Bounce

I've decided that in terms of homesickness, having a visitor from home might actually be worse than not having any visitors at all. I hadn't truly realized just how much I was missing home until my sister came for her nice, long two-week visit. She was my first visitor from home, and having her here with me over the holidays has been so special. And so when she left a couple days ago, I found myself missing her as soon as I sent her off in the taxi. The flat immediately felt so much emptier and quieter without her. Far too quiet and empty, really. I also found myself having a right good wallow after she left, feeling sorry for myself for being so far away from so many people that I love. It's not like my life here in London isn't great, because it is. I have an interesting job that keeps me on my toes, hilarious colleagues and friends, and I live in one of the most exciting cities in the world. But it still isn't home, and sometimes I can't help but feel just a little lost here. It must have been Providence, then, that I saw this sign in a store window the other day because it was just what I needed to see to snap me out of my completely uncalled for self-pity.

A bit harsh, yes. But so true. Sometimes the British have a fabulous directness that sort of shocks you for a second and then makes you nod your head in agreement. This quippy little sign is a perfect example of that. "Yeah," I thought to myself when I saw this sign. "Shut up, Keagle, and get on with it already!" I only have seven more months here, and I know I'll look back and realize the time has flown by. I also know I'll be desperately sad when I have to say goodbye to my new friends. So, I decided to bounce back from my homesickness--to stop thinking about what I miss back home and just get on with enjoying things here.

In the spirit of that, here are some photos from my travels with Heather the last few days of her visit. With two final days in London, we took a nice day trip to Stonehenge and Bath one day, then spent New Years Eve day in the city and toured Westminster Abbey before we went to see "Phantom of the Opera" that night. Fabulous way to end our trip together!

Beautiful Westminster Abbey...with several hundred tourists.

I love this view of Big Ben and the London Eye. If only we had some blue sky to make it pretty!

Stonehenge! Hooray! Too bad those other tourists are ruining our photo! 

It was SO windy!

Heather listening to her audioguide.

How the heck did they make this?!? And WHY?

Stonehenge is made out of two types of stones. These are the two types. They have these here so visitors
can touch them since you're not allowed to touch Stonehenge anymore.

Those mounds are creepy mass burial mounds...

Then our tour bus took us to Bath. Here's the view coming into town. It's so gorgeous! 

Bath has a very distinct architectural style. All the buildings are crafted from Bath Stone.

We stopped in here for a traditional high afternoon tea.

Quite a feast! Talk about carb-loading! :)

Bath Abbey

About to hop on the bus to head home to London.

At "Phantom of the Opera" on New Years Eve

Central London was insane, so we came home after the musical to watch the fireworks on TV
and off the porch balcony. Look at all those people!!!

London put on an amazing fireworks show!

Happy 2013!

As I said, Heather's gone home now, and I miss her terribly, but I've been keeping busy this week, enjoying the last few days of break before going back to school. Sleeping in, going to the cinema and visiting with friends has made the days pass quickly. This weekend, I've a couple plans with friends and a million papers to grade. Come Sunday, I'm sure I'll be wishing I had a few more days off. But I'm starting off 2013 with a new outlook. When I get into the "would ofs" and "could ofs" and start wishing things were just a little bit different, I am going to stop myself and bounce back by remembering my new favorite phrase: shut up and get on with it.