Cheers, London!

Gill and I at our last pub

     I left London on December 18th, a Sunday. The last weekend I was there was full of nostalgia, friends, and lots of good food and drink (savoring all the things we don't have in America)! The day before that final weekend, the real and true end of the trip, Gill, her friend Andrea, and I went to a cool little piercing shop conveniently located right down the street from our school.We each got piercings, a little something that will always remind us of our adventure in London. I won't tell you about how big of a baby I was in that basement, it'll detract from the nostalgic nature of this story to have you all laughing at my completely unjustified terror.



    



The aforementioned super cool piercing shop

     Yesterday was the 6 week mark of that piercing, the day you are officially allowed to change the earring without the threat of your ear falling off or something equally terrible. I can hardly believe that I've been home for six weeks already. At the same, time it does feel like ages ago that I wandered the streets of Islington. I have been thinking a lot during this time about what I would say in this post, my final study abroad post. Truth is I still don't really know what to say but it's now or never.





The tube! Ok, it's still sort of exciting.



     I can't even begin to recount all of the wonderful experiences I had in the UK. I lived in my favorite author's neighborhood, I walked in the footsteps of my favorite band, and I studied amongst years and years of history. I made new friends, saw new places, an tried new things. Yet, in the midst of all the new, there was time enough to get comfortable. Even though new experiences big and small seem to come every day when you're abroad, three months is enough time to settle in and shed that initial feeling of being the outsider. I'll never forget the first time that a tourist asked me for directions.Apparently I looked the part of a local (though I surely never sounded the part)! What made the moment so memorable though, was the fact that I, normally quite directionally challenged, knew the area well enough to actually give the man directions! It is exciting whn riding the Tube stops being exciting and you start to know all the bus routes and stops by name and number. When you know the good, the bad, and the hilarious places to eat as well as all the pubs in your neighborhood (and when they are open). When there is practically a worn down track through the local Sainsbury's because you have your usual shopping list (and your friend's) down pat. When you consult the list of top attractions in the travel book and realize you've seen them all but your list of places to go and things to do still stretches on. When you watch an episode of Doctor Who ("Aliens in London" to be precise) and you have been to every location. When you ride Piccadilly line all the way out to Heathrow and you know what's above every station you stop at in central London. It is so thrilling to know a city as amazing as London on that level! 

     My flight back home was uneventful, a welcome relief after the horror show that was my flight out, but long. So LONG. A ten hour direct flight to San Fransisco and then 2 more hours home. Between airport time, time zones, and layovers I was up for a solid 24 hours with 12 of them actually in flight. I had no idea what day it was when I finally got to DIA! I must say, I think this trip has cured me of my air travel anxiety (mostly). I feel like there is nothing left that an airline can throw at me that I haven't seen before. Bring it on air travel!... *Except not really, I would like to keep the travel Gods on my side for any future travels. I didn't mean what I said just then. Please, bring it off!* 

     Coming home to my parents and my puppies was so great. It was like I had never left even though things had changed. How good it is to return to your home! There are so many things that I missed while I was away and I feel extra lucky to have around again! Lots and lots of things I miss now too. I never, never ever thought that I would love any place as much as I love Denver. I guess that's why I was taken so off guard when I began to feel more and more at home in Islington. Three months is the perfect amount of time to get to know a place and the perfect amount of time to be away on your own for the first time. Honestly though, it's barely enough to scratch the surface of all that London has to offer!

     There is so much more I could say about those amazing three months but I don't want to ramble any more than I already have. It was a time of many firsts for me; first solo plane ride, first time out of the America, first time living on my own. I honestly had no idea what to expect. Yet, somehow, it exceeded every expectation that I didn't seem to have. 

Damn, this one isn't the
TARDIS either!

     As Gill and I cleaned out our flats at Liberty Hall into the early hours of December 18th "Hello, Goodbye" by my dear Beatles came on. How perfect! I don't know why I had to say goodbye to London when I could be saying hello to all of the wonderful times it showed me, the memories created there, and hopefully a return trip. After searching all this time for the right words I guess I only needed one. This one: fantastic! Every last bit of it was just fantastic and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have had this experience.

    
    As for that earring, I didn't change it. Not just yet. For now I like knowing that I have a tiny bit of London on me at all times. Even if it is just a little post.

