Halloweekend

Halloween hasn't always been one of my favorite times of the year. I used to hate turning the TV on and finding nothing to watch but scary movies or TV shows, they all used to give me nightmares! But as I have grown older, I have obtained a new appreciation for Halloween. It's more than just dressing up and going trick-or-treating to all of my neighbors houses and being scared that something is going to jump out of every corner and scare me. We learned in Dr. Forsaith's class this past week that Halloween was created to celebrate the dead and remember the people who have passed away. It definitely seems to be celebrated in some similar ways here compared to the United States. It seems like here, people are more concerned about how scary they can make their costumes rather than make it a competition for "who can wear the least amount of clothes". I like how they do it here more honestly, because it makes it allows people to be more interesting and creative about what they decide to dress up as.

My friends and I decided to be "Captain Underpants" for Halloween this year. We were walking around downtown and saw a pair of underwear that had the American Flag on them, right away we knew we had to buy them for Halloween night! So we wore those over a pair of leggings, made shirts that said "Captain Knickers" (making it a little more Englandized) and stapled plastic table cloths to our backs. And of course course we had to wear metallic masks because what's a superman halloween costume without a proper mask?




We started out our night at one of the flats that belonged to a few people that were in our study abroad program from HPU. I was glad that we were all getting together for Halloween because usually everyone tends to just stick with the people that they live with or their closest friends in the program. We decided to go to the clubs and bars that we typically go to on the weekends a little bit early because we wanted to get there before everything got really crazy. Usually most places on Park End street are just starting to fill up by the time that we get there around 12 or 12:30, but last night, they were completely packed full at 10:30 or 11! We walked around to all of the places that we normally go to on that road such as Lava, the bridge, Junction, Fuzzy Ducks, Thirst, etc. and no one was letting us in anywhere because they were at their max number of people. On top of that, it was down pouring outside and I had just slipped on some concrete stairs and fell right on my tail bone, so the night wasn't exactly going as we had planned. When we finally got into Thirst, the night actually turned around and we all ended up having a great time! We met a bunch of people from all over the UK and managed to get home early enough that we were able to catch the bus and didn't have to pay for a cab!

It's interesting how in different countries all around the world, we celebrate the same holidays but in different ways. I'm glad that I got to have that experience in England and see what it's like to celebrate Halloween like a brit! I also found it a little funny that Oxford already has Christmas decorations up all over their city. Back in the US, we usually don't start putting anything up until the day after Thanksgiving. I mean i'm not complaining because the Christmas season is my favorite time of year, but I just find it a little funny to be walking around downtown the day after Halloween and finding lights in the shape of Christmas trees, sleds, bells, and stars being strung all up and down the streets, and signs saying "book your christmas dinner today!" outside of every other restaurant.

Seeing all of these holiday decorations and realizing that it is already November 1st has really opened my eyes to the fact that I am already past half way done with my trip here. It absolutely astonishes me how fast that went by, how much I've learned, and how much I've seen in such as short period of time. I always feel like we have plenty of time left here that we don't have to rush and try to do everything so fast, but in reality, I only have 3 more weekends left in Oxford that I am not going to be traveling around Europe. I feel like I have changed physically, mentally, and emotionally so much over the course of the last few months that I could not imagine ever not studying abroad. It has been such an amazing, life-changing experience and although there are a few things that I probably would've done differently knowing where I am now, I do not have any regrets.

I know that I write about this in almost all of my blogs but the experiences and opportunities that I have grabbed while being over here have been so life-changing. I find it so bittersweet that I only have a few months left here because of the fact that I know I am going to be homesick for Oxford in probably less than a week when I get back to the states, but right now I get homesick for the states every once in a while. There are parts of me that could stay here forever because I love the atmosphere of Oxford, London, and Europe in general, but then there are parts of me that miss the states so much that no matter what state I am in, it still feels like home. I have genuinely learned so much from being over here, not just from being enrolled in school, but through the people and the culture of Europe that I never could have found in any textbook or on the internet. School is a lot more independent studying over here, and it has taught me what kind of a student I am and what capabilities are as far as teaching myself and understanding different concepts. I do prefer the way we are taught back in the states to what I have experienced here at Brookes, but I figure the rest of this study abroad trip is spent through "independent study" by traveling and gaining knowledge through my experiences that it almost makes sense that I am learning information for school through that same "independent study" technique. The truly best way to learn, understand, and remember something is through experience because that is something no one can teach or be taught.