I guess I’m a bit late to this whole posting business. Sorry about that, but gosh have the past few weeks been busy:

THE LEAD-UP: 1 week before arrival

The week leading up to my arrival in London amounted to a bit more than a little hassle. I had to say goodbye to my family–both enormous and very local. I had to get all my paperwork together. See a doctor. See a dentist (didn’t actually get around to this one). Put my finances in order. And pack. Oh, the packing. It took over three days for me to figure out how to fit all the clothes, electronics, and books I wanted to bring into one mammoth-sized duffle. People say I shouldn’t have packed any books at all, not even the paperbacks. We compromised. I only packed like 8 books instead of the originally over ambitious stack of 20. So how’d the rest of the packing go? Well, the duffle wasn’t has mammoth sized as I needed.

And to top all that off, yes, I was nervous! Of course I was nervous. I was moving to a new country. London–the setting of my favorite fictional detective!

The spent the final few days before my departure in Long Island. These days were more relaxing than the previous ones, but not as relaxing as I’d hoped. I had a few lazy beach days in mind, but the universe stepped in and proclaimed IT SHALL NOT BE!  Instead, I spent most of the time helping my boyfriend finish doing what I’d finished the day before. Oh, I didn’t mention him yet? Well, my boyfriend and I are studying abroad together! How cool is that? Nervous about traveling to London together! People say we’re a power couple. We still don’t really know what that means–but now we have a better idea than we did before. And I think we’re going to continue discovering exactly what that means over the course of our many adventure across Europe.

I arrived in England last Tuesday and I have been adjusting to life there. I spent about three and a half days in London.  I did make one mistake before coming here which was not unlocking my phone so I bought another phone.  There are a bunch of different phone bundles and carriers which was overwhelming. I am the worst with technology so it took me forever to figure out this new phone which was not working at first. There are a lot of these companies and people who sell phones which can be confusing and try to rip you off. However, I did learn a lesson maybe the hard way because I did get ripped off buying a mobile phone. Life is about learning from your mistakes so the next time I deal with something similar hopefully I will be better equipped. Though it is crazy to believe that when my parents came to Europe mobile phones weren’t even a thing.

Besides the mistake I made with my phone everything else in England has been going quite well. When I was in London I walked through different areas of the city, saw the guard change ceremony at Buckingham Palace, went to the British museum, saw the Big Ben, and Parliament Buildings in Westminster. Also I went to the tower of London Museum, visited the Borough Market, and walked over different bridges that go over the river.  I stayed at a bed and breakfast type place for the first two days and then went to stay with family that just moved to London. It was nice seeing my family because I hadn’t seen them in a while and they taught me new things about life in England.  I cannot forget to say that I did have fish and chips which were very good and filling.

This past Saturday I moved into my accommodations at the University of Huddersfield. I took the train from the Kings Cross Station in London to the train station in Huddersfield. I only had to change trains once in Leeds, which is a city about a twenty minute train ride away from Huddersfield. I arrived at my flat in the afternoon and settled in. My flatmates are all very nice and I have enjoyed getting to know them these past couple of days. There are two other girls from New Paltz that live in my flat, one boy from Wisconsin, another boy from Tennessee, a boy from Germany and someone else from Leeds is supposed to move in soon.

The academic calendar at the University of Huddersfield is different than SUNY New Paltz’s academic calendar. Before I came, I knew that classes would start later but I didn’t realize that there would be two weeks of orientation. This week is international welcome week and so far I have received a tour of campus, registered as a student and talked to advisers about enrolling for classes which will be done this week. Also I have spent a lot of time around town with my flat mates. This afternoon I went on a walk to this tower, on the top of the hill I live on, with my flat mate from Germany. I enjoyed the walk and the weather was beautiful. Tomorrow I’m going on the international students’ trip to Ikea and there are some other events going on the rest of the week including a tour of Yorkshire. Our living accommodations do not come with cooking supplies or bedding so my flat mates and I need to invest in those items.

Over the next couple of days I will be completing more registration steps at the university and going to different events. Next week is Freshers’ Week which is catered towards first years specifically, but International students are encouraged to go. There are fairs that encourage involvement on campus where free stuff is given and events to meet new people are held. I am looking forward to getting to know the area better, meeting new people and traveling to different areas in the coming weeks.

On Monday night September 8^th I will be leaving to go abroad! I am very excited and my first stop will be London, England. I will spend 4 days in London and then head up to the University of Huddersfield.  While in London I’m planning to explore the city and visit my uncle and his family who live in London. This will be my first time in Europe and I plan to travel and explore different areas of England and other countries nearby.

