as of today I have been here for one month!! and have accumulated the following:
- 2 sets of sheets which I have actually changed (my mom will want to read that)
- 7 edinburgh facebook friends
- 5 classes (3 difficult, 2 medium)
- 2 new sweaters
- 3 pairs of stockings/tights
- 1 new word in my vernacular: "cheers!"
- 1 guitar, 3 guitar books, 1000 new songs i want to learn
- 0 new bags (I am so proud of this one)
- 1 new pair of shoes, birkenstocks... in scotland...
- 1 grocery store card (like a ralph's card)
- 0 bank accounts (not proud of this one)
and other stuff.
but it hit me today- a month! that is so long... but it's so short, too. I have a year calendar on my wall where I check off the days. Less in a count of monte cristo way, more just for my own edification. and I will be here for so long!
part of me says, "Ok guys, this was fun. I'm ready to go home now. I learned some new words and your accents are pretty coo, too. But I'm ready to go home." is that wimpy? or pathetic? I thought a year was the way to go, and there are no negative things making me way to leave... more reasons I want to return home.
There are things I can't do here that I want to do. I want to wake up at 8 a.m. and call brooke to go to breakfast/chano's with me. or call caroline at any time of the day to get an omelette at eat street. and tuesday night worship at a.g.o., and jesusfruit (our jawsome bible study), and pushing my homework off my desk and going to santa monica. and seeing my j.e.p. kids and teaching them math (or reading, like happened this past semester). and going home for the weekend and volunteering at m.p.p.c. because they know me and i know them and I can just slide in and be comfortable. or just randomly seeing people I know around campus. those things don't happen here.
God has blessed me with people: my roommate, my small group, the people I know in my classes. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. You hem me in- behind and before; you have laid your hand on me. I have friends at home I can call, and friends here that you have prepared for me. And a church. And tonight (!!) a woman at church invited Kelly and me over to her house to have dinner with her husband and their two children, and it was amazing! They are so generous and welcoming.
I think about that and I'm glad I'm here, but i definitely miss home and get myself in a little funk. On saturday night my small group got together to hang out and watch a movie. And how it's set up is a PC connected to a projector so we have like a 14' screen, which is sah-weet. For whatever reason we ended up google earth-ing our houses. And I got so excited! watching it zoom in on the bay area, into atherton, to my house. you can see my dad's car and the pool and the cabana. I showed them USC- the coliseum, the rose garden, tommy trojan, my apartment building.
I can't quite explain it- I miss USC but I'm happy here. I'm gonna pull a chekhov- "any idiot can face a crisis, it's this day-to-day living that wears you out."
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3 comments:
Congatulations on making it through your first month! I know that missing home is very hard, but you sound like you're actually doing really well getting adapted and making friends.
And you've even avoided frostbite! :)
Lindy--
I know exactly what you mean, and even had the same calender on my wall-- and I was only there a semester! It is hard to be away from everyone, and everything comfortable. It gets exhausting to be open to new experiences every minute of everyday... but you'll be surprised how fast where you are becomes familiar. You are doing such a fabulous job of adjusting-- much, much better than I did-- and I am very proud of you!
way to go, cuz!
also, i like how you acknowledged God.
p.s. - way to go on the quote.
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