Eight Weeks In...

This past Wednesday marked what has now been eight weeks in England. Sometimes I feel like I've been here for five months. Sometimes I feel like I've been here for five days. "It's all a part of exchange," as Paul would say.

A bug has made it's way, almost full circle, around my friend group this week. I'm not sure if it's because I was a tad sick earlier on this semester, or if it's because my immune system is beast, but I'm happy to report, I've had a healthy week :) It did get a few people nervous to get sick so close to Spring Break, so a few people went to the doctors. Ambulances are everywhere in Leeds. Hey, it's free and you don't mind waiting a few hours, why not see a doctor about that stuffy nose. I won't pretend to be as knowledgeable on all the US healthcare drama as I should be, but it has been interesting seeing how it all works over here in the UK. Towson actually set me up with some sweet insurance for this semester. I'm thinking of breaking a leg just to get my moneys worth out of the thing. Kidding :)

My heart sank this week when my proffesor handed back a grade for a group presentation I'd had a part in giving a few weeks ago, and it was a 67%. My final grade is that project, plus an end of term paper, so I was slightly horrified to see that we'd recieved a D. It wasn't until after class that a girl from my group explained to me that they grade out of 80, not 100 over here, so really it was a B+. Whew. It's a little amazing that I'd been here this long, and was still yet to have recieved a grade though, ay.

In other news, I will be leaving for Italy in four days. That's four days. Like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- BAM, Thursday morning- hello, Italy. I'm a little excited. I am traveling with three friends, Danielle, Noah and Jordan, and our plan is to fly into Venice, stay one night and one day, then head over to Rome for the next five. I'm doing some reading on the cities so that I can fully appreciate what I'm seeing. After that, it's back to the States for ten days of car rides with Ruby, coffees with Dad, baby ogling, boardwalk walking and probably twenty bubble baths.

Couldn't be more pumped for Italy, couldn't be more pumped for the USA, couldn't be more pumped about the fact that I'm living in freaking England! Oh life, you're pretty sweet :D

LONDON

Wow, what a city.

Arrived late on Friday, hopped on the tube ("Mind the gap, please" is still in my head :), and met up with Leslie's roommate, Maggie. Maggie and six others from Catholic University are studying theatre in London this semester. Walked a little ways with her, and was commenting on the chic little flats on the side of the road (very My Fair Lady-like), when she turned into one. I still can't get over her flat- it was so quaint. Made coming home to Sugarwell Court feel like coming home to cardboard box haha Got to know her flatmates, lovely girls, and went to the supermarket for my go-to peanut butter, jelly and bread.

I woke up the next morning to beautiful sunshine, packed my PBJ and hit the streets, ready to see what London had to offer. Maggie was a wonderful tour guide, pocket map in hand, crossing streets like a true city girl (I still follow the green and red lights like a true Calvert Countian). London is just perfect. I was expecting NYC with a few red buses, and if I were to compare it to a US city, NYC would certainly be the most similar, but London is different. There's a relaxed buzz about it. It wasn't over crowded, but crowded enough to give me that tingly feeling in my stomach that cities do. I heard just as many French, Indian and German accents as I did British, which was really cool.

Looking back at my pictures, I can't believe that I'm the one who took them. It's unreal seeing with your own eyes things you've only seen in magazines and movies. My favorite was the Tower of London- it's so incredibly old, I got completely wrapped in the idea that at some point, Lords and Ladies were standing right where I was.

We passed a man selling 6 pound tickets to hear the Salzburg symphony perform Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, and couldn't pass it up. The concert was held in a beautiful old church (beautiful old churches- I will really miss those when I return to the States), and was just wonderful. My knowledge of classical music is completely subconscious- I honestly could count the times on one hand that I've purposed to sit down and listen to a classical piece on my own. The appreciation I have for the genre is fully credited to my father. As a child, Mozart, Beethoven and the like were an after dinner tradition. Listening to The Four Seasons brought me way back. There was an image in my head the whole time; Vinny doing dishes, Andrew sprawled out on the floor over some map, Adrienne and me singing on the fireplace hearth, mom braiding Allisons long blonde hair before bed...not to get all Little Women on you...haha Either way, my thoughts were really with the Ackermanns, especially knowing that Andrea was in labour at that moment. Upon returning to the flat, I got the exciting email that Jolie had been born! The pictures of my family and the new little one almost brought me to tears. Okay. They brought me to tears. Jolie is beautiful- I can't wait to meet her. Born on March 12th, I think I will make her wait til the 13th to open my birthday presents, seeing as how it was 1am my time when she arrived :)

