All articles by shawr

I’ve been back home for a week and a day, and just like I thought, I’m completely used to it. It feels like I’ve been home for three weeks, and almost like my trip abroad was a dream. On the other hand, I have a rich new well of memories to draw from and share
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The week of finals, the final week

Aside from the essays I’ve written and have yet to write before I leave, all that’s been on my mind is, well, leaving. As I said to a friend from home a few hours ago, leaving the UK will be the most bittersweet experience of my life. I adapt to new places quickly, and I
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Scotsterdam!

Last weekend, the 19th, I went to visit Sarah in Scotland for her birthday! On Friday, after a trip entailing a bus to a train to a six-hour bus ride to Dundee, Sarah got me from the bus station and took me back to her flat. Her flatmates were setting up their kitchen/common area and
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What?

I feel more and more like I’ve been unintentionally mentally preparing myself to come back home. I’ve dealt with a lot of change in my life, especially moving, and maybe now that I’m older and self-aware enough to notice my actions, I’m starting to see how I’ve sort of created a defense mechanism to stop
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Halloween, Apple Strudel, and Bonfires

It seems weird that I’ve been here for less than two months. It feels like I’ve been here so much longer, and yet my trip is more than halfway over. It’s kind of disorienting and definitely sad. I’m trying to keep in mind that this is not permanent–I do miss New Paltz and Brooklyn and
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Je Suis un Petit Update

A brief overview of my eight days traveling: SUNDAY: Lauren and I left Huddersfield at around 1 pm, took a taxi to the Huddersfield train station where we took the train to Leeds, waited for the shuttle outside of the Leeds train station to take us to the Leeds/Bradford Airport, arrived WAY too early–there was
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An update… finally

Sorry it’s been a while! Here’s what’s happened since I last wrote: We didn’t wind up going to Castle Hill because it rained all weekend. We’re still trying to figure out a time to go, but with everyone getting increasingly busy as we get further into the school year, it’s hard to come up with
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Wee on the Hob

If any American can tell me what “wee on the hob” means, I will title my next entry after you. Classes began yesterday, and, much to my dismay, it turns out that there is a lecture for my Intro to Narrative class every other Monday. What will I do?! In all seriousness, though, I don’t
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Update!

What a busy week it’s been! I guess that’s why I haven’t had time to update this blog. On Monday, Lauren and I were able to pick out what classes we’re going to be taking. Since we’re both doing psychology and needed similar classes in order to fulfill the major requirements back at New Paltz,
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York!

Today I went on the first of three trips I mentioned in my previous entry, which was to York. York was the most important Roman British city and has been extremely well-preserved, so it’s quite beautiful. My friends Lucie and Berit, who I also mentioned in my previous entry, went on the trip with me
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Huddersfield Has A Lot of Mini Coopers…

And I attempted to count them all today. I stopped after about ten, when I passed by an uncountable number of them parked in a parking lot and couldn’t decide if they were worth counting anyway. It’s all fine by me though, as my dream car is the Mini Cooper. So today, I got up
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Arrival Day

Well, after a delayed flight, almost not being let into the country by the border patrol officer because we had no documentation from our host university saying we had a reason to be here, a “we might not have housing for you” scare, and, possibly worst of all, not being able to figure out how
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“Your UK Visa Has Been Issued”

This is possibly the most glorious phrase I’ve ever heard (read). I don’t think it’s possible to describe in words the process I (and my wonderfully helpful father) have gone through in the past few months, mostly weeks, in order to procure this one single, but apparently eminently important, piece of paper. My first piece
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