*One last fantastic thing: this is Gill's final study abroad post which is far better executed than mine and makes me cry every time I read it. I highly recommend it. Also, note her expert use of British spelling.... britalyzations? And this is a wee little bit from Emily's post of the same nature that uses her English major ways to make a point that I can't seem to. "It’s always strange to have an adventure come to an end . . . it really is like the end of a chapter   in a book. Even a section in a book (i.e. Part 1, Part 2 . . .), if it’s epic enough. It feels like there should be some kind of cliffhanger ending, some realization, some type of epic closure. But there rarely is. Things just careen right along without seeming to care that you want to pause for a minute and mull over the chapter before continuing on."



A fantastic impromptu photo of a

construction crew outside City U!

  

  



The Yearly Giving of Thanks

It's black Friday (at least it was when I started writing this post, I have a tendency to get a little backlogged) and you know what that means… Locking all the doors and windows, staying in the house watching Christmas shows, and eating leftovers! What? That’s just me? You do what at 3 a.m.!?! Well have fun with that but I personally do not want to take part in any heartwarming American tradition that inevitably seems to end in the trampling of innocent people on the way to cheap novelty toys. And luckily for me, my family shares my sentiment on this. With the exception of my poor dad, who had to brave the roads during Black Friday rush hour (7a.m.) to get to the firehouse where he will probably face a shift of trying to revive trampled people, the rest of us (that would be my mom and I) were content to stay in the house all day.

I’ve got a great family. I mean, yeah they’re a little nuts, but the best ones always are. When I’m looking around the neighborhood at all of the hip young couples and their hip young babies I am always glad that my own family seems to have run as far away from that cookie cutter as possible. We’ve got our quirks and sure there’s the occasional screaming match, but overall I think we pretty much like each other. Good for us. And for that I am incredibly, shouting from the mountain tops, thankful.

Yesterday, we all hoped in the car and drove to Pueblo to enjoy the traditional stuffing of face with our extended family (well part of it at least). It’s a little more than 2 hours in the car on a fairly blah stretch of highway with legions of other holiday commuters. I have the hips of an 80 year old and they ache something fierce when I sit it a certain position for too long. But still I love these kinds of trips because my parents let me plug in my iPod and be in charge of the music for the whole trip. Lucky for all of us, I have very obscure taste in music and my parents are just as big of classic rock fans as I am. So we bridge the generation gap and rock out for a while. It’s awesome and I’m thankful for those two hours.

Then, when we finally get to my aunt and uncle’s house, we are greeted with the world’s best aroma, tuuuuuurkey! And hugs, those are nice too. For the next hour it’s just a frenzy of everyone trying to help (or at least stay out of the way) in an effort to get the food to the table a little faster. Then the best part, tuuuuuuurkey! I don’t know if this happens at every holiday gathering or if it’s more Salagovic specific, but as soon as the food is out it goes practically silent for the next few minutes then the volume gradually increases as the plates empty. I’ve come to the conclusion that the volume of the group is inversely related to the amount of food on the plates. So there’s that and my uncle and his not so candid camera that we’ve all learned to ignore (the shots always come out quite nice), but other than that we really don’t have any major, holiday halting quirks. Between internet advice columns and holiday movies you’d think that every family has gory skeletons in their closet that come exploding out as soon as each seat around the holiday table has a butt in it. But I guess we just don’t. For that I am thankful.

I am also thankful for the Macy’s parade, it’s just so festive! I love it! And I’m thankful for the DVR that lets me record it because we always leave for Pueblo before it starts. This year there were some really great acts, and a ton of pop artists that I’d never heard of, but the presence of the amazing Arlo Guthrie and the fabulous Gladys Knight (though the Pips were mysteriously absent) made up for that. Also, I was pretty impressed by Jimmy Fallon (who I never realized could sing) and his band. They revived a retro piece that originally appeared as a superstar medley on a holiday telethon, “Feed The World”. The words are great and touching and they make you think about the rest of the world, plus it’s a pretty catchy anthem. “And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime. The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life (Oooh)…” it’s just as true today as it was when the song first rocked in the 80’s. And I am thankful for that too. I am reminded that there are so many things that we all just take for granted (a bed, Thanksgiving dinner, clean water…) while there are people all over the world living without. And what is even more amazing is that many of these people, though they’ve never watched a single TV show or worn designer clothes in their lives, are truly happy and content. I am thankful that I have what I do but I also hope to be able to learn from those who make do without what I have.

I hope you are all equally as content and thankful. May we all go out and, little by little, spread a little love for the holidays!