The United States Again

Summer 2008 has started and gotten well underway.

I've been home for a couple of weeks now, and I'm quite happy to be here. I got off the airplane to my dad waving a tiny American flag, my mom happily smiling, and Kay telling me about a pint of Ben and Jerry's waiting for me at home. In spite of the scary "leaving Bath" talk about how awkward it would be to come home nothing seemed out of place. I mean, a little, I guess. My mom had moved my room around so all the furniture was in a new formation. My cat, Sphinx, did not remember me (although Kelly seemed happy to see me). But as far as fitting back in-- no problem. Kay and I had a lovely time catching up that afternoon, and the day after I got home my cousin, Josh, came over. We always have the best time hanging out! The Tuesday after I got home Jacob arrived! The very next day we drove four hours up to Pittsburgh to see Eddie Izzard's new stand-up "Stripped." Eddie Izzard!!!!!! Eddie Izzard!!!!! The show was excellent, and the drive was actually fun-- we passed farms which are infinitely amusing to Jake.

May 3oth was Kay's 21st birthday! A group of us went out to dinner at a very nice Caribbean restaurant. We were all dressed up and pretty and I finally got to see Mike Johnson again!!!!! After dinner all of us went back to my house for a champagne toast and merriment. The next day we all gathered at Kay's for a luncheon. Generally a fantastic time (and I hope she felt the same, since it was her birthday).

Now I'm back in Williamsburg with Jake. He's taking classes while I do... absolutely nothing. I'm waiting here for my job to start on June 18th. I'm going to be an RPA for NIAHD again (basically I'm a camp counselor for a high school history camp). In the meantime I'm trying to teach myself French and I'm trying to read as many books as possible. I just finished reading Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, who I love with a passion, and Perfume, a book recommended to me by Josh while we were hanging out. Perfume was a subtly intriguing book-- I really, really liked it. Now I'm trying to read Charles James Fox, a book by Leslie, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. So that's how I'm keeping busy. That and trying to keep up with friends. Tonight I'm going to see the Sex and the City movie with Katie! Am quite excited.

So that's life... welcome back to the Many Adventures of Me... Stateside.

Bath Says Goodbye Sometimes

I've left Bath for the last time.

The last few days-- well, the last week really-- have been a whirlwind. First of all, I forgot to mention that last Thursday (before the Dorset Hike) I decided to go exploring. It was gorgeous sunny day so I walked all the way to St. Stephens Church. I could see it from my window in Nunes House but it was so far away and I'd never even thought of going to it before. I wanted to see what I would find on the way there... turns out, Bath is beautiful. I came across lots of little antique stores, some cafes, Georgian houses with beautiful flowers in front and ivy on the walls, two crescents I'd never heard of before, little winding paths, and large public parks. One crescent I went to was called Camden Crescent, and the other was Lansdown Crescent. Both were beautiful, but Lansdown Crescent was like something out of a fairy tale. I would rather live there than the Royal Crescent even. I could see far off into the distance rolling hills with small houses clustered together, and directly in front of the crescent was a field of sheep. In front of each door was a bower; some were covered in flowers.

This last Monday afternoon my friends put on the play they had been working on since Oxford. It was a retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream, except instead of Hippolota and Theseus' wedding it was Beyonce and Jay-Z, if that tells you anything... It was funny though, and nice entertainment. They had worked hard on it. Monday night was fantastic! We all went to Opa after the play because it was warm and sunny and Brooke and I got margaritas, then I got a kiwi martini, and we all had such fun standing around recounting funny stories and praising the play. Except, while there, I suddenly realized that when I get home I have two months before I can go to a bar and order myself a margarita or a martini... which really will be an adjustment, since I'm so used to being able to get whatever I please, whenever I please. Really unhappy about this.

Tuesday I finished up my finals and went to a "re-entry" session for returning to the States. I didn't really think it would be all that difficult, but they brought up some good points that I hadn't thought of before, so now I'm almost a little worried about how it will be to go back. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow afternoon. I guess I hadn't thought of the little ways in which I've changed over the course of the semester: for example, I have become more conscious of what I eat, how much what I eat costs, and how much food I waste. I've gotten used to walking everywhere and being able to walk everywhere. I've gotten used to English grocery stores and the products they sell, and as much as I'll be grateful to have Wheat Thins once more I think I'm really going to miss Waitrose Muesli and Sainsbury's Tikka Masala sauce. There were bigger things, too-- how our friends and families will react to us, for one. And how we will react to our friends and families. Andy pointed out that just because we've been gone for four months doesn't mean that things at home have stayed exactly as they were. Friendships will be different, because while we've been growing and changing our friends have been growing and changing, too... without us and in different ways from us. I think the session helped, though, and hopefully the transition to going home will be a smooth one if I bear in mind some of the lessons of the re-entry session. Afterwards, I went to Cafe Rouge with Brooke for one last bowl of French Onion soup and a Caesar salad, which perked me right up and once again made me anticipate coming home :).

