Before we get into the heavy stuff, let me just say...
FINALS ARE DONE! WOOOOH!
Anyone who knows me will know that this statement is a little bit ridiculous since I only had one real final, and three papers, but hey...I'm allowed to be excited vicariously for those of you who were stressed! Also, hopefully Annelise will read this after she is done with her A-Chem final, so it won't be too early of a celebration.
Beware of sadness...
In previous years, people whose finals finished early and got to go home early were considered lucky, and being forced to stay until the absolute last day, when campus was almost empty, was the worst. This year, instead of remaining cloistered in our rooms studying feverishly and then leaving as soon as possible, my friends and I are making ridiculous excuses to spend time together, and the longer each of us is staying at school, the happier they are. About half of my friend group is going abroad next semester, and we are being extra clingy to make up for it.
Yesterday we had a jello-pudding pops cuddle-fest, as we are wont to do, and then went to lunch, where at least two or three of us, full on cookies and jello pudding, did not even eat. We are an extremely mob-like group of folks, separating us is a difficult and unpleasant task. Do not attempt.
I said goodbye for now to Anna, who is coming to see me in CA before she sets off on her boat, and goodbye for now to Heather, who I will see in France! Goodbye for now to Inbar, who will visit me in Bath, and goodbye for now to Dylan, who I will see in Ireland! So yesterday's goodbyes were rather cheery.
Today, I packed and said goodbye to my two absolutely splendiferous roommates, Hilary and Annelise, who I will miss very much. We have had quite the year...me in the room, and them in Ebaugh...sometimes we would intersect for brief moments over some sort of schedule confusion or cancelled class. This one time we were all in the room at once!
Then I went around campus saying goodbye to everyone I could find, while my dad napped in the car. It was quite depressing, but did end on a good note. SleepyClayIsSleepy told me he would say goodby once he put some pants on. Noah told me he was still asleep, and to try again later. Annie and I ran slash bounced towards each other from other ends of the
hallway, each trying to out-adorable the other (she won). Rob, in a sleep-induced haze, told me as I was leaving "Have fun in England, or as they say in England, pip pip cheerio!" I then proceeded to skip down the hall as my friends watched, I'm sure with tears in their eyes. No, seriously that's how it happened. The Rob and the skipping anyway.
I think the most difficult part of the semester abroad will not be, as some of you might think, the language barrier. (I mean really, what is a loo, anyway?) It will be really really really (times 52!) hard starting over with a whole new group of people. My friends here I have known for years, I know exactly where I stand with them, and feel comfortable blurting out the strangest things, or you know, just making random noises if I can't think of anything to say.
Suddenly, I will be in a world where people don't know everything about me, and I can't just blurt out things that in most polite society would be considered, well...not very nice at all, young lady. Social norms scare me. What if I've forgotten how to talk in normal people language, without memes, rob-isms, clay-isms, and nerdy references? I'm going to have to appear normal, friendly, and god help me I may have to act "cool."
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Euro-list
Before we get to the list, I'd like to make a disclaimer: I have no idea what sort of blog this is going to be, whether it will be funny, serious, or just a thing for my friends to read while I'm in England. In a sense, I have yet to find my voice as a blogger. So, don't get mad at me while I work that out, and until I do, my blogs will consist of me rambling, changing topic, tone, and style at random points, in the general way that I do when I talk. Once I saw a bird!
On to the purpose of this post! Here is my Euro-list so far. I have been to England before, and to Paris, so I kept off a lot of the most prominent and obviously touristy things that I have already done, with a few exceptions. I plan on updating this list whenever I get a new idea, so if you have any thoughts for me, comment and let me know! This list is in no particular order:
1. First thing's nerdy-i-mean-first. Meet David Tennant (this), aka the tenth doctor. Liza did it, I can too!
2. Go to Cardiff, Wales and see 'the rift' (Doctor Who again)
3. Go to Edinburgh, Scotland, and visit The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter novels while enjoying tea and crumpets. (That's what British people enjoy, right?)
4. Visit a concentration camp. Woah, this just got serious. I do feel like it is something I should do, especially if I end up in Poland, which is likely. If you are thinking "my, what an interesting jump in topics," I really am just typing these as they come into my head, so...make of that what you will.
5. Go to the Tower of London. Yes, I've been...twice...but I am an intense history nerd and an anglophile. I could stand in one spot, staring at one particular grave, or painting, or brick, for hours. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I usually have friends (cue my sister: "you have friends?") who get aggravated and pull me along to the next thing that I could stare at for hours.
6. Westminster Abbey. See above for explanation. When I came with my father we took an audio tour, and that remains one of the best historical experiences of my life.
7. Eat Fish n' Chips. Annnnd we are back to the trivial. But come on. Fish...and chips!*DONE*
8. Go running/jogging in Bath(CHECK), Oxford, and Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as any other beautiful countrysides I find myself in over the summer.
