Does England Have Cheerios?

Yes :D

Home?

The journey home was stressful. I'm sure no matter what it would have been. But, it didn't help that Iceland's volcano was erupting and creating complications. Who knew how difficult it would be to pack a year's worth of stuff into two suitcases . . . again. It was hard. I ended up shipping a box of books home to lighten the load. They arrived about a week and a half after I did, so in all that wasn't so bad. The flight itself was good. No troubles at all.

My mum came to visit for a week before she helped me move all my stuff home. We toured London and did some things around Plymouth and the surrounding area. I really enjoyed being able to introduce my mum to all my friends and to show her around where I had been living and show her what I did every day. It gave her a sense of why I liked England so much and maybe will help when I start missing it even more.

I've been home for about two weeks now. It's a strange feeling. Many things are familiar as I've known them for the past twenty years. But, at the same time those familiar things seems somewhat foreign. Having attatched myself so much to the English culture and the nature of things there, seeing normal things that I'm used to seems strange to me now.

Readjusting to American culture is a bit difficult. Moreso, the difficulties lie in moving back home. In England, I cooked for myself, went grocery shopping, I could travel, and I made decisions for myself. Now, I'm readjusting to family life and being home and not so independent.

I miss England and all my friends that I made there. It's a difficult thing to make friends and build a life for yourself knoing that you'll have to leave it in a year's time. But, it does nothing to thwart the friendships made. Thank goodness for Facebook and Skype!! I can keep in touch with all my friends.

I still can't tell if I have changed or not. I'm sure I have, whether it's noticable or not. I'd like to think my experience has had a great impact on my life. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

Iceland

Iceland. Yes, yes, I realize I am currently living in England. But, Iceland, or rather its volcanos have been proving a menace to most of Europe. The volcano began errupting on Wednesday and it is currently still going. Most of the flights are still grounded. As of now, it is still possible to fly into Ireland and then somehow find your way into England via ferry. But its a bit difficult at the moment.

It is a bit worry-some because the last erruption from Iceland's volcano lasted 18 months. My mum is hoping to come visit me and help me bring all of my stuff home (which I would greatly appreciate). And also, the problem stands that if she can't come visit me I might not be able to go home as planned. I would prefer everything to go back to being normal-ish before 18 months has gone by. But that might just be me.

April 7, 2009

It's been sunny out today, a lovely 12 degrees C or 54 degrees F, and its been one year. An entire year! Exactly one year ago to the day, I got an email confirming that I had been accepted into the University of Plymouth and that the next school year was, in fact, going to be spent in Plymouth, England.

How time flies. This past year has been incredible. I've met so many new people who have influenced my life tremendously. I have come to realize how much I appreciate my friends back home and how supportive my family is. I have learned so much about the ways of the world and so much about myself. I know I have changed a lot, even if other people don't notice. The true test will be in re-introducing myself to life at home. Those are the people who will look at me and say, "Wow, you've really changed." And whether or not they mean it in a good way is truly up to them. I feel I have changed in a lot of good ways and there is no doubt that I am still the same person who left Illinois last September.

This experience has been the best and hardest experience of my life. I've been having such an incredible time and I don't want to leave just yet, so it's a good thing that I still have a month or so left in this crazy amazing place. As to this experience being hard, it's true. But, who said it was going to be easy? I got jetlag, new colds, I had to make new friends, get along with new people, learn to fit into a new culture, and spend nine months away from my friends and family. It's by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life so far. But, it's been brilliant. If I had the choice to go back in time and do it again I'd be here in half a heartbeat. Without this experience, I would be a completely different person.

When Friends Come to Town

This past week my best friend from home came to visit me in Plymouth. What a good opportunity to do some more travelling. First off, I met her at the airport in London. We were only able to spend a day and a half in London. It was what we'd describe as a "whirlwin tour."


On day one, we arrived at the hostel and then went off exploring. We were able to see Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Globe.


