This is an amazing quote that I found from one of my friends that is studying abroad in Florence. It describes the experience PERFECTLY and makes me want to latch on and take even more advantage of the opportunities that this journey has given me and will continue to give to me for the next few months:
"Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think you've lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time."
-Asha Tyson
Speaking of expecting the unexpected. We found out today that we have to move into a different flat because of the mold problem that is going on in block K. All of my plans were pushed aside and my homework was put on hold so that I was able to move all of my belongings into Block F. At first I wasn't too happy about the idea of starting all over again, but you know what, it's a new beginning and we even have sinks in our bedrooms now! Another positive thing about this move was that I was finally able to rearrange my room and get rid of some food that I actually had forgotten that I had since the first week we were here! Overall, the move to a different block was not a bad chance, I think that it was meant to happen for a reason. Now we have bigger rooms, and away from that God awful hill that we used to have to walk up every day to get to class!
This past weekend, I learned a lot more about the English language barriers between over here and the states. One of the friends that I made, Rob was telling me how Brits use the word "hash" instead of "pound" on the phone, a cigarette is a "fag" not a "butt", and jeans are called "jumpers" not "pants". It never gets old for me because I feel like every day I learn something new about this culture and how much it does in fact differ from America. Another example of this was when we ordered pizza for dinner today, the delivery man called and said that he was "at the first bar". We had NO idea what he was talking about, and the only reason that I knew where to go find him was because last time we ordered food my friend and I spent about 30 minutes running around the campus trying to find this "first bar" that this man was talking about! Apparently a "bar" means a gate.... Definitely good to know now for future reference.
I am getting a little scared about spending so much money over here. I don't want to have to ask my parents for money because this is supposed to be my time and it's about me being more independent and getting myself through it, which is the main reason I worked every day this past summer. I feel like my bank account is continually dwindling because of the exchange rates and huge price differences over here. I know that while being abroad this should probably be one of my last concerns, but it's something that I feel like comes to my mind at least once every day. Hence why I miss having a job so much. Not only do I miss the friends that I have from work, but I miss the responsibility and the constant security that I was going to be getting paid by the end of the week. It probably doesn't help that I go into town about every other day and always spend some sort of money, but theres not a whole lot else to do in Oxford besides walk around and site see, eat, shop, and listen to the street performers. I mean i'm no complaining because I feel like most of my stories that I blog about on here are centered around talking about what I did that day in town and what I saw while i was in town. I probably have blogged about this already once or twice in my blog, but it is definitely something that I have on my mind almost every day.
I was not feeling too great today when I woke up this morning, I had a terrible cough and could not stop sneezing. I'm not sure if it's the sudden cold front that has been coming in or what, but that is definitely the last thing I want to happen while I am here. Getting sick is miserable, especially when you're not home. I know that quite a few people have been getting pretty ill recently either having indigestion problems, rashes, or colds. I don't know if it's the difference in the climate than over in the United States, or maybe people just aren't getting enough sleep but I feel like health should definitely be one of a person's main priorities when they are abroad because not only do they not have access to their primary doctor, it's a foreign country all together and who knows how they deal with medicine over here! Call me paranoid but I think Americans may be the only people I trust when it comes to being in depth and on top of their medical knowledge.
I am going to Florence, Italy in a few days to visit my two friends that are studying abroad there. I have never been here before so I am pretty excited to experience Italia with some "locals" (or at least people that have spent a whole lot of time with the locals). I think that I am going to write my paper for one of my classes on this trip because it is going to be one of the most interesting and fun-filled trips that I am going to be going on (I can feel it). I always have so much more fun when I get to spend time with my really good friends that are studying abroad in other countries. We just get each other and we are so energetic and are going through this experience together, and understand each other better than anyone that you may have just met. I do definitely miss a lot of my friends from the states, but I feel like being away from them all for so long has almost made me appreciate them all more and how good of friends they really are. I could get into all of the gushy sensitive details of it all but I would probably bore these blog readers to death. So for now, Cheers!
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