Two Months

Yep, two months.

It's been exactly two months since I boarded my first plane alone. Two months since I (somehow) found the courage to leave the city, family, and world that had been a core part of my life since I was born. Two months since I first landed in England, not knowing how it would be or what kind of places I'd see.

And I'm so glad I did it.

There have been many ups and downs, of course. This is essentially my first time living "on my own." Now, I know I'm in a dorm at a university, so I'm not completely alone, but Keele is very different from Loyola. First off, I have to take a bus to get to my lectures on time or I have to dedicate 15-25 minutes (pending on temperatures) to walk to the main campus. Also, there really isn't a meal plan here like American universities. Yes, believe it or not, I've been cooking for myself. Don't get any ideas, loved ones. You STILL wouldn't want to eat my cooking. But I'm surviving.

I've learned a lot about myself these past two months. Sometimes I find faults with myself that I seek to change; other times I find that I possess a lot more inner strength than I take for granted. I'm made of tougher stuff than I thought!

As for the traveling, I haven't been able to do much. I mean I'm in school, so there's not many places I can go for the weekend. Liverpool remains my favorite city that I've visited. I went to Manchester last weekend. It was a pretty city, and the shopping was good, but it lacked a sort of culture that I crave in a city. I don't care about your fancy shopping centers or fine dining (OK, well fine dining WOULD be nice.) I care more about the people singing on the streets, the locals going out for the day, the natural beauty around the city. New Orleans has definitely jaded me; I like a city with culture, what can I say?

I hit my first real bump in the road at the end of last week/beginning of this week. The two girls that I had planned spring break with (and got my friend Sue to accompany) bailed on me. At first, I thought it was shattering my break plans. After all, the girl who got her mother to book our cruises was the one who decided to drop of out study abroad completely. However, I stepped away from the problem and realized that I could make my own plans now; I could do my own thing. I haven't made any concrete plans yet, but I know I will probably enjoy myself more, because I'm the one making them. Also, I'm definitely doing the cruise. And Sue brought up a good point; we can do whatever we want on the cruise now. We won't have to worry about what the other girls want to do. Sue and I know how to have a good time together. It should be fun! I can't even fathom dropping out of study abroad, especially since we're more than halfway finished with school work. We seriously have 4 weeks left of classes for the entire semester. Sure, there have been times where I was extremely homesick, but I never thought to go home. I don't want to go home yet! How many people get the opportunity to study abroad in another country? Well, more than back in the day, but still not a lot. I'm very grateful for my opportunity to be here; lots of people invested support and money for me to be here. I'm not going to throw that away. I'm glad I didn't have any set expectations before coming here. Has study abroad been what I thought it would be? Yes and no. But the parts that I don't expect have been my favorites.

Such as assimilating into the English culture. I catch myself doing little things, eating with a fork and knife in hand, having beans and toast, drinking copious amounts of tea, saying certain phrases (like ya all right? and cheers.) Every time I catch mytself doing something English, I just smile to myself. People back home are going to be entertained by my new habits!

Alas, I have 2 more weeks of class before I can fantasize about sunning on a ship. I also have a lot of assignments coming up, but I don't mind. It will keep me busy.


I can't believe I'm basically at my halfway mark.

So much have I learned

and so much more have I got to go.

I'm loving every minute of it, though :)