February 8th 2008- the 1 and a half year anniversary of my move to England. As i prepare to embark on the second half of my "journey" here in Europe, here is a little bit of a recap of the past year and a half.
2 years ago today my parents told me it was a POSSIBILITY for us to move to England for 2 years. So much has changed since then. It honestly feels like 331289843948 years ago since my parents sat me and my sister down for a "discussion" that drastically changed my life. The next 6 months were a quick breeze as we made changes and preparations for our move to England. On August 8, 2006, our family made the move to Gerrards Cross.
So much has happened since that early August day. I've made friendships, broke friendships, gone through heartbreak, watched people's hearts be broken, traveled all over Europe, gone through 3 Ipods, 2 computers (one of which has broken twice in the last year), and realized I have some of the best family and friends I could ever ask for. Here are some highlights of the past year and a half:
August: Moving, Discovering a new culture, looking for a new house, deciding to stay in the house we were in (such a mistake), and starting school all made August pretty memorable
September: Not one of my favorite months, but every thing happens for a reason, as I now realize. There was HOAC, making some pretty good friends, and then realizing I never had them all along, beginning to go to YoungLife, and trying to figure out how the school works. I call the period between now and December the homesick months, as I just wanted to go HOME!
October: Our old Au Pair Catrin came to visit for a 5-day weekend. We got to show her around England, and 2 weeks later my Grandparents came after a long-awaited 11-week absence, the longest we had been from them since I could ever remember. October was good cause it brought a little bit of home, but as soon as that little blast from the past was gone, I was left feeling empty and still missing my American comfort zone.
November: After October break things started to get pretty sucky. There was 7 STRAIGHT WEEKS between the end of October break and Christmas Break, which felt like even longer since i couldn't wait till i would be able to return back to Atlanta. I continued to go to YoungLife and practiced for the School Play. Thanksgiving was pretty sucky, as in England its just another Thursday, as opposed to the all out fest of gorging our faces with all food in sight followed by napping while watching some American Football. No, none of that here, but we made the best of it...sort of.
December: We had our performance in the school musical, which was extremely fun and for the first time I actually felt like I had something to do and had accomplished something. After that, I was so ready to go home. Dec. 16, I finally was able to go back to America! It was the best 2 weeks! I saw friends, family, and the great city of ATLANTA! Christmas never felt better, and to top it off, I had a great birthday! December was def a month to remember!
January: January was the big month of change. After a fun new years eve party, my family relunctantly returned back to England, all of us on the brink of tears that we had to leave when it felt like he had just gotten back. However it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I had exams, a three-day weekend, and grew really close to Morgan, Eric, Laura, and the new girl Jessica. It was a better month compared to those before.
February: This was def my busiest and really fun month. The first weekend I geared up to watch the Super Bowl, staying up till 4 AM. Although it was loads of fun, for the first time since coming home, I felt homesick and missed those HUGE superbowl parties thrown at our house for our neighborhood. The next week I went skiing in Austria. Although at the time I wished I would've gone with the school, I was glad I went with my family because we were able to see our dear Au Pair that we hadn't seen in 4 years. It was a great experience and the mountains of Austria were unbelievable. As soon as we got back, the SPANIARDS! came to stay with us for a student exchange. It was a great experience and I learned a lot of Spanish. At the end of the month came Prom, in which I took Jessica. It was cool as we had it at the studios where James Bond was filmed. Next, the spaniards left, and some other stuff happened that caused March to be pretty difficult.
March: This month was pretty depressing for me. I basically realized that I didnt need a relationship to make me happy, and am perfectly content with my friends. I went to Malta, expecting the weather to be warm, yet it was colder and rainier in the island than in England...?? I had some doubts about joining a sports team, but with the support of Kendall, I was persuaded to join the baseball team, something that I'm so glad I did and now look back as one of the best decisions I ever made. The end of the month brought Spring Break!!!
April: The first two weeks of this month were Spring Break. I went to Paris the first week, and reluctantly to Bulgaria the second week. Though I had a really good time and thought it was so cool helping people and giving back. At the same time, I had a really good time with fun YoungLife clubs and my amazing leaders. After break I continued playing baseball and even had a girlfriend from the Bulgaria Trip, a relationship that basically lasted 5 minutes. After that I returned to my whole "Dont Need Relationship" philosophy.
May: My grandparents came back to visit this month. We went to Amsterdam for the weekend, and then returned for four days before I went to Spain for the second half of the Spanish Exchange. I went with some really cool people (Kendall, Maria, Peter, David, Steph) Although it was full of bad allergies and really hot weather, I learned a lot more Spanish and experienced some pretty extreme parties, what they call Botellon. The trip was followed by another 3 day weekend, and gearing up for the last year of school.
