Hello Again

I woke up on the morning of August 1 feeling those all-too familiar stomach butterflies. But this time, instead of being nervous, the butterflies were from pure excitement. I was finally headed home to see my family and friends!

After a quick final tidying of the flat, and when every single last thing I could jam into my suitcase was jammed in, I was ready to go. All of my belongings from the year (minus the two suitcases I already sent home with my family) were packed and ready in three very large suitcases. With my new luggage scale, I was able to pack one to the maximum overweight limit of 70 pounds and keep my other two at the 50 pound limit, which is as heavy as you can go without paying extra fees. I also had a rolling carryon suitcase and a backpack stuffed full of books. I was definitely loaded down!

All packed up and ready for home. Here's my suitcases with my travel wall in the
background. On the wall, I stuck up postcards from all the places I travelled, and I would often
lay in bed and look up at this wall and remind myself how incredible my experience was. 

I caught a taxi to Heathrow and arrived in plenty of time to get my bags checked in and all the way through security. The attendant was quite impressed with my maxed-out-to-the-limit packing skills! I even had time for one last lunch of bangers and mash (my favorite!) and one final Kopparberg Pear Cider (also my favorite!) in an airport pub. The whole morning and afternoon felt like a blur, and then, before I knew it, it was time to board the plane.

Goodbye, London. I'll miss you! 

Pulling out of London made my heart sink a little, but I just had to keep reminding myself I would be back someday...hopefully someday soon.

The flight home was pretty uneventful. I had a good window seat with only one person next to me, which meant I had a little extra space. And I passed the nine and half hours with movies, naps and even made a little photo DVD project on my laptop.

Coming into Seattle was more than a little surreal. And I don't think it was just the jet lag and lack of sleep that was making my head feel so foggy. I think it was more that I was in a total tail spin of emotion. So excited to be home to my "real" life and already so sad to have left my amazing life in London. But tears welled in my eyes as soon as I saw the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound on our approach into Seattle. I was home, and it felt good.

Home at last. The beautiful Pacific Northwest!

It's funny how whenever you're really excited for something, it always seems to take forever for that thing to happen, and this was the case after we landed. Since I was in practically the last row of the plane, I was just about the last person off the aircraft. Then, it took ages for my bags to arrive and even longer to get through customs. All I wanted to do was rush out and see my big sister, who I knew was waiting for me with my brother-in-law at the top of the escalator! Finally, I got through all the boring stuff and made my way out, and there she was, faithfully waiting for me. Well, she wasn't just waiting...she was standing at the top of the escalator, waving an American flag and crying.  :)  It was the perfect homecoming!

Reunited! 

After we gathered up my bags, we met up with my dad who was in the car park area. It felt so good to hug my dad and know that I wasn't going to have to say goodbye to him again any time soon. Then we all headed down to my house in Auburn where my mom and the doggies were waiting. The drive down was pretty surreal, too. I just couldn't believe that I had woken up in London, and now there I was, on my way to my house!

It felt really great pulling into my driveway, seeing the American flag flying off the front porch. When I came through the front door, my first thought was how wide the hallways was! I'd gotten used to living in a much smaller space, and suddenly, my house felt excessively larger. Of course, I gave my mom a big squeeze (yay!) and then said hello to my dog Pippy, who was a little confused but happy to see me. The house looked great! My mom had it all spruced up and feeling all homey, with the small lamps turned on and candles lit. All I wanted to do was just curl up on the couch and soak up the moment, but we had dinner plans. So after a quick change of my clothes, we were off to the Mexican restaurant up the hill. Oh man, had I missed Mexican food! They just don't really do Mexican food in London. My enchiladas were quite tasty and having dinner with my whole family at once was a great treat, but I was getting a little woozy, so as soon as we got home, I pretty much headed to bed. Since I'd been up for about 24 hours, I was more than ready for bed.

My second day in home brought even more happy reunions. My mom planned a nice family/friends gathering at the house, and so I was able to see my godparents John and Marilyn, their daughter Cathy and her husband kids, plus our family friends Tim and Karla and even my neighbors Melissa and Nathan. It felt so nice to see everyone, catch up people's lives, and to share a few of my stories.

