Ren locked the door behind himself and settled on the sofa bed, phone in hand. Interacting with all those people in such a small space made him nervous, through no fault of their own. He’d had fun eating out with them, but the truth of the matter was he was in a foreign country without an inkling of the language. He was the foreigner, and people would always speak in their language around him and even in front of him.

He’d known it wouldn’t be a piece of cake coming in Thessaloniki, but he hadn’t expected the cultural difference to hit him so quickly, so abruptly. He had spent more than enough time with his new friends; he now wanted to sit in silence in his lonesome for the rest of the day.

University was starting next week, and he needed to get a grip before then. Otherwise, he would either be on the first flight back home or failing his studies, which, if he was being honest with himself, wouldn’t be the end of the world. Of course, it would be for his parents. And God forbid he disappointed them.

When he was bored of scrolling through his Facebook feed - he only had a handful of friends on there, anyway, which didn’t make for an interesting or engaging feed - he dug his tablet out of his rucksack and connected it to the house WiFi.

He hovered over the Skype button before deciding he didn’t want to let Daisy see him so defeated, so he opened the Netflix button instead. He succumbed to binge-watching for a couple of hours until sleep dragged him into its soft embrace.

It was dark. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. Everything was hurting. How long had he been asleep? He reached for his tablet, but its power had dwindled so it remained unresponsive. His phone illuminated the darkness, and he realised it was only eight in the evening.

He got up and searched for the light switch. When the unfamiliarity of his new living space hit him, so did hunger. His stomach growled and he decided he needed to eat something. He picked up his phone and his keys and opened the door.

He took to the streets, not knowing which way to go or if he would find his way back. He memorised shops and cars parked on the pavement in hopes they would lead him back. That was if he ever found where he was headed.

Ren found himself on a main street and only had to walk a couple of blocks before he found a kebab shop. He decided to try it, since he wasn’t sure of the other local food options.

The lady at the counter spoke to him in Greek and he naturally understood nothing.

‘Hi!’ he said.

The young woman with a blonde ponytail and a black cap around her head smiled. ‘Hi. Can I help?’ she said, this time in English.

He looked at the menu above her head which was split between Greek and English. What did he have before? The guys had asked him not to call it kebab, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what they’d called it.

Deciding his memory wasn’t going to aid him, he pointed at the rotating pork meat and asked for it.

‘Would you like it on a plate or a sandwich?’ she asked.

Ren asked for the sandwich and a can of Coke. The tally came to three euros fifty. He fished in his pocket for the ten euro note he had and gave it to her. The girl gave him his change and prepared a tray with his Coke and receipt.

Once he was fed, he came out of the shop ready to face this new world. Again. He walked back, advised by his phone and following its instructions. When he reached his house, he regretted coming back. The night was still young and the weather had a soft lick of breeze to it; it would be a waste not to enjoy it.

He spun on his heel and bumped into a man. The man spat and cursed and Ren saw he had been holding a can of beer, which had spilt all over his front. He appeared to be in his twenties, with a clean-shaven face and copious amounts of hair gel. He looked up at Ren and said something.

‘I’m really sorry,’ Ren said.

The man paused and winced. ‘Watch where you’re going!’ he shook his T-shirt and stretched it away from his chest. ‘Gamoto! Look what you have done. Are you the new student on the fourth floor?’

Ren nodded.

‘I didn’t know you were English.’

‘Is that a problem?’

The man dismissed him and headed for the door. ‘Whatever, asshole. Just make sure you stay away from me.’

‘What?’ Ren mouthed.

‘Fuck you,’ the man said before shutting the door on his face.

Ren stood still, his head buzzing with a gazillion questions and his mouth twitching, itching to respond. Not that he ever would. What had just happened? All of a sudden Ren wasn’t so wildly in the mood to go on that walk. But he also had no urge to go back into the building and potentially face the same man again.

He walked away. He got back to the main street and headed back the way of the kebab shop. On the other side of the street was a bar, so he dove in and took a seat. He ordered a beer and was given a bottle and bowl of crisps.

‘I didn’t order those,’ he said to the barman.

The barman smiled and took Ren’s money. ‘They’re free,’ he said.

Ren shrugged. He wasn’t going to object. He chugged his beer and replayed the events of the day. So far it had been an intimidating experience. He had been yelled at more times than he had been in his entire life. But he had also made quite the acquaintances. Come to think of it, they had been incredibly nice and welcoming to him. If anything, they’d put a sweet note to an otherwise hostile day.

Especially Jimmy. The sweetest note of them all.