At Huddersfield University I will be taking psychology courses which the school is well known for. I found out about this program in my research methods class last year when a representative from the University came to talk about their study abroad program for psychology students. After hearing about this program and going to the study abroad fair I decided to apply. I have only heard good things from people about their study abroad experience and am grateful to have the opportunity to go myself.

While at the University of Huddersfield I plan to get in involved in the cycling club and the outdoors club. Hiking, cycling and rock climbing are three of my passions and I plan to continue pursuing them while I am abroad.  I have heard that northern England, near the Lake District, has beautiful places to hike, cycle and climb. This summer has flown by so fast and I will be leaving very soon. I should probably start to pack. I will write more when I’m in Europe!

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 with family, friends, and complete strangers. I’ve discovered that in the same way that when I told people in England that I was from New York and they got really excited, people who I’ve been telling that I’ve just come back from studying abroad also get really excited. It sort of makes me feel like I’m a bridge between two different cultures, between different groups of people who don’t know each other, but love to hear about experiences they’ve never had.

I used to think that studying abroad was something that everyone did in college and that it was almost an expectation. Over the past few years, I’ve realized that that’s certainly not true, and in the past few months, I’ve realized that having the desire, motivation, and perseverance that is required to go through each step of the study abroad process is not something that everyone has. I don’t mean this in a condescending way–studying abroad isn’t right for everyone–but I’m glad I’ve always known it was right for me. Even though it was scary to leave home, and a little sad to miss out on a semester at New Paltz, which I love so much, the 12.5% of my college experience spent in Huddersfield will remain just as vibrant in my mind as the 87.5% spent in New Paltz. That alone makes the adventure well-worth the risk, if you ask me.

I miss the UK, but there is not a doubt in my mind that I’ll be back, probably even relatively soon. Being home has been nice too. I missed my friends and family and the familiarity of home, which I now see in a different way.

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 always have. When I was younger, I moved a lot, and each time I moved out of one of my houses, amidst the flood of tears I left behind, were kisses that I gave to each room. Then, a few weeks into settling into a new place, I felt at home. That’s sort of what this feels like.

I wasn’t expecting to adapt so quickly to a new school in a new town in a new country as well and as quickly as I did, and now that I know I could stay here in Huddersfield for a long, long time, it feels almost wrong to leave.

On the other hand, I miss my family and friends and dog and Brooklyn and New Paltz more than I ever have. I wouldn’t say I’m homesick—I don’t really spend much time thinking about how much I’d like to be home, because I love being here—but I know that when I see my family and friends and dog and Brooklyn and New Paltz, I will probably feel a sense of joy in being home that I’ve never really felt before. I can almost feel it now, except that thinking about being home makes me sad about leaving Huddersfield. Also, I over-think things too much.

So, for my last week and two days here, I’ve got lots of fun things planned.

Tomorrow, Lauren and I are going to a 3-hour-long (???) meeting to discuss our experience here with staff from the International Office. We’re going to give them our feedback and more or less everything we’ve done here, and what we think can be improved for the next round of students from New Paltz/the US.

After that, Kirsty and I are going to her house for the weekend. This is mostly so she can pick up her car, but also so that on Saturday, we can go to the Manchester Christmas Fayre (that’s how they spell “fair” here… pretty strange) with two of her best friends. On Tuesday morning, bright and early, we’re going to be driving to Wales and spending the day there. I’m really excited about this. Even though British people consider Wales and England to be the same thing, even more than Scotland and England, as a stupid American, this is not my thought. Wales is a whole other country to me, and we can DRIVE there! How cool is that? Plus, Welsh is the strangest-looking language ever, and I can’t wait to be confused by the road signs.

On Wednesday, we’re driving to Chester. About two months ago, Kirsty and I went to Chester Zoo. On our way back, since we had to take buses and a train, we walked through the town, which I fell in love with. We weren’t able to spend any real time there, since we were looking for the train station the whole time, but now that we have a car, we’ll get to explore the gorgeous city. I really can’t wait! If we get back early enough, we’ll go to dinner, or at least out to a club, with Lauren, Berit, Lucie and Marianne. That’ll probably be the last time I see them (except Lauren, of course, and Kirsty), which is possibly too depressing to discuss further, but I’ll write more about it once I’m home and have processed it.

Thursday and Friday are unplanned as of now, but I’m the type of person who, when something is coming to an end, likes to stick to the normal routine. I don’t like to have huge, momentous celebrations to commemorate the end of something, because that doesn’t feel like any attention is really being given to what’s ending.