9. Play polo. Like, on ponies. Just once. Please?
10. Attend an Olympic event. I mean really, this timing is too perfect to ignore.
11. Go to a concert in the UK of a band from the UK that I have already heard of. (Frightened Rabbit, or the Kooks, for example)
12. Go to a 'football' match, go to pubs, and generally attempt to be British.
13. Speak Spanish to Spanish people in Spain. Probably very poor Spanish, but Spanish nonetheless! Isn't Spanish a silly word? Spanish! It is sort of Span.*DONE*
14. Go to archives of Early Modern children's literature in London and Oxford *DONE*, and do some preliminary investigation with actual old stuff for my senior research.
15. Enjoy a bottle or 50 of ThisWater, a brand of juice that I and my fellow high schoolers became obsessed with on my last trip to England. It really is just juice. But inside my high school self is saying "OMG thissswaterrrr!!!" It may seem irrelevent to you, dear readers, but seriously this is important stuff. I need to know if it is really as good as I remember. (CHECK)
15. Lastly, I will try to post in this blog once a week, and keep a daily private travel journal.
I think this concludes today's episode of "Hannah and the British things she likes." Tune in for more!
Until next time, I remain,
extremely ahead of myself
p.s. If you clicked on all the links you get a cookie. But only if you can prove it.
On to the purpose of this post! Here is my Euro-list so far. I have been to England before, and to Paris, so I kept off a lot of the most prominent and obviously touristy things that I have already done, with a few exceptions. I plan on updating this list whenever I get a new idea, so if you have any thoughts for me, comment and let me know! This list is in no particular order:
1. First thing's nerdy-i-mean-first. Meet David Tennant (this), aka the tenth doctor. Liza did it, I can too!
2. Go to Cardiff, Wales and see 'the rift' (Doctor Who again)
3. Go to Edinburgh, Scotland, and visit The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter novels while enjoying tea and crumpets. (That's what British people enjoy, right?)
4. Visit a concentration camp. Woah, this just got serious. I do feel like it is something I should do, especially if I end up in Poland, which is likely. If you are thinking "my, what an interesting jump in topics," I really am just typing these as they come into my head, so...make of that what you will.
5. Go to the Tower of London. Yes, I've been...twice...but I am an intense history nerd and an anglophile. I could stand in one spot, staring at one particular grave, or painting, or brick, for hours. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I usually have friends (cue my sister: "you have friends?") who get aggravated and pull me along to the next thing that I could stare at for hours.
6. Westminster Abbey. See above for explanation. When I came with my father we took an audio tour, and that remains one of the best historical experiences of my life.
7. Eat Fish n' Chips. Annnnd we are back to the trivial. But come on. Fish...and chips!*DONE*
8. Go running/jogging in Bath(CHECK), Oxford, and Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as any other beautiful countrysides I find myself in over the summer.
9. Play polo. Like, on ponies. Just once. Please?
10. Attend an Olympic event. I mean really, this timing is too perfect to ignore.
11. Go to a concert in the UK of a band from the UK that I have already heard of. (Frightened Rabbit, or the Kooks, for example)
12. Go to a 'football' match, go to pubs, and generally attempt to be British.
13. Speak Spanish to Spanish people in Spain. Probably very poor Spanish, but Spanish nonetheless! Isn't Spanish a silly word? Spanish! It is sort of Span.*DONE*
14. Go to archives of Early Modern children's literature in London and Oxford *DONE*, and do some preliminary investigation with actual old stuff for my senior research.
15. Enjoy a bottle or 50 of ThisWater, a brand of juice that I and my fellow high schoolers became obsessed with on my last trip to England. It really is just juice. But inside my high school self is saying "OMG thissswaterrrr!!!" It may seem irrelevent to you, dear readers, but seriously this is important stuff. I need to know if it is really as good as I remember. (CHECK)
15. Lastly, I will try to post in this blog once a week, and keep a daily private travel journal.
I think this concludes today's episode of "Hannah and the British things she likes." Tune in for more!
Until next time, I remain,
extremely ahead of myself
p.s. If you clicked on all the links you get a cookie. But only if you can prove it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
jumping the gun
Yes, it's true. There are (stops to count on fingers) three months until I finally get to go abroad. However, I am so obscenely excited that I could not wait any longer to tell the world (or at least the internet). So here I am internet! I am going abroad next semester, to lovely Bath, England, where I will be counting the bees in the hive, chasing the clouds from the sky, and doing other assorted tasks that need completing. There may or may not be classes and education in there somewhere, as well as a publishing internship. Then I will spend the summer (as much of it as I can afford) traveling around Europe and taking part in shenanigans.
My next post will be a Europe to do list. A Euro-list, if you will. Then, at the end of my Euro-trip, I can look back and see how many things I was able to Euro-ccomplish!
See you soon!
~ Hannah
My next post will be a Europe to do list. A Euro-list, if you will. Then, at the end of my Euro-trip, I can look back and see how many things I was able to Euro-ccomplish!
See you soon!
~ Hannah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)