Tuesday Thoughts

Quite the crazy day today, weather wise that is. Sun, rain, sun, rain...this is England. I was catching up on my blog roll when I came across this fab 'check in' from Ashely over at Sed Bona (if you haven't read her blog, you have NO idea the level of classy lady you are missing) and I thought it'd be fun, so I gave it a go. Check back later in the week for my Christmas and New Year's posts!

Enjoying: My break from school
Listening: To 'God and Satan' by Biffy Clyro
Wearing: Top by Mint Velvet and Jeans from Violeta by Mango
Making: Travel plans for Paris!
Cooking: Pizza!
Drinking: Does putting granola into my glass count?
Feeling: Nervous but excited for the new year
Reading: ReWork-Change the Way you Work Forever
Looking: For comedy inspiration
Wishing: To be braver
Liking: The British 'winter'
Waiting: To hear back from a photographer about my head shots
Snacking: Polish coffee and said granola
Coveting: This Ted Baker creation
Hearing: Suitcases rolling as students come back from break
Learning: How to have patience when everything seems to go wrong
Loving: My night walks through Oxford
Watching: Documentaries on Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett 
Admiring: My roses bought from Oxford's Covered Market
Getting: To know myself again after a rather lengthy absence
Wondering: When my good luck will kick in
Playing: Terrible and hilarious indie games
Noticing: How badly my eyebrows are growing in
Giggling: At youtubers….pole dancing… yes REALLY 
Bookmarking: Organisational tools
Deciding: To make the leap to……(still a secret :)
Hoping: To survive the coming semester 
Contemplating: My next move (literally and figuratively)
Wanting: To take more chances in all aspects of my life
Thinking: About my plan of action for tomorrow
Knowing: This is the year when I finally start doing what I love
Opening: My tea
Feeling: Driven. Finally. After 28 years.
Marveling: At how your dreams can drastically change in just one year

Oh The Places I Have Seen-Frankfurt

A 6am wake up call is never ideal for anyone but that is how my long weekend in Frankfurt, Germany began. As I was determined not to check a bag, I managed to pack what I needed (which I would find later was sans an umbrella) into two handbags and arrived on campus on time only to find that the coach was going to be late. Late turned into very late…..very VERY late. Nearly and hour and a half and lots of very British panicking later (think pacing back and forth with a slightly annoyed look on your face) the coach finally picked us up. We had nothing to worry about really, because our flight also turned out to be an hour late.

Frankfurt upon arrival was rainy and rather grim looking. Our hostel was right in the middle of the red light district, which made for some rather interesting window shopping. We made our way to the old quarter for some proper beer (so good even I, who doesn't like beer at all drank it) then back to the hostel for an early night, we had to be at the book fair by 9 the next morning. This would be where my lack of umbrella comes into play because it was raining the whole way back. The next morning I sounded like Brando yelling "Stellaaa" in the rain.

The outside of the Book Fair
All images Copyright Mastering Oxford Do not use without permission

The fair was massive. 8 buildings that require a shuttle to get from one to the other. English companies made up one building, as did international, German, art, etc. We decided to start in the Art building where each stall in itself was a work of art. They even had a working replica of the Gutenberg Press giving demos. We managed to make our way through most of the building, stopping to admire some truly artistic feats along the way. The rest of the afternoon consisted of hopping around buildings, chatting to local and international publishers, (it was lovely to see some Minnesota publishers there!) and getting insight into the industry from our individual appointments we had.

My colleague Mark in front of a Gutenberg Replica

The next day we had free to explore before we had to hop on a flight back to London. Frankfurt is a gorgeous city. We stumbled upon monuments and opera houses, ate Nutella crepes and bratwursts in the local city market and had a beer in the old city centre. It was a fabulously relaxing end to a fantastic weekend. I do hope to get back to Frankfurt in the future. 

Christmas and a Catch Up

It's odd to look out my window and see no snow. By now in Minnesota, there might be a few inches of snow on the ground and temps below freezing. Currently I have my window open. Being someone who doesn't like the winter anyways, its a lovely change.

You might have noticed that grad school has kept me extraordinarily busy. I underestimated the workload for sure, but now I'm staring down nearly a two month break devoted to travel and my creative pursuits,  and that means you! In the next few weeks I'll be updating the blog with my adventures so far, and hopefully you'll see some new ones pop up before school resumes. I hope to achieve more of a work life balance this coming semester so you won't be faced with 2 months of blog silence. You can expect blogs about Germany, Christmas, more British observations I've made, lots more of my photography and what I hope to achieve in the coming year! So sit tight loves, your next blog is coming to you shortly. Thanks for the wait xx

It's What You Make It

"In our heads, living out dreams is easy, but it actually takes a hell of a lot of work to live them and not just achieve them." 

The lovely Sarah (follow her insights here) told me this earlier today when I was having yet another one of my moments. I felt stressed out by school, lonely because I hadn't really found good friends (and those people I had met in my cohort were extremely cliquey), silly because I was still apprehensive about public transport, and pissed at myself because I felt I had accomplished nothing. To which I felt the look I was getting going right through the computer screen. "What do you mean NOTHING?! You've sold everything you own, said goodbye to everyone, uprooted yourself and moved 4,000 miles away to a new country. People talk about doing that all the time but do you know how FEW people actually DO what you've done?!"

