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I’m glad you came
Hello from Kansas!
I’ve been back in the states for a few days now! It’s weird being back, but at the same time feels like the past 4 months have been a dream. The weeks before I left for England I was nervous/sad/excited. Nervous because I didn’t know what was going to happen, sad because I was leaving my family and friends, but excited to have new adventures and meet new people.
Today, I’m still nervous, sad and excited. Nervous because I haven’t driven my car in a long time, hopefully I’ll remember how! Sad, because my time in England was so wonderful and I’ll never get to have that same experience again, BUT I’m excited to be home with my family and friends, excited to tell people about my awesome experience and even more excited to take all that I learned from my time abroad and apply it to life.
I’d like to leave you with the lyrics to “Glad you came” by The Wanted. This song was played many times while I was in England, it was very popular among my fellow classmates. You could say it’s our song-
The sun goes down
The stars come out
And all that counts
Is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I’m glad you came
You cast a spell on me, spell on me
You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let’s go somewhere no-one else can see, you and me
Turn the lights out now
Now I’ll take you by the hand
Hand you another drink
Drink it if you can
Can you spend a little time,
Time is slipping away from us so stay,
Stay with me I can make,
Make you glad you came
The sun goes down
The stars come out
And all that counts
Is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I’m glad you came
I’m glad you came
You cast a spell on me, spell on me
You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let’s go somewhere no-one else can see, you and me
Turn the lights out now
Now I’ll take you by the hand
Hand you another drink
Drink it if you can
Can you spend a little time,
Time is slipping away from us so stay,
Stay with me I can make,
Make you glad you came
The sun goes down
The stars come out
And all that counts
Is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I’m glad you came
I’m glad you came
I’m glad you came
So glad you came
I’m glad you came
I’m glad you came
The sun goes down
The stars come out
And all that counts
Is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I’m glad you came
I’m glad you came -
If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in?
7 days and counting!I didn’t like being away from my family on Thanksgiving. We had classes all week and even on Thanksgiving day. That was definitely a new experience. Thankfully I got to Skype with some of my family which was nice, but it also made me miss them more.I was lazy most of the weekend. I finished reading a book for popular culture, and on Sunday, Morgan, Amy, and I went for a bike ride through Harlaxton Village. It was a pretty windy morning, but we had a good time. As it turns out I’m not that great of a biker, and I wrecked before we even left the manor grounds!I have a pretty easy week ahead. On Tuesday, I went to London with other students and faculty to see a performance of Handel’s Messiah at Westminster Abbey. It was a great evening, I really enjoyed the performance and being in Westminster made it perfect!Tomorrow is the last day of classes and our valedictorian dinner. At the dinner “Writs of Achievement” (diplomas, sort of) will be presented to each student, attesting to successful completion of a semester at Harlaxton.Things are really coming to an end here at Harlaxton. I’m ready to be going home, but also sad this experience is soon over. I can’t even explain how great my time here has been. Words like great and awesome don’t even begin to describe all the memories I’ve had.Without even realizing it, people and places affect you. The places you go and the things you see open you up to a world that you may never have known if you don’t seek for new opportunities. And people affect who you are. Even if you’ve only known them for 3 months, they can still have a huge impact on your life. People change; even if you thought you knew them, they’ll surprise you. Being away from your family and friends for over 3 months really makes you realize how strong you truly are. And at the end of it all, I’m “becoming fearless.” -
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.
Hi,
The Costume Ball was on Saturday night. Kali, Amy and I wore masquerade masks. We all had a pretty good time.
Things have calmed down this week. Monday I turned in my Term paper for British Studies, and a film review for Popular Culture. We also convinced our professor to drop our book review which was going to be due this coming Monday. I’m relieved, I have a fairly free weekend ahead and I’m really looking forward to it.
This is my first Thanksgiving away from my family. It’s definitely been weird going to classes all week. And I’m sure tomorrow will be even more strange, because we still have classes.
Only two weeks left! My family and friends are counting down the days for my arrival. I’m looking forward to being home!
Until next week…
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It’s kind of fun to do the Impossible.
And we’re off to the city of Love and Lights!On Wednesday November 9, me and about 55 other students and staff from Harlaxton headed off to Paris. We took a train from Grantham to London’s Kings Cross station and then hopped on the International Chunnel to Paris. It was a day full of travel, which put us to our hotel around 8 p.m.The first thing I wanted to see was the Eiffel tower. It was amazing to see it lit up at night! I had always wondered when I would get to see it! I never thought it would be while I was studying abroad! Every hour after nightfall it shimmers for about 10 minutes, which was pretty cool.On Thursday Kali and I woke up early to meet up with Amy and Morgan, who had traveled independently. We were off to the Palace of Versailles. We happened to be the first ones in line and were about the only people in the palace! We spent a good amount of time walking through the palace, but then we also spent a lot of time in the gardens, which were full of fall colors. Another perfect time for a photo opp!Then we walked the long distance to Marie Antoinette’s estate and also visited the home of Marie’s mother. Both were very grand places to live—I wouldn’t mind living there! We then made our way back up to the palace, found lunch, and headed back into Paris. We stopped by Notre Dame, which was everything I imagined it to be. It is probably my favorite of all cathedrals that I’ve seen.Then off to the Eiffel tower again, and this time we were going up! The line was longer than we expected, so we waited in line over an hour before getting our tickets and going up! But the wait was worth it. The view of the city from the top was amazing! It was really foggy at the top which made it difficult for picture taking, but it was still awesome.Friday we woke up pretty early again and left for Disneyland! It was my first time at anything Disney, and also my first time on a roller coaster. And of course the first ride we went on was one of the ones that went fast and spun the most!! It was a very cold day so I liked riding on rides because most of them go underground where we were out of the cold air. We stayed until 9 p.m., and overall it was a pretty fun day!Saturday we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. You have probably seen this in any movie that’s been filmed in Paris. Here lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We then walked to the Eiffel Tower, where we sat for awhile, had lunch, and then walked a very long way to the Louvre. At the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and so much more. The place was HUGE! By this time of the day we were exhausted. We stopped for some food and went back to the hotel. I cleaned up and just lay on my bed for a few hours. My feet and legs were hurting. We had done so much walking in just a few days.On Sunday, we left from the hotel around 11:30 and arrived back at the manor around 5. I got unpacked and did laundry. I have a pretty busy week ahead—a few papers due soon and tests. We have the costume ball on Saturday night, which I’m really looking forward too. Soon the semester will be over, and I’ll be back home with my family and friends just in time for the holidays. Not that I’m counting, but I’ll be back in 21 days!!Until next week…
