Getting Ready

Hey All,

I still cannot believe that the time has finally come for me to go abroad. I leave January 10th and come back to the US around April 28th. The trip has always felt so far away in my mind and just recently it has sunk in that in less than a week I will be living in a different country.

I still do not know where I'll be interning yet...I asked to be put with a print or online magazine publication with an emphasis on actually writing stories. For the first month or so that I'm there I'll be taking three classes before the internship starts: journalism, history and film. Each class is four hours long.

I'll be living in an apartment in the South Kensington area (Lexham Gardens) in a quad with 3 other girls. Bunk beds! I want to be as social as possible, so the more roomies, the better. I've been told that this is one the poshest areas to live in with neighboring flats that go for over a million dollars. Not too shabby.

Throughout the process of applying to the program, getting all the correct papers in by deadline, moving out and packing I've been too preoccupied to think about how much fun I'll be having once I get there.

Last week I still had not received my visa in the mail even though I had received an email saying that it had been sent overnight over a week ago. I tried calling BU, emailed the consulate, and mom was in the car about to drive to Staples to send a fax when she stopped and came back to ask my friends what a visa looks like. Turns out it's a sticker-like thing in the passport, and yes, I had it all along.

So the feeling of being prepared is something I need to work on a little bit. Today we went over a food budget (the parents and I). We figured from talking to my aunt Glenna and doing some research that around 65 pounds (100 dollars) a week for food and drinks would probably work.

Next is working out a travel budget to see what other countries I want to visit, but I think I will figure that out once I get there. Ireland? Paris? Amsterdam? Suggestions?

I am hoping to visit Kaitlin and Liza in Paris at some point.

To wrap my mind around going, I've been reading mom's letters from when she was studying abroad in London. They were overflowing with stories and places she had been and finally helped to get me excited about my own trip. Following in her footsteps, I hope to go to the theater and travel as much as possible!

Also, I sent several frustrated emails out to the Student Affairs people cause the website is the bane of my existence. It has everything I need to access like info about housing, classes, how to get around, my internship, etc. but the site never loads. EVER.

So, now they finally fixed it (sort of) and I've been able to sign up for some social trips: Windsor Castle, Bath and Avebury, Clubbing at Fabric, Churchill's Cabinet War, Enjoy (a play), Oxford & Blenheim palace, and beer tasting in Chiswick. The first three weekends I'm taking a daytrip. I wanna be busy!

Getting ready to leave has made me realize how truly lucky I am. I've seen how excited my family and friends have been for me and it makes me excited too. Also, while saying goodbye (temporarily) it makes me realize how much I love everybody here...the family I babysit for, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my orientation family, Kait, Dan, Mollie, my BU friends, Alex, Mom, Dad and Doug, among many others. If I can find half as much love from the new people I meet across the pond, I know I will be a lucky girl.

Thanks for all the support.

<3 A