Thanksgiving

Ill keep this one short...

I expected on one of the best American holidays to feel more homesick than ever. I've learned though, that home is what you make it. Yesterday we had an incredible thanksgiving meal together... all of us Americans cooking our favorite dishes for each other, and our swedish and english friends. We impressed ourselves, I think. None of us had ever had to make thanksgiving without the watchful eyes of mom and grandma. Nor did we ever have to organize it ourselves.

Needless to say, pilgrim and indian headdresses were made (we are education majors after all), and "i'm thankful fors" were said over piles of stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

It was an amazing group. Its been an amazing semester so far. As much as I miss home... I'm starting to feel like I actually have a place here now... so I'm going to be very sad to say goodbye.

But for now, I'm off to Barcelona for my last trip of the semester! Updates to follow

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. and God Bless you! I'm so grateful for everything this year has brought me

J'adore Paris

I'm back from a weekend in Paris with a few of the American girls in our program. It was a lovely weekend... very exhausting... as we had to go to London first to get our Swedish residency permits stamped in... and then get to the train station to take the chunnel to France. (Ps. Rihanna was at the train station arriving from Paris right as we left... I didn't see her because I was in the bathroom, but still... that was cool... kinda made me feel like a little jet setter!)

Speaking of which... I'm becoming rather fond of my passport. We are new friends... have only been in each other's lives for about a year... but recently, we've been spending all kinds of time together. Like wow. All of a sudden I've been in a couple continents... I've been BACK to places I'd never thought I'd get to even once in my lifetime. And all of this information is contained inside a bitty little packet of pages (that i may or may not thoroughly enjoy paging through :))

You may find it weird that I'm dwelling on my passport, when in all actuality I should be detailing the sites and sounds of Paris (FYI we did the Eiffel Tower twice, the arc d' triomphe, notre dame, the outside of the louvre, some fun touristy shopping, good eating, girl bonding, etc)... but really I find it a hard place to describe. On the one hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the city... and on the other, I feel like there is so much more to explore there. Additionally I was really sick the entire weekend and barely had enough energy to walk around, let alone frolic and play - as i'm prone to doing.

The most eye opening thing about Paris was how I felt when I got home (or rather, back to Bognor). For me, France was the first foreign country I've been to this semester that "I haven't been to before." I've seen a lot of new things, yes. But France is the first new country. And I really didn't find it all that different. Paris actually reminded me of a conglomeration of London and Rome (which is probably blasphemous or something).

Anyway, like I was saying... when I got back from Paris, I realized that I had very low expectations for it from the beginning. There's quite a stereotype that the French (or Parisians in particular) aren't the friendliest of folk. A few people I've talked to didn't agree... but on the whole, most people (including me) are rather wary of going to Paris (with no knowledge of French and basically a giant "im an american" stamp plastered to their forehead).

I found that nearly every French person (whether random person on the metro or shop owner or restauranteer) was very friendly. And I got to thinking, hmm maybe I should go back home and tell everyone how nice the French are. But then I realized... well all those people I talked to... I didn't really believe them when they told me about their experiences, so why would anyone believe me?

In this round about way, I'm trying to say, that it all comes down to personal experience. Everywhere I go I remember the sites and sounds and languages... but I really remember the people that I met, and the attitudes they had. No matter how many pictures of England, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, or France I show my friends... they won't quite get the feel of a place. So, while it's obviously good to abolish stereotypes... I think I'm going to spend more time encouraging others to explore their own worlds... and figure out what misconceptions they have that need to be broken down.

That's why it's hard for me to talk about specific places. While Paris was wonderful and beautiful and all of us girls agreed we want to go back someday with a man in tow, I don't have many details.

All I can say is get out there... explore... figure this stuff out for yourself. cuz its so much better to live life first hand!

I am just so thankful that I have this opportunity to see the world... that more than once I've stepped out of a metro station platform and looked around and sighed in disbelief "I can't believe I'm here." It's still kind of mind boggling. I've seen the eiffel tower? what? parliament? the coliseum? the vatican? the acropolis? the pyramids?

whoa. God is good.