My dad pointing to his beer, trying to look manly
while be BBQs in my frilly apron.  :)

Happy times

With my godparents John and Marilyn

The next day I was lucky enough to have another welcome home party, this time hosted by Katie. Most of my college friends were able to make it, and it felt really good to be home with them. I was a little worried that things would be different after a year away, but actually, it didn't feel any different. It was almost like I'd never left.

Katie M., Laurel, Meagan, Me and Katie C.

Ashley B., Me with Pippy and Ashley J.

For the past month, I've been popping around to different places to visit more friends. I've managed to squeeze quite a few overnight visits into just a few weeks, while also taking some time for myself to get adjusted and settled back into my home and my life here. And for the most part, I've been super happy at home. There are just occasional moments when I stop and realize how far away my London life feels, how far away my London friends really are, and those moments can get a little tough. But I'm a fortunate woman because I've got amazing friends and family right here who've been waiting for me to come home. That makes me feel better any time I start to feel sorry for myself.

One new adventure on the horizon that's been keeping me excited about the future is a trip to China, which I'll be taking this upcoming summer. I'll be a leader again with People to People, and I'll be taking high school students from around the area to China for 17 days. I'd never really thought about traveling to China until this opportunity came along, but now that it's in my head, I'm really excited about seeing this beautiful country. Having a grand trip to look forward to will help me reconcile myself to the fact that travel opportunities will be a little harder to come by this year.

I've also been spending the past couple of weeks trying to get resettled at school. Going back into Auburn Mountainview was a like a dream. The school is gorgeous, the staff are amazing, and it just felt like home as soon as I walked in. I've got a lot of work to do to get the yearbook up and going, and I've also taken on a new course this year--honors 9th grade language arts--so there have been some stressful days, but I'm also trying to remember how much stress I faced at work in London and how I somehow managed to survive that. As long as I don't get lost in my own head, I think I'll do just fine this year.
School started this week, and my new students are just lovely. They are kind and curious and just so American. I've been getting a real kick out of their outfits and mannerisms and silly things they do. It's good to be home.

My classroom at AMHS. Check out my Union Jack flag!

That's a framed photo of my English department from
London. They gave me that photo as a leaving gift, and
now they all sit with me at my desk in Auburn. I miss them
SO much! What a great department! 

My Fulbright friends and I are already trying to plan a few trips and reunions for this upcoming year. In fact, I just booked myself a flight to Boise in October to see Christy. I miss them, those crazy American Fulbright girls, so much. It's going to be strange this year to not be able to just hop a train for a few hours and have a weekend together. The more I reflect on it, the more I realize just how lucky we were to find each other.

As cliche as it sounds, I've also realized that I found myself this year. I learned so much about myself and grew as a person in ways I never imagined. I've realized this year that I'm much more flexible and resilient that I ever knew, and that I bounce back from setbacks pretty easily. This makes me much more of a fighter than I ever realized, and I found some deep determination in myself, which is really what made my year abroad successful. Another thing I realized this year is that I'm sort of a collector of people. I always knew I was social and pretty easy to get along with, but I had never thought about what an asset this was to my personality. I think being social and friendly are actually life skills, and this side of my personality served me well this year. I make friends easily and work hard to maintain my friendships. And I'm so happy to say that my collection of friends and relationships has grown monumentally this year. If I hadn't made these connections with people, I know I would never have been as happy as I was. God has certainly gifted me with an ability to connect to people, and I intend to tap into this more and more as I move forward in my life.

Looking ahead to what's in front of me is my biggest goal right now. There are loads of things I miss about being in London, but there are also loads of things I'm excited about having here in the States. I'm trying hard not to constantly relive the past, and I'm especially mindful of how many times I start my sentences with "In London..." At the same time, it's important for me to honor those memories and share my story with people.  Still, my main prerogative is to march on and grow from those experiences, not dwell in them.

I guess Tom Petty said it best:

"It's time to move, time to get going, what lies ahead I have no way of knowing. But under my feet, baby, grass is growing. Time to move on, time to get going."