Wednesday and Thursday were spent in a flurry of packing, doing last minute shopping, seeing people, going places... went back to Opa with Alli and Jon, hung out with some Linley girls, stayed around Nunes. Brian made me dinner, which was nice since I had absolutely no food besides oatmeal left in my flat. Then I packed some more. Thursday was similar, except that I had lunch at an Indian place called Rajpoot with Emily H., and then last night we all went out to a restaurant called The Slug and Lettuce (which is a disgusting name) and had a Nunes dinner. The food was actually pretty good. And, of course, the company was excellent. I sat near Brooke, Liz, Jen, and Jon which was quite entertaining. Afterwards we had a mini-party in Nunes then everybody went to the Porter... except me. I still had packing to do, and it's a good thing I did because I realized that I needed another small bag in order to bring everything home. Luckily, Shea was throwing out a very nice large pink handbag, so I took that and made everything fit perfectly :). Shea came home early to talk to Andrew, then Danielle and Alli came home slightly inebriated-- Danielle was talking about how terrible it was that the Mr. D's truck massacred cows for their hamburgers, which was amusing. Around 2:45 or so we finally turned in for bed, so we were up late today.

I got up around 10:30 or so, took a shower, returned some books to the ASE library (not that I ever took any out... shhhhhhh), and then came back to my flat just as it was stormed by Flat 3 girls. We decided we all needed to get dressed to go right away for a last walk around Bath and a final trip to Sainsbury's Local for coca-colas, and smoothies at Smooth Sensations in the Corridor, and in general to bid farewell to the city we have lived in for so long. Really, it was kind of sad. Walking up Milsom Street for the last time, walking into Local for the last time, seeing street performers in front of the Abbey for the last time, passing Retro's to Go for the last time, going into Nelson House for the last time... We got back to Nunes around 1:15 to start getting ready for Final Tea. I wore my new yellow seersucker dress from Jane Norman with a little yellow cardigan. As Nunes Flats 3, 4, and 5 we walked over en masse and took the entire center table for ourselves. Jonathon Hope sat with us since we were right in front of the projector for the Slide Show. It was really a High Tea-- we had little tea sandwiches, followed by scones, followed by little cakes. Then Barbara made a speech, both humorous and poignant, followed by a similar speech from Jonathon. Then Frank, a student, made a speech about how wonderful the staff was-- Andrew Butterworth asked him to say a few words and Frank really lived up to it with well-thought out, funny, touching speech to thank each staff member for looking after us and making us feel always at home. Then the Slide Show itself came on and suddenly we were being handed t-shirts and envelopes and being pushed out the door.

I went back to Nunes, finished packing my bags, and then my flatmates and Brooke walked me to the train station and I bid Bath goodbye forever-- at least as an ASE student. It was a gloomy day, much like the first day that I arrived in England, and I felt rather sad on the train passing the familiar stops that I once passed to go to Oxford. Goodbye towpath, goodbye little lambs in the fields, goodbye S.T.E.A.M Museum of the Western Railroad, goodbye Didcot Parkway with your smokestacks, goodbye goodbye. All the way into London Paddington and to Heathrow.

Currently, I'm sitting in the Yotel at the airport realizing I need to get some sleep before I have to wake up early for my flight tomorrow. I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm actually leaving Bath and actually going home: back to the U.S.A. I can't deny that I'm really excited to be going home-- I've missed my parents, my friends, my cats, my house, my car (guiltily enough), Hershey's syrup, and a land where the dollar is worth something. I feel like living abroad has, if nothing else, made me appreciate the United States of America more. It has made me appreciate my friends, my family, and the life that I have there. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to realize how wonderful it really is... I've learned that if I ever again "go looking for my heart's desire, I won't look any further than my own backyard; if it's not there, then I never really lost it to begin with," as Dorothy says in The Wizard of Oz.

But at the same time, I already miss hanging out with Nunes House and having Nunes family dinners, going to sun myself in the park with Brooke, late nights talking with Alli, Shea, and Danielle, and being able to travel to any locale in Europe cheaply, with the click of a button and at the drop of a pin. Still, there really is no place like home, even though I'll miss my new found friends from Bath immensely and leaving them this afternoon was hard.

So, goodbye Bath. Goodbye England.

Tomorrow I fly home to continue the Many Adventures of Me in a brand new way. See you all on the other side of the pond.

Summer '08

I'm done with finals!!!!!!

I just finished up my Irish Lit final and I took my Tudors/Stuarts final earlier this morning. Now I'm done! I'm not sure how I did on my finals... but at least I managed to write something for every question asked of me. I was thinking about it last night, and I discovered that the reason that it has been so hard for me to study for these is that I haven't had to take an unseen final in a year (except in LCST, but she gave us a very generous study guide). I haven't had to study for a history final since last Spring. Even then he gave us the questions beforehand and said that he would pick a few to be on the test. I haven't had this little guidance in studying for an in-class final ever and I haven't had to take one in so long: I'm fantastic at take-home finals, however. I really do prefer them, especially for history and English. History is less about memorizing dates and regurgitating than it is about analysis, which is much easier to do if you have ample time to really contemplate instead of doing an info-dump. English, too, usually tends to be more thoughtful when there's really time to peruse texts. I can see giving an English in class if the possible essay topics are given first and you have to prepare a few at home. I've done that and like that, but these unseen, entire semester-cumulative exams were killer.

But oh, well. They are done and I managed to write all five essays required of me today, even if they are rather average compared to the work I like to do.

So now it's summertime!!! I need to pack, go to the park and sit in the sun, do a little last minute shopping, have a few drinks at Opa, and enjoy my last few days in Bath!!!