Mocha Italia

So I'm sitting in Costa Coffee... avoiding schoolwork, uploading pictures, loving my creme brulee latte, and dreaming of Italy. Hence: Mocha Italia (sidenote, the poster on the wall says mocha italia is the name of the blend of coffee bean costa uses. you wanted that information, I'm sure).

Anyway, Italy.

It's been almost a week since we've been back. By we, I mean me, the other Megan, Melissa, and Tim. The four American students in our program who chose Italy for our fall "study break." The other group of students did Ireland and Scotland (super jealous btw)... but I guess for all of us it was a big dream to go to italy. I, however, have already been there. So why Italy? Well basically I love the country. It sounds lame and totally fake to say I really love the "vibe" but its true. There are few places in the world where I feel like I could fit in (even as the obvious American)... and Italy is one of them. More specifically, Venice. After our family tour of europe this summer, most of us came out of it singing Venezia's praises to the heavens... so i was anxious to go back. I was actually sortanervous to take the other three there... im sorta jealously protective. On the one hand, I wanted to show off my favorite city in the world... but on the other, I was semi-afraid they weren't going to love it the way I did. Not that it really matters... beauty is in the eye of the beholder obviously, but still... i was nervous.

Suffice it to say, they all really enjoyed the trip. The gelato, the pictures, the people, everything. I breathed a very heavy sigh of relief, and just sunk in and enjoyed myself. It was nice not to hav

e to feel like I needed to see everything Venice had to offer. In a sense, I had already seen the big important touristy stuff. This time around I got to eat, wander aimlessly, and take pictures at my leisure. Our group was very chill. We'd go back to our campsite (about a 20 min water taxi from the main island... we had really great little cabins, there was a nice restaurant, an

d lots of little kittens we made friends with!) and eat, talk, play cards. It was a vacation. And it was wonderful. Ps. my new favorite gelato: nutella. really kinda stoked about it.

We also went to Roma, which was fantastic as well... certainly more touristy... but nonetheless... i love the city. an actual city I'd be a "city girl" for. I got to revisit my favorite sculptures, sites, and of course, the basilica.

Its an awfully strange experience visiting places that I've already been before... when those places are london, rome, and venice. Its almost like a part of me feels already at home, in a foreign country. the weird part is that i got more homesick visiting rome and venice than i have been while being here in bognor. around every corner I'd see a statue kyle and duncan posed with, the gelato place we stalked, or the restaurant we ate at on our first night in venice. it was certainly a different experience doing italy "on the cheap with my college friends" than tra

ipsing through europe with my family (although admittdly that was on the cheap as well). While I don't have any new checkmarks to record on my list (ie, visit a new country like ireland, scotland, or wales)... I feel like thats ok. I'll get there one day... and until then, well, I'm going to paris next week. so that'll be a big ole check mark.

Another adventure, albeit a small one, was visiting Oxford yesterday. It's a beautiful city with a lot of history (and of course some involving my boy henry viii), culture, education, and religion. Although, scholar that I am, I was most looking forward to seeing the Great Hall at Christ Church (part of the college as well) where Harry Potter's Great Hall took inspiration and filming from. Yes, I am that girl.

And yes, I miss harry potter very much. It has now been more than two months since I've read a harry potter book... andI am jonesing for one! But, scholar that I am... I'm trying to pass

this semester, and I really need to get cracking on my studies. Like whoa, it's a problem. This

may be the first time I'm mildly stressed about college work. Its a tad bit unnerving. So I'm gon

na shut up about the great loves of my life (coffee, italy, and harry) and proceed to the piles of books I actually need to read.

Ciao!

ps. i just spent about 30 minutes trying to put pictures up in the blog... and it messed up all the writing (so if theres any errors, i promise... it made sense initially). Just go on facebook for photos! Or i'll add more another time