The Packing Chronicles

Today, my mom and I packed my bags! Now, when you read, "my mom and I," I ask you not to judge me. I am a perfectly capable person. However, a hinderance to the capalbility is the fact that I am spatially challenged. In my mind, a queen-sized comforter will fit nicely into a small Ziploc bag with enough room to squeeze in a few pairs of shoes as well. I swear I gathered up everything on my own. Then I supervised while she put everything in the bags :p



EVERYTHING TO PACK

^This was not a bad amount for a chronic overpacker like me.




THE BAGS TO FILL



"TO BE CHECKED" BAG, FILLED WITH THE USE OF "SUCKY BAGS"



THE WEIGHING OF THE BAG

Unfortunately, this step told us that something was going to have to be done- not everything was packed and the bag already weighed 56 lbs. (which may not have been entirely accurate, considering that we took out one small binder and then the scale read 46 lbs. However, that didn't change the fact that not everything was packed.) No amount of reagrranging was going to make the remaining items fit, so we ended up deciding just to pack another suitcase. Yes, I am ashamed it came to that, but it did.



SUITCASE #2

So now I'm packed save for my carry on (which will include my computer... hence why it's not yet finished), which will be simple, since I'm taking very little with me on the plane.

Something I bought yesterday that I wish I could bring with me:



How cool is that? I have no idea where I'm going to put it (I already have an [old, old] mirror in my room and don't feel I need another), but not only was it just $20, but I thought I might not find something like it again. So now it shall wait for me while I gallavant about England, beginning in ONE WEEK!

Pre-Homesickness

Well... maybe "homesickness" isn't the right word. But since I've just hit the halfway mark in the fall semester, I've been thinking a lot about the stuff that will come to an end in about two months- and a more permanent end than I've experienced in the past two years.

For instance, last Tuesday, my suitemate Sara celebrated her 20th birthday and most of our suite and some other friends went out to eat and then just hung out in our common room. I just met Sara and another suitemate, Chanelle, at the end of August, but I've been thinking how sad I'll be to leave our rooms. It'll be just as hard not to see Danielle, who lives with me, too, and hardest of all to not see Kara, my roommate, when I wake up in the morning.

It's weird to think that Arcadia won't just freeze and wait for me. I want to do my semester in both places; there's so much going on! The spring theatre season at my school is great, with some wonderful directors and a good amount of parts. A lot of my friends will be graduating. I'll miss a ton of summer auditions. Books I want are being released. I can't go home whenever I want. I can't participate in the workshop I was offered.

BUT. At the same time, I REALLY want to go to England. I think I've already mentioned what a lifelong dream this is, and I'm as excited as I am nervous about studying abroad. Yes, I'll miss a lot of stuff while I'm there, but I'm not even aware of what I'll be missing if I just decide to be safe and stick with what I know. While I am sad that I'll miss the spring plays (and seeing my friends in them), England is the land of THEATRE- there will be plays there. There will still be summer auditions when I go home. There's Skype. I have an e-reader for a reason. My entire family's coming to visit me in May/June. And there are other workshops. Plus, I made sure that I got two shows this semester just in case I didn't get to be in a production in England.

So while I'm quite nervous about what my five months in England will be like, I get excited every time I look at the school website or talk to someone about the program, and I think that's a sign that I should go, no matter what great things will be going on at home without me!

Wow... Almost Fail...

Sometimes I get so excited about things that I forget that in order to take part in these activities, I first have to do responsible things. You know, like turn in forms, ask for recommendations... oh, and PAY MY DEPOSIT, which, if not paid on tiem, will not save my spot. I didn't read the acceptance e-mail all the way through... had I done this, I would have known that I had ten days to put in my deposit to hold my spot. I also would have figured out when that ten days was up.

However, I didn't, so I didn't, and probably would have lost my spot if my dad hadn't called me and asked me if I'd paid it yet. Cue my stomach dropping to the floor, the same way it did when I got a call from the Study Abroad office yesterday and the person on the other end sounded like they were bearing bad news (they weren't, thankfully, but I almost had a panic attack anyway.)

So, after a few minor problems, I finally hit the "submit payment" button. Phew... crsis averted. THANKS, DAD!

I'm In!

LOOK!



I got it when I returned from giving over my very last documents that I had any control over. Now they just need the form from my study abroad advisor and my recommendation letter. But I'm officially in! This is even more exciting because I didn't get into my top university in America (though I do love my college), but I did this time! I can't wait to go!!!

London, Round Trip

Today is a very exciting day, because this afternoon...

I BOUGHT MY PLANE TICKET TO LONDON!

It took me a few hours to sort everything out- I had been discussing taking the same flight with my friend (and hopefully roommate) Adrienne and I found the flight on the site we were advised to use. I went home yesterday and had discussed it with my parents, so around noon, I was ready to hit that 'purchase' button. But then I got scared. I'm not officially accepted to Queen Mary yet, and our travel dates are determined by our specific college. So I called the study abroad office and left a message, which they returned after my first class ended at 3:30.

The call was interesting in that the office made some very quick decisions that I didn't expect. I had contacted them basically saying that I had found my flight and there were few seats, but I didn't know if I could buy it due to not being accepted yet. When my study abroad advisor called me back, she said, "I'm looking at your transcript now and the classes you're taking and I'm just going to say that you're going to get in. You're in good academic standing and all I need is your reccommendation, so... I'm just going to accept you. Congratulations!"

I'm still kind of afraid to celebrate all of this excitement... I want to wait for documentation or something official, just to make sure. But I'm still pretty jazzed that my ticket's all confirmed! I'M GOING TO LONDON!!!

England or Bust!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my blog! I wanted my friends and family to be able to read about my adventures while I'm a few thousand miles away, and so this blog came to be. I'll be sharing stories, pictures, and observations while I am in England from January to June 2011.

At this point, I am still at the application stage. Though I have been wanting to study in England since I was very young and I wanted to begin the application process last fall, I was made to wait until now. A few days ago, I handed in what I hope is my last form; if all goes well, the final step will simply be waiting to see where I am accepted.

I hope you stick around to read about my experience!