I wonder when London will stop surprising me with all of the amazing things going on. Probably never. This past weekend I saw some exhibits at the Lumiere Light Show in King's Cross, rode a boat along the Thames, and walked through various markets in Greenwich and Shoreditch where I had some amazing food and saw beautiful street art.
Day 1: I’m in Chicago O’Hare waiting for my flight to London to board. Does this count as Day 1 if I won’t even be in Nice until tomorrow? I guess I can count this as Day 1 of experiences and journeying since this is the first step to Nice, even if I’m not there yet. London is my only connection, so I’ll take British Airways from Chicago à London à Nice. Easy. I don’t think my brain has caught up with my physical state of being ready to board a plane to London. Weird.
It has been about a month since my study abroad program in Freiburg ended. This seems crazy to me now. I'm still very much in a period of transition as I have yet to start classes back at my home school and I still get the question "How was Germany?" everytime I reunite with a friend or family member. This question is so hard for me and I imagine for many others who come back from a semester abroad. There is no way I could answer that question in a simple or concise sentence, phrase or even a few minutes of discussion.
“Are you excited for your trip?”, I was asked this question by many friends, acquaintances and random people who knew about my travels. My usual answer was “Yeah, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead on my journey” until this last week. Now I have mixed feelings. On one hand there is all this excitement to see places all across Europe, on the other hand I’ll be missing all of my friends who I have made most of my memories with since I started college.
When I leave home to go back to Portland for school, I usually feel some type of homesickness within the first week. I assume this is because I get nervous about being alone, and honestly, becoming/being an adult is a little scary to me. At home, I still see myself as a young adult: not quite an adult, but enough of one to have various responsibilities, since my parents and the rest of my family is there. But at school, I'm the adult.
Bonjour!
I left off my last entry getting out of the airport. Here's how it went down.
Not even two weeks into this adventure and I already love Ireland more than I could have imagined. Everywhere I go gives me something new to love about this place. The food is amazing (I’ve grown a bit of a bread obsession), the history is fascinating, and the culture is one of a kind. As hard as it is to pick one favorite part about this place, I may have to say it is how slow-paced everything is. I learned that when I go to a pub for dinner I usually have to walk up to someone at the bar and ask for a menu.
This week I’ve probably introduced myself over a few dozen times. “Hello,” I keep saying, “I’m Kaylie. It’s nice to meet you.”
I’ve gotten into the habit of googling the same things over and over again.
“What’s the weather today in Amsterdam?”
“What’s the time difference between California and Amsterdam?”
“What are the best restaurants near Uilenstede?”
“How much does it cost to rent a bike for 4 months in the Netherlands?”
I brainstormed long and hard about what to say and how to say it in this blog post; my first since arriving in Milan a week ago! How do I capture everything I’ve experienced so far here for someone reading, someone who is perhaps contemplating their future study abroad adventure here? In the end, I decided to keep it straightforward and, most importantly, completely honest.