June: I honestly think this was my WORST month so far. It started out pretty good, then took a turn for the worst. I was basically faced with public humiliation from people I thought were my friends. It left with some broken relationships that still have yet to be mended. The next two weeks were miserable for me, and all i could think about was returning back to that American comfort zone. I asked my mom to send me home early, and as soon as I finished my exams, I was gone. I never looked back on those extremely tough two weeks. But now I'm so glad that it happened, because now I have friends that mean so much more to me than those. The last week of June was the true American summer full of theme parks, late nights, parties, and games of my favorite team, Atlanta Braves.
July: The first part of this month was the continuation of my summer vacation in America. Waterparks, Dinner at amazing American restaraunts, and The Fray concert topped off this month. I also became extremely close with my incredible friend Emily, and now I can honestly say she's probably my best friend. At the end of the month, we went on a week-long cruise through the Mediterannean. Its my parents way of mixing what they love to do with seeing Europe. Works for Me! We had a great time and planned another Mediterannean cruise for the next year.
August: This was a big month of change in England. We moved out of the crappy house that we endured for 1 year into a bigger, and so much better house. Most of August was spent moving boxes and furniture, however I found time to become really good friends with Kendall. We developed an extremely strong relationship that we still have and from that moment I knew that I had found a true friend, something I really needed in England. The end of the month brough Wyldlife camp, in which i began my training to be a WyldLife leader, and the start of school, a start to the year so much better than my first.
September: In this month, I continued to make more friends from all the new people, such as Daniel and Dylan. I started a PSAT class which met every Saturday at 8 in the morning- I was seriously sleep deprived. I began serving as a WyldLife leader and although the first stage of the process is only "observation" I now felt like my life had a great purpose, and that YoungLife was one of the reasons we moved here. I also began some AP classes, and realized I had to study pretty hard to keep up, but i persevered.
October: October was a really fun month. I got really into the MLB Playoffs and attempted to watch every game. I went out quite a bit with friends and at this point I was fully over the horrible events that occured a little over 3 months before. This is where I realized I didnt need all those people that made me feel bad, because I had it so much better with the amazing friends that actually appreciate and treat me right. Catrin came to visit again with her parents and we did some sightseeing. A few weeks later, My family went to Austria and Germany to see our au pair Tina and see where she lived and her family. After taking the horrific flight from hell back from Austria, we went to the first NFL game to see the Giants face the Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. It was pretty sweet and brought a great taste from home.
November: Whereas the previous November was a dreadful March toward Christmas Break, since I was actually happy I enjoyed the month. Some great events involve my "Uganda American Football Party" where I was able to teach some "Foreigners" about American Football as well as treat them to some awesome Mexican cuisine. We also had a HUGE thanksgiving feast with our "new" neighborhood and some friends of ours. It actually felt like an American Thanksgiving- we even watched American Football. November also brought the start of swimming season (I tried out with one of my best friends Maria), in which I wasn't very good and dreaded swim practice for those 3 weeks.
December: In this month, I continued to swim, until I got cut. It would've been much worse, however Maria was cut as well and the fact that we both didnt make it made me feel a lot better. The next two weeks were me and my family getting ready to return to America. Although the last year was a NEED to go back, this year was more of a want to go back and more excitiment to go and come back rather than go and DREAD coming back. We left for Atlanta in which I shopped and ate lots of food food. The next week, I went to Texas for a few days to see my Grandparents. These days were full of mexican food (homemade by my grandma) and High School Musical 2, which brought great insight into my life :P Christmas came in which I recieved a new Ipod, Phone, and Watch. I also got addicted to Guitar Hero and recieved it for my birthday :) After Xmas was sent spending with my awesome friends, seeing a Thrashers game, and even hanging out with a friend or 2 from England.
January: After New Year's, I said goodbye and was excited bout returning to England. As soon as I got back I caught up with all my friends and prepared for exams, which I didnt do so well but o well. I was so happy that i was actually "glad" to come back, which showed me how much I actually love it here in England. The rest of the month continued hangin with some of the best friends in the World, and led to Feb which brought a whole Night of watching the SuperBowl. All this leading up to today, my 1.5 anniversary of being here.
So basically there's my recap on the first Year and Half of my journey here in England. The first part brought extreme homesickness, the second part was where I met some really cool people and made some great friendships, but in the end was topped off by losing those friendships and ultimately for the better. The next half a year since then has been incredible, in which I realized who my real friends are and who really matters to me. Because of this I really enjoy my life here. I have been some incredible places, met some incredible people, and done some incredible things. There was bad and good times, but I honestly think the bad had to happen in order for the good to come together. Just as the quote says:
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser"
So, to you England, on our anniversary, I hope and pray that the next year and a half are just as good as the first.
And I leave you with these lyrics:
You say life is a dream where we can't say what we mean
Maybe just some roadside scene that we're driving past
There's no telling where we'll be in a day or in a week
And there's no promises of peace or of happiness
Happy 1.5 England
