Leaving London has snuck up on me. Wrapped up in the chaos of finals and evaluations and soaking up the Christmas celebrations in the city, it only recently occurred to me that I’m having the last of my experiences here as I write this—last day at my internship, last classes, even my last blog post before I fly home. I’ve tried to commiserate with my friends in the program about it, but many of them seem to feel differently. It’s not that they’re excited to leave, but they have loved it so much that they are deciding to plant themselves here after graduation.

My headphones were a constant item in the fanny pack I wore as a crossbody during my time in Buenos Aires, so whenever I was in transit or really just relaxing, I was almost always listening to music. Listening to songs that matched the mood made me feel like someone out there, even if in a completely different situation, understood the energy I was feeling. I began to make playlists based on my routines and, along with my monthly playlists, accumulated quite the list of new songs.

I did end up going to the Sinterklaas parade. That Saturday morning, November 13th, I did some catchup work at Coffee Company on Kinkerstraat (recently my go-to study spot, ideal for being productive and people-watching) then biked to Leidsplein, the final destination for the Christmas procession. There was a giant stage and framework for spotlights set up in front of the Internationaal Theater.

I make it no secret that I am a huge Tolkien fan, and I will talk about him as much as I think people can tolerate. He is, as I have mentioned, a major inspiration for my applying to Oxford—his blend of history and fantasy is very creatively compelling. Bearing this in mind, it should come as no surprise that I made it my mission to join the Tolkien society in Oxford before I was even accepted into the program. I scoured their website, not updated since the 2010s. I stalked the social media sites and was very excited to meet other Tolkien fans in a place the man lived and worked. 

I learned how to ski in the Austrian Alps. Even though I say it, and even though it happened, I'm still not quite sure that it has sunk in. And yes, I fell a lot, but all beginners do! Right?

"Dreams DO come true!" At least, that's what Cinderella says. But after I got to attend a REAL-LIFE ball, I think that I would have to agree.

I had been looking forward to this for months. I had even packed my own ball gown from home so that I wouldn't have to worry about trying to find a cost-effective gown while here in Vienna.

It was about 3 p.m. on a Thursday when I remembered what day it was. I was in my Thursday afternoon class and all of my classmates were commenting about how cold it was that day. One of my classmates remarked, "It's supposed to snow in the next 24 hours—that's how you know just how cold it is."

Snow? That's right! I had been watching the weather as the temperatures dipped lower and lower and finally, one day, snow showed up in the 10-day forecast. And my classmate's comment about the snow was an excellent reminder that the day had finally come. Well, not exactly.