Fair point. And that's the trick that no one tells you. Logistically, achieving your dreams is fairly easy if you have the resources. But once you're there you actually have to LIVE those dreams and that's the hard part. There are new things, places, people, situations and a lot of those will scare the shit out of you. You'll second guess yourself more times than you know. There will be awful times and amazing times. Life doesn't stop just because you've achieved what you've always wanted.  So it's really up to you to morph it into what you want it to be. I'm still working on this with some difficulty. I also have to learn to give myself a break! I can be really hard on myself and that gets me nowhere but stressed. I've been here for just under 3 weeks and I need to stop expecting everything to be perfect. So I'll make a cup of tea (until my coffee gets here from America, yay again for Sarah!) and learn to RELAX. (Maybe then people will stop thinking I'm always angry/sad/intimidated all the time)

Second Week Thoughts

Rolling hills of the Cotswolds (image may not be used without permission Copyright Mastering Oxford)

So its been 2 whole weeks since I landed in England. Apologies for not writing sooner, its been a whirlwind. Let's just say the minute I landed I had problems. I found my way around fine, but since I didn't have a sim in my phone, it wasn't getting Internet. Which is where my e ticket for the bus to Oxford was.  You could see I had purchased a ticket, but the check in logo wasn't there. And I couldn't get another one because my debit cards weren't working in Heathrow. I nearly had a meltdown in the airport! Poor planning on my part, but it was all a learning experience. Fortunately for me, the driver let me on and I made it to Oxford around 10am. What I've found most interesting is that all the lovely feelings that I had about Britain before I got here have not re emerged. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it here! I think I expected to land on my feet and start running head first into this new life but I ended up  landing on one foot, stumbling and nearly face planting.  So much I didn't account for. Like walking. Everywhere. My feet after the first week were raw. And needing cloth bags to swing over your shoulder so you don't cut your hands in two lugging groceries home. The fact that doors here are pushed open and not pulled. That because of all the moisture in the air I may never had straight hair in England. (It's the small things). Having nothing upon arrival. I knew this but to look in the loo and not even have loo paper there is enough to make you go mad after an 8 hour flight and some wicked jet lag.

But there are some things that I've come to love. Like grocery delivery. The smell of the English air (and the men). The fact that there are no bugs here. The sheer amount of history around me. The fact that I've only been asked about Obama once. My flatmates. Here is where I really lucked out. I've been placed with the weirdest, most wonderful bunch. There are 6 of us, I am the only American. 4 guys and 2 girls. Latvia, Romania, Croatia, Japan, France. 48 hours after meeting we were unbelievably bonded. ( I guess when your Romanian flatmate appears in his underwear 24 hours after you've met in the kitchen needing his brownie that's bound to happen) It hasn't been perfect, and we've already had some drama. And if it had been with anyone else, it could have ended a lot worse. The last thing you want is to not go home because your flatmates are being asses. But we are all committed to this being home, and after conversations and sleep it's on it way to being fixed. Like I said, I could not have asked for a better bunch of weirdoes.

Everything prior to 12 Sept seems like a lifetime ago and in truth it really is. When you uproot yourself, even if its to a place you love, don't expect everything (or anything for that matter) to go smooth. It's a shock to the system and you will need time to adjust (not to mention at least a week to get over the jet lag) Don't become discouraged if after a week you haven't made a solid friend or are still apprehensive about getting groceries on your own. Take a walk, make a date with you and your new surroundings. If you take it slow, you're bound to last.

My Plane Ride Playlist

You can't travel without music. At least you can't travel well. I've always been a play list girl. It's a yearly thing for me, whatever songs have meaning at certain times or events go into a play list, thus I have a memory of the whole year in music. And nothing deserves a play list more than a big trip. The biggest I've experienced. Some songs are cliched (Yes, London Calling), some remind me of the first time I went abroad (The Ataris was on non stop in Spain in '03), some to calm me (Everything London Grammar has put out) and some are brand new findings (Wandering=Amazing). What are some of your favourite travel songs? Let me know in the comments below!

One Week Thoughts

I'm sitting on the couch listening to the crickets outside while The Red Green Show is on in the background (the most Minnesotan show, even if it is from Canada). This time next week, I will be writing this to you in England. Most things are taken care of (still need to find that damned diploma), packing is looming (I'm a last minute girl) and the drama of leaving has finally died down. In saying goodbye, I've realized its really been 3 years of goodbyes, both to various aspects of myself that no longer serve me and to people, places and things. Saying goodbye to the place I considered home, saying goodbye to parents marriage, goodbye to the friends I've had since I was 5 because I no longer had anything in common with them, goodbye to childhood as things were sent to Goodwill and the house I grew up in was sold. Even goodbye to my bed and car! As depressing as it can be, I've looked at it as more of a spiritual cleanse. You can hang onto a lot of deep down stuff through the years, clearing things out clears out the negative.

This has been 5 years in the making. I could pinpoint exactly when this passion started. Sometime in 2010, maybe late 2009. I remember wanting to go, and wanting a sign from the universe. I put my iPod on shuffle and out of 2000 songs, this is the one that came on.

To say that I had a mild heart attack would be putting it lightly. But it was all the confirmation I needed. And my passion for all things British increased at a steady pace over the next 5 years. I look at what's to come and to be honest, I haven't allowed myself to think about it much. I'm owning that to the fact I didn't realize how much drama comes with saying goodbye to certain people! Things come out of the woodwork that you didn't plan on. But I have an long haul plane rid to think on it. It is life changing. An opportunity that many either don't or can't take. This will change me in ways I cannot even being to fathom right now. Will I love England as much as I do in my head? What if I somehow don't? I have no plans to come back to America, I will tell you that right now. Maybe I'll end up a permeant resident of the UK (I cannot tell you how hard that task is) or maybe I'll decide a Ph.D in Geneva is a good idea. Who knows. It's an adventure.