The next day, Maggie and I ventured into the city again for a Saint Patricks Parade. The weather was even better than the day before. (ps- this whole England being rainy thing is such a myth. *knocks on wood*) Trafalgar Square was covered in green. There was great live Irish music, and beers (sorry, ale) all around. Maggie and I sat on a fountain with our coffees (I'm only a forth Irish. Beer at 11am? I'm just not that hardcore.) and let the moment sink in. I think I've been bitten by the travel bug at this point; I can't see not returning to London a few more times in the future.

We did some shopping at Camedon and called it a day. Maggie and her flatmates had tons of homework to do before Monday morning classes. Their experience here seems quite different than mine, in that their classes are incredibly time consuming and challenging. Back at the flat, I expected them to all be hunched over textbooks and the like, and was surprised when instead they started to stage combat around the living room. Theatre majors. Gotta love em :)

The next morning I awoke and caught my bus home. Being an early trip, the bus had a total of 16 passengers, so I got my favorite spot in the back across the three seater. I laid out, turned my ipod on (Carolina Liar makes for a great travel soundtrack, I've found) and took in the sights of the beautiful English country side. Five hours later I was back in Leeds, fully satisfied with my trip. If you can believe this, I ate nine PBJs over the course of 2 and a half days...cheap yes. The most balanced diet, not so much. Made sure to eat vegetables last night :)

The Beautiful Letdown

"It was a beautiful letdown
When I crashed and burned
When I found myself alone
Unknown, and hurt
It was a beautiful letdown
The day I knew
That all the riches this world had to offer me
Would never do

In a world full of bitter pain
and bitter doubts
I was trying to hard to fit in
Fit in, until I found out

I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
I don't belong."

I've had more homesick days this past week than I've had in the past month. Don't really know why, honestly. I think in the beginning I was homesick because I was scared and out of my comforst zone. At this point, I think I'm homesick because, well, it's just been awhile. I think the longest I've spent away from home was at Liberty. Even that was just 4 weeks, and I was there with Ruby. I've reached this point here, where I'm fine, I'm comfortable, I'm adjusted... I just miss that feeling you get when you're home.

There's a song by Switchfoot that I've really been connected to this week called "The Beautiful Letdown." It's actually the title of their album. (ps- every year I re-discover one, Larson's 'Rent', and two, Swtichfoot's 'The Beautiful Letdown'. Probably two of the most solid albums I own. 'Solid' meaning, I will literally listen to them both all the way through, not skipping any songs. That also goes for JRB's 'The Last Five Years', but anyway- I digress.)

The Beautiful Letdown speaks of the disappointment, turned excitement, and maybe even relief, when you realize that as a child of Christ, you just don't belong on the planet. Not anywhere.

Being away from home, I've tried to make my home here, even if it's knowingly temporary. But that will never happen, and that's what I'm beginning to see. As much as I miss "home," I have to realize that even the house on Taney Court isn't home.

My home is in Christ. That's the beautiful part of the letdown, ay. No matter what, He is here, and He loves me. Bam. Funny how I've been a Christian for years, and it's never really hit me. I am learning things over here that I'm pretty sure I couldn't be learning back in the US. Which is exactly why I came :)

Nutella

Nutella has nothing to do with this post, really. I just so happen to be eating it now, that's all.
Really, this post is dedicated to a bunch of random, non blog-worthy things that I feel like blogging about. Like nutella. How awesome is nutella??

