Back to school, back to school ... well, I hope you all had a lovely break. Mine was good as well, but cut short due to the fact that I had to go to London.
I'm making it sound like such a chore. Let's try it again. My break was awesomely reduced in length because I decided to go to London and I'm getting out of school three weeks earlier than any of you! Yeah!
Needless to say, I arrived safely. There's always something strange about flying to me. Maybe it's just the idea that you sit on a large piece of aluminium for a few hours and then magically end up in a different place. Or maybe the fact that even though flying is the safest form of travel, if your plane crashes, there's a pretty good chance you're dead. (I'm seriously starting to wonder why they even bother with the emergency safety instructions. Flotation devices? Has anyone ever used those?)
Either way, I don't feel like I'm across the Atlantic. I always forget that my friends at home are fast asleep when I wake up, and eat dinner when I should be heading to bed. But then I look around and realize I'm in a very different place. Everyone talks funny over here, and I can't shake the term \over there"" (referring to ""home"") from my current vocabulary. And then there's a castle (or a few) in the middle of a huge city, which are seemingly there just to remind me, a silly American, that my country is relatively young. Everything seems relatively cheap, until I remember that pounds are not dollars, and the exchange rate is not in my favor. Or that MS Word just recommended I spell it ""favour.""
Those are the bigger things, but it's also the little things that make a place feel different. Such as no free ice water at restaurants (don't even think about free refills). Or constantly looking the wrong way when trying to cross the street (but I'm getting better). Or having Martin Luther King Jr. Day pass by without any mention, and still having class.
But if I get homesick, there are still things to remind me of home. Such as having a Starbucks (or any other American fast food chain) on every other block--just like the States! And if I'm really missing one of the best cereals ever, I can always buy a box of Lucky Charms for ??7 (that's more than $11).
Currently half my class sessions have taken place in museums, I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on everything and I am slowly becoming addicted to some cookies called digestive biscuits. They sound disgusting, but trust me, they're actually quite good.
I should be off, but maybe by next week I'll have picked up a handful of English slang to entertain you with. Cheers!