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 we weren’t allowed in until it was ready. They’d decorated the room and had made three cakes and had a bunch of other snacks out, and invited a bunch of people over. We partied in the common room for a couple of hours and then went out to a fun little club called Underground, where drunk Irish girls sang their own rendition of Happy Birthday to Sarah.

On Saturday, we walked around Dundee and did a bit of shopping. We went into a museum and learned a bit of history about Dundee, which was pretty interesting! In the evening, we met up with Sarah’s friends and went out to dinner and then to see the new Harry Potter movie, which was totally amazing! I’d say it’s definitely the best so far.

On Sunday, we took the bus to Edinburgh for the day. Edinburgh is GORGEOUS! It reminded me of Athens in a way, because it was a modern city set in what clearly has deeply-rooted pieces of history in every direction. We saw about every landmark you could imagine, including Edinburgh Castle, which we couldn’t see all of, but I loved because, well, it’s a castle. We went to a pub called Dirty Dick’s for lunch, where I got a Vegetarian MacHaggis Burger, which is exactly what it sounds like. Dirty Dick’s was great–it reminded me a bit of The Egg’s Nest in Rosendale for it’s funky decorations and interesting/delicious menu. We walked around Edinburgh until our legs were killing us, and finally made an 8:30 bus back to Dundee.

On Monday morning, I took an 8:55 bus back to Manchester, got the train back to Huddersfield, and took the bus back to Storthes, and had a nice, loooong sleep.

On Thursday afternoon, I got packed up for Amsterdam! Kirsty, Lauren and I left Storthes to meet with the rest of our group at the Graduate, the bar in the Student Union. The bus was running late because of how much it had snowed up north. We finally left at about 7:30. The bus to Dover, where we got the ferry, took about six hours on its own. The ferry took another hour and a half, and the bus to Amsterdam from Calais, which is the port in France, took about another four or five hours. This was possibly the most unpleasant traveling experience of my life. We didn’t get to our hotel until 10 am!!! This left, of course, no time for sleeping. I took the worst shower of my life at this hostel. The showerhead literally let out a thin stream of either boiling hot or freezing cold water from the center, and that was it. Awful.

Finally, Kirsty, Lauren, and our roommate Suzanne, set off to find Anne Frank’s house. This was no small task. We did have a map, but Dutch words/street names are long and impossible to pronounce, so orienting ourselves was rather difficult. We had to literally count how many canals we had passed in order to figure out if we were at approximately the right place. We finally found it, and it was really something else. I am the only Jewish person I know in the UK (other than Sarah), so being in Anne Frank’s house meant more to me than it probably would have had I come with my family or other friends from home, most of whom are Jewish too. I realized I’d never seen any Jewish museum or memorial or place of worship—ANYTHING—without other Jewish people who I knew with me. This time, I was pretty acutely aware that what I was experiencing was something different than what my friends were experiencing. For my friends, it was “wow, I can’t believe this happened to Jewish people”, and for me, it was “wow, I can’t believe this happened to MY people”. Obviously, I’m not saying that non-Jews can’t feel pain for what Holocaust victims went through, I was just never so aware of how MY experience of seeing these places is different from a non-Jew’s experience.

It was really pretty eerie being in Anne Frank’s house. I kept trying to imagine that I was her, climbing the same insanely steep steps she did, but it never lasted for long.

After that, we needed a bit of a distraction, so we sat in one of Amsterdam’s coffee shops (hint hint) for a while, and then walked around and took pictures of the amazing city.

That night, we went out to a bar with the rest of our group. We had a pretty decent time, but we left at around 1 to go eat. We went to Wok to Walk, which implies what it was–a sort of create your own Chinese food place. That was perfect! Giant portions and good, greasy food.

On Saturday, we slept in and walked around Amsterdam a lot. We were too tired to do anything too much, but seeing such a beautiful city in person was activity enough. We went to sleep early to prepare ourselves for the nothingness that would take place on our way back the next day.

The way back to Huddersfield was about as exciting as the way there, except that on the way back to Storthes from Uni, a few of us shared a big tax—it held nine people including the driver, who was absolutely MAD (jeez I sound British!) He blasted Indian music and drove almost drunkenly (he was clearly not drunk) all the way back. It was hilarious and terrifying all at once.

Today, I got up and attempted to do some work, but was way too preoccupied with thoughts of tomorrow’s EuroThanksgiving to really concentrate. At about 2, Lauren, Kirsty and I went shopping for groceries and spent almost 2 hours at the supermarket!

For tomorrow, I’ll be making butternut squash soup, salad, sweet potatoes, the most amazing macaroni and cheese the world has ever known, apple pie, and flourless chocolate cake. I CANNOT WAIT.