I got a haircut.
Not really a big deal, except that I got it in Europe. That makes it cooler in my mind.
It was the fanciest hair cut ever.
- They took my coat off of me when I walked in, and put it back on me when I walked out. I felt so imporant! :)
- They offered me a drink, and were really surprised that it wasn't a custom in the US to do so.
- The lady insisted on blowing my hair out. I told her that wasn't necessary, and explained that with my curls, a blow dry alone would mean disaster, and she told me I didn't know what I was talking about.
- I didn't know what I was talking about.
- At this point, I've proabably had around 75 hair cuts in my life, and this one takes the cake. I want to take the English hairdressers home with me.
- Needless to say, I found Beyonce on my ipod and practically strutted the whole way home.

Got a new flatmate, Renu, who speaks Hindi and very little English, much like my Chinese flatmate, Todd. We have a hard time not laughing every time we converse :) I also have no idea what half the stuff in my fridge is. I LOVE being an exchange student.

I spent a good fifteen minutes picking out a toothbrush the other day.

I am making arrangements with my friends for our week in Italy over Spring Break. It's been harder than we anticipated; lots of places won't accept our American credit cards, which came as a shock to us. However, we're all getting really excited. Spring break is only a short three weeks away! I'm sure we'll figure it all out :) I'm also pumped for my week at home. Can't wait to see everyone.

I am starting to really love the city of Leeds- I feel like it's my city, honestly. A little intimidated at first, I am now past the point of being scared, and am really soaking in all it has to offer. I even gave someone directions the other day- can you believe that??

ps- I am going to be an Aunt any day now! Can't wait to meet the little one.

Weekend in Leeds

Brilliant weekend. I wouldn't call myself a city girl, but after a few more weekends in Leeds, it'll be hard to return to Calvert County where my Friday night options are Dunkirk park or Walmart. (Not to knock on good ol' CC. I happen to really love Dunkirk Park :)

Friday was stormy; saw at least five umbrellas go inside out going to and from class. Yikes.
That night we had spaghetti at Danielle's, plus some leftover birthday cake from Emma's. Haven't mentioned it, but five of us have turned 21 in the past month (including myself), so at any given point, there's birthday cake to be had. I've been teaching my friends games the past few weeks; they're big Mafia fans and can't get enough of Loaded Questions either. It's been fun for me; Loaded Questions is like an Ackermann pastime at this point, so it's been great introducing it to all new players. I honestly didn't expect to make such tight friendships here. The "Exchange Gang", as we've named ourselves- ha, is like a second family to me now :)

Afterwards, we headed out to a pub to hear some live jazz music which brought back memories of our gig at the Westlawn. I miss performing these days.

Saturday I spent a good chunk of time in my pajamas, talking with Paul, and catching up on The Bacholer, which I am completely ashamed to say I am thoroughly enjoying. (Thanks for that, Danielle ;) The premise of the show is ridiculous, not to mention, pretty degrading in my opinion, but my gosh is it addicting. And if he picks Vienna in the end, I'll be upset.

That night we went to Brian's flat for dinner and went clubbing at The Walkabout. There are dozens of clubs in Leeds, but right now the British are really into this real bass-heavy techno. Eh, not my thing. The Walkabout is Australian themed, so the music is great, as is the atmosphere. Such a good time.

Sunday was The World Cup Challenge, which we scored free tickets to see. Until yesterday, my extent of rugby knowledge was from a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode where Ross is trying to impress his English fiance. Rugby is hard core, man. Some guy is passed the ball, and is pummeled in like 6 seconds by three other guys. Pretty intense. The crowd was a little out of control as well. The game was Melbourne v Leeds. I was in a group of about 20 kids from Leeds Met, mainly Aussies (a good chunk from Melbourne, actually), so I was rooting for Australia with them. Let me tell you though, some of those Leeds fans had lungs and weren't afraid to use them. At one point, the crowd was chanting "The ref is a wanker" for a good 5 minutes, haha, pretty bad.

During half time Emma, Danielle and I went to the "loo" and got caught in quite the crowd. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. It was so crowded, I was a little scared even. There was a moment where I had trouble inhaling because I was pressed between some many people; we were moving without moving our feet, if that makes sense? People were freaking out and pushing as well, which made things worse. We were glad to get back to our seats :)

In other news, my Spring Break plans are official- one week in Rome, one back home. I cannot wait to give my parents a big hug, and see my American friends. Plus, I will have a niece by then! Life is good ay.