as me. I know, It’s a crazy coincidence!
What advice would you give to new students trying to make Falmouth feel like a home?
Run.
I wait for her to answer seriously.
I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Finding a sense of community is the biggest thing. People are the best part of Falmouth, and the great part of living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone, so you can go anywhere, and feel like the town knows you instead of just feeling alone.