Then the next day, we got a good start to the day. We started off at Tate Modern then took the boat ride to Tate Britain. From there we walked to the Houses of Parliment, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, through St. James Park, Buckingham Palace (where the flag was flying meaning we were in the same town as the Queen of England!), through Green Park, through Hyde Park, to the Science Museum, and then to the Natural History Museum. It was a great day! We actually feel like we got a lot accomplished in our short time in London.


Once back in Plymouth we explored it a bit and decided to take a day trip to the Eden Project in St Austell. It was fantastic. There were three biomes (one of which was outdoors for the local flora and fauna). The other two were Rainforest and Mediterranean. We went into the Rainforest Biome first, and it was astonishing. It was literally like walking into a rainforest. The air was so warm and humid it was like drinking air rather than breathing it. We had to shed layers. There were a few waterfalls and there were water droplets that kept falling on us. I really really enjoyed the whole experience.


Then, we made our way to the Mediterranean Biome. It was a bit cooler than I expected, but that could have been because we had just come from the Rainforest. The Mediterranean was not as large as the Rainforest Biome, but it still had plenty to see. It had some of the plants of California growing in it as well as those from the Mediterranean itself. It also was home to a lot of the bulbs and seed plants that the Eden Project uses to send plants to people. There were daffodils and tulips and an arrangement of other plants. The day at the Eden Project was a good day too.


So, travelling was good. We fit in all forms of transportation for my friend: flying, the London Underground (aka the Tube), a boat, trains, a taxi, a bus, and walking. We had a good time catching up and making more memories of our time in England over her Spring Break.

(sounds like Tour-key)

Tourquay. Beautiful. Right on the bay. A coastal walk. Sunshine and warmness. Good travelling companions and an all around good day. We did lots of walking (as we usually do) and we thouroughly enjoyed our day out of Plymouth. However, after ten minutes of being there and taking a few pictures my camera battery died. So I got to request pictures from my friend all day.

We walked the Coastal path. It was a bit muddy in bits but on the whole very nice. The water was a spectacular shade of blue and the sky only had a few clouds. Brilliant. At one point, we left the path and did a bit of exploring. We had seen a path leading from the real path and we decided to go exploring. The exploring led my friend and I down a little climb to a rock ledge with a view of this rock arch. We then had to climb up. But we made it and it was worth it. Once we got back in town we stopped for lunch. Worst. lunch. ever! We stopped at a fish & chips place. It was terrible. And not the "Oh, I know it's so bad for me, but it tastes good anyways." NO. I mean flat out terrible. The seagulls however seemed to enjoy it immensely . . . or the single chip we dropped. We chucked it away quickly so as to not get attacked by a hoard of seagulls.

After lunch, if you can call it that, we split up. Two went off one direction and my friend and I went another. We headed off to Kent's Cavern. It was mainly geared towards children and families, but it was a good site anyway. We got to see stalagmites and stalagtites at work. It was interesting and it was unlike anything I've seen before. Not overly fantastic, just different and kind of neat.

On the way back to the train station we stopped in a grocery store and bought real food. More of it and cheaper than the fish and chips. Then at the end of the day we got to see the sun set over the bay. And then we had to run to meet the others to catch the train. A good trip I think!

Dartmoor . . . The Trees of England (and the ponies)

When thinking of England, green comes to mind. Green and London. But the green is the bigger part of the visual image. Being in the middle of a city, there really isn't an extensive amount of green. However, Dartmoor National Park is green . . . very green. The free walk was on Saturday. The walk itself: beautiful and very muddy.


Dartmoor is home to green moss, little ferns, old trees, and little ponies. There is a river that runs through it. We stopped on the side of this river for lunch. It is easy in that place to see why an artist or writer would be inspired by the plain nature of it all. It is a very photogenic place even without the best of cameras. It was a good day out. It gave us all the opportunity to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, as well as viewing the beauty of the English landscape. It was peaceful even in the size of group we were in.


Dartmoor ponies are wild ponies that roam the extent of the park. They are like people in a sense, some of them are friendly and some are not. The friendly ones came up to us and let us pet them. The others stood in the same place and kept a weary eye on us. If we came too close they simply walked away. Others were curious and would come up to us and sniff us, but still not let us pet them.