It's time to start the next adventure.

Final Farewells

It's taken me a long time to write this blog entry because I hate goodbyes, and the goodbyes I had to say in London were more than a little heartbreaking. I really hadn't planned to fall in love with so many people during my experience, but luckily for me, I did. From my colleague friends to my fellow Fulbrighers, during my year in England, I met some of the most amazing people I've ever met. People that I love like family. Not only that, but I also fell in love with London, which to me is the most magical city in the world. So for my last day in London, I knew I wanted to do something simple and special, soaking up as much of the city and as much of my lovely friends as possible.

My dear friend Anna started off my day perfectly with a proper, home-cooked British fry up at her flat. The traditional English breakfast is famous, and it's not meant for those with small appetites. :)

After our delish breaky, we headed down to my favorite place in London--Southbank. We were SO FULL that we weren't moving very fast, but we had a nice wander around, took some pretty photos, and did some good people watching. It was perfect!

It was a grey day in London, but that was actually pretty fitting for
the usual London scene. 

Tower Bridge 

Anna and I

One last pic in front of Bridget Jones' house

I love Borough Market

One last Pimms

Love this old WWII sign. We also laughed because
it was sorta fitting for how I was feeling about my
next big adventure--going home!

Such a pretty city!

I do love a good cuppa!

I'll miss the cute black cabs

Another dear friend Leah had organized a final going away do for me at a pub in Brixton, so after our walk along the Southbank, we hopped on the Tube and made our way back to Brixton. I got a little emotional on the Tube, knowing it was my last Tube ride (at least until I come back to visit!).

Waterloo Station

Sad faces on my last Tube ride

Bye bye, Brixton Tube. I love you, Victoria Line!

We went down to the pub to meet up with the rest of our friends who were still in town. Many of the La Retraite gang had already headed off on holiday and weren't able to be there, but thankfully a handful of them were still in town! Leah, Anna, Adam, Simon, Charlie, Donal and Sadie were all able to come down for some drinks and dinner. I loved getting a chance to see these guys one more time, and they sure know how to send a girl off in style! We had a great night. :)

I'll definitely miss all these great British pubs. Leah picked the perfect spot
for our little party--she knows me so well! :) 

Anna cleverly traded some American Tootsie Rolls and
Hershey bars I had leftover for a few glasses of wine!

Cheers! Anna, me, Leah and Adam.

Love these guys! Adam, Simon, Donal, Anna, Leah and me.

Saying goodbye to Adam  :(

My girls Anna and Leah

Saying goodbye to Simon  :(

My fearless friend Sadie was determined to get me
behind the bar to pull a pint. 

And it worked! Well, I'm not actually pulling a pint...just pretending.

Saying goodbye to my girls  :(

We had such a great night together, and I was absolutely heartbroken to leave. I made my goodbyes with everyone short and sweet and headed out. Anna walked me to the bus stop at the end of the evening, and we had a good cry right there on the street. She's been such a great friend to me--I really didn't want to leave. 

As I finally got on the bus, I realized all three of my Oyster cards (bus passes) were out of money. So there I was, standing there, blubbering on the bus with no money. All of a sudden, someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned and it was Anna, who swiped her own Oyster card for me, then ran back off the bus. 

I let out another sob and a man next to me said, "Now that's a good friend." 

"Yes, she is," I replied. 

As I moved down into the bus, a woman caught my attention and pointed to the window. I looked out and there was Anna on the sidewalk, tears streaming down her face, waving me goodbye and blowing me kisses. 

I cried the whole way up the hill to the flat.

And you know what happened next? Three people on the bus asked me if I was alright! Another man who got off at my stop said to me: "I don't know what your sad about, but I just want to say that whatever it is, things will get better." 

People say London is a tough city, a cold city, a city where nobody has time for you. And sure, Londoners do tend to keep their eyes trained to the pavement as they bustle through the crowded streets, and everybody does seem to be in a hurry to get someplace else. But I learned this year that while London might have a tough exterior, its actually got a real big heart, too.

And I think I've left a piece of my own heart there with it. 

