Tuesday, June 9th
Honestly, it’s been ages and I’m a bit ashamed of that. So so much has happened in the span of time I’ve been ghost on my blog, both good and bad, part of me doesn’t even know where to start. As I type this, I’m perched in a quaint coffee shop in Manchester -- a city about an hour and a half from where I’m “supposed” to be on an impromptu and very necessary trip to pick up something from my friend, Zoe. That something being my very important wallet which I carelessly left at her place on the 7th of this month. Oops, I know.
Anyways, let me rewind here for a moment and just try and catch you up on the past few months “across the pond" as my mother enjoys saying. Last I posted I had just finished up a few days in London with Robby. His stay was so lovely and a nice sprinkle of familiarity among the comfortable foreignness of Sheffield and England as a whole. It was my first time in London (I’ve since gone two other times “technically”) and seeing all the tourist sights and getting to see a musical (Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown -- 10/10 recommend ) were all just so lovely.
Fast forward a bit through my first round of exams end of April. Those weren’t too terrible. Just a bit of essay writing and one official “test”. For me, that was the most difficult and luckily for me, my end of term exams were all going to be essays come May. A blessing as a writing/English major, no? Anyways, “mid-terms” went well -- as we would call them in America though they were actually nearer to the end of term than middle way through, go figure? And then it was my birthday! May is beautiful that way.
My darling friend Emma housed me at her place for a long weekend. Thursday to Monday, it was a weekend about Sammy. I had cinnamon rolls, a full on birthday dinner complete with a cake and singing and a mini party and sparklers. I got way too many gifts for being housed by a family I didn’t even know but it was so exceptionally wonderful to be there and taken care of as though I were back home. It was another nice taste of “home” even if it was completely different and I was the American among the brits with the “charming” accent. Yes, some Brits actually adore the American accent nearly as much as we adore theirs. It’s been a beautiful experience having people react to how I speak.
May passed too fast after that and it was final exam “season”. As I previously mentioned, I just had a handful of essays but they took everything out of me. I ended up a bit ill on one of the days before one was due but, thankfully, had been thinking ahead and got it done a bit beforehand so I didn’t have to write while feverish. Turning it in at the office the next day was a bit of a drag but I was a trooper and got all 4 of them done and turned in! That’s a total of about 8000-10000 words in a two week span. Quite taxing! Hopefully the marks on those will be half decent though the way St. Olaf works, my abroad classes are pass fail as far as credit is concerned and I’m sure I passed since you need lower than a 40 to do so (as opposed to a 65 in the states).
And now we’ve hit June. June’s been a bit traumatic this first week. Not only has my stay for the last two weeks in England been a jumble of transportation and switching housing options but there was that little trauma with the wallet. After my One Direction concert on the sixth (which was absolutely perfect and amazing and I love my four piece boyband, no shame) with Zoe, I had left my wallet at hers. Cue 24 hours of panic and stress thinking it might be lost and/or stolen but praying that it was actually with her instead. Luck was on my side and that’s how I’m here in Manchester.
Zoe was a saint and the wallet handoff has been made. I am now completely back in possession of all my important things -- plenty of money included. Life is amazing and as my time in England wraps up, I can only reflect on what a marvelous time I’m having. Slight hiccups aside, it’s been a beautiful experience and really showed me what it was like to be nearly completely on my own. And it turns out I can handle adult things like grocery shopping, time management, laundry, booking living arrangements, dealing with trauma, budgeting and so much more. At 21 years old, I do feel like an adult and even thought technically I’ve been one for a few years in the eyes of the law, it’s the first time it’s really sunk in.
Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t still need my mum (it feels wrong to type mom, I’m sorry!) to ease me through my tears at the prospect of a lost debit card or the comforting voices of my family over the haphazard internet connection of our Skype. Texts from my brothers and a few emails from school friends back home make me a little homesick but given that it’s taken me until June to truly feel this way, I’d say that England was a success. I feel more motivated than ever to get writing, and, furthermore, experience more of the world. There’s so many places I’d love to visit so the plan to become fabulously wealthy after writing the next best selling novel is very much in place. This may be my last blog post and I’m sorry it’s all over the place and trying to cover so much. I’m just overwhelmed in the best possible way. I’ve made great friends over here (some of which offered to loan me money for the duration I was without my wallet, bless them) and met up with some friends I’ve had for years now.
I know one thing’s for certain and that is that this trip will NOT be my last time in England. I would put money on it!