The City of Bridges

Unfortunately, our week sped by so quickly and before we knew it, we were in Venice. Once again, we lucked out with another great hostel in a perfect location right near the train station. I didn't think it was possible for Italy to get any hotter than Rome and Florence, but Venice felt SO much hotter because of the intense humidity. Mike convinced me to just embrace the sweat and roll with it, so that's what I did. However, we were all really happy to find out our room had pretty good air conditioning. I'm not sure I'd have survived otherwise!

Our first day in Venice, we had a good long walk along the main road and just spent the afternoon and evening exploring the shops, churches and restaurants along the way. Winding narrow street, canals and footbridges everywhere, gorgeous architecture, everything brightly painted. Venice is magical and so very pretty.

Our hostel. Isn't it cute?!

Welcome drinks!

Gondola men stopping in for gelato

I ordered this mixed fish platter for dinner without realizing what it really
was. There were a lot of eyeballs on my plate...

I tipped the street singer who serenaded the restaurant so we could take a pic with him.

After dinner, we relaxed on the canal. 

The next morning, I set out for a solo trip out to Murano, which is a little island off Venice known for it's glass blowing. It's easy to get there by taking a cheap boat, and I'd heard it was a neat place to visit so I wanted to check it out. I arrived in Murano before most of the other tourists, and it felt special to have the little town almost to myself. It looked a lot like Venice but was just much smaller and way less crowded. I meandered about, bought some fun glass treasures, then headed back to Venice to meet Reagan and Mike for the afternoon.

Leaving the canals to head out to sea!

The ocean highway around Venice

This is what the passenger boat looks like that I took

Glass workshop in Murano

Murano

Isn't it lovely?

Enjoying a diet Coke

Sandwich roll up thingy. Very good lunch!

After I met up with Reagan and Mike, we meandered around town some more, stopping in shops (of course) and bars (of course). We tried to visit St. Mark's Cathedral, but it was too busy, so we opted to go in the morning instead. Still, we saw more of the city and had a nice dinner on the waterfront.

St. Mark's Square 

The lion is a symbol of Venice. Go AMHS! 

We stopped for a quick bite, and Mike and I ordered tiramisu, which
is another Venetian specialty.

Mike treated us to grappa, which we thought was going
to be like a grape version of the lovely lemoncello we'd been
enjoying. Turns out it's not at all like lemoncello. It's more like
really bad, really strong, burn your insides liquor. But it
was fun to try anyways and of course we managed to choke
it down! :)

The bar where we had our grappa.

I couldn't get enough of these beautiful canal bridges!

My last bellini, another Venice specialty. 

Last amazing pasta. 

Beautiful location! Mike did a good job picking the restaurant!

Goodnight, Venezia!

We didn't have to catch our flights out of Italy until later in the day, so after we got up and checked out, we headed over to St. Mark's Square again to tour the cathedral. It was a longish looking line, but we made it in pretty quick. I was stunned by how beautiful the mosaics were inside the cathedral. So ornate!

The ceiling of the cathedral. Mosaics everywhere! 

Mosaic floor

Mosaic floor

Mosaic floor

After the cathedral, we took a lesiurely walk back to the hostel to pick up our bags. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Italy or to the amazing trip I'd had with my dear friends. It was so special to finally see Reagan and Mike after so many months, and sharing all these unique experiences with them made the trip so much more fun! But the weather started to turn, and a storm began to roll in, which was a good sign to us that it was time to let go of this amazing country and move on to whatever lies ahead.

I love you, Venice! 

Last glimpse as the storm rolls in.

We took a bus to the airport and parted ways. Reagan and Mike were off to Portugal for a lovely, relaxing holiday on the beach, while I was headed home to London to pack up and get ready to go home-home. It's hard to believe my year here is over and that I'm leaving on Thursday. I'm so very excited to go home and return to my "normal" life, but this year of "unreality" has been incredible and I'm really going to miss Europe. I guess that means I better start planning my next trip back!

Heading onto my plane, I happened to see Reagan and Mike's plan right
next to us! 

Italy, you are an incredible country, and I'm so glad I was able to come for just a short visit. I can't wait to come back and explore even more more!