Partying...

...is happening back home amongst my friends quite often these days, which is tough, because I wish I could join in, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that I'll be back home in a mere five days. Yippee! Aside from a debacle with my English paper, my assignments are coming along nicely. I'm leaving one paper for over the break, because it's about LOST and I can't get Netflix in this stupid country.

That's not fair. I don't really believe this country is stupid. In fact, quite the opposite; I love it here. I can't believe I have to go, without any idea when I might return. Hopefully for grad school, at least. This weekend we went round London taking silly Christmas pictures at places like Abbey Road and Harrods and the South Bank. Every time I go into London I find that I'm going to miss is even more. Kingston I could take or leave. Kingston Uni I could take or leave. Actually I'll be happy to leave Kingston Uni, where I am not impressed with the attitudes of most students. Whatever. London, though. I can't believe I have to go home to Tulsa.

Right now I'm waiting for word from my professor about my English paper, which is probably going to be a fruitless endeavor, so let's revisit my goals.

-5 new countries: Fortunately, this most important of my priorities I have accomplished! Sweden, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Ireland make exactly five, not to mention France, which I've already visited. This brings the total number of countries I've visited up to a round ten. Awesome.

-Out of the way places: Charleston Farmhouse, yes. Chawton (Jane Austen's house), yes. Charles Dickens' house in London, yes. This one could have been better, but in the last weeks here I decided with the combination of my dwindling funds, my mounting workload and the blistering cold, some of those places, like Durham and Wales, just weren't going to be possible. Which sucks, and is just another reason I wish I could stay longer. But, you know. Grad school.

-London buses: Epic fail. Whatever. Really, everything I ever do in London is either within walking distance of wherever I am, or within walking distance of the Tube. I didn't bother visiting on Tube strike days. Kingston buses, on the other hand, which are a part of the London bus system, I am an expert in. Which is unfortunate because they are all terrible.

-None of my parents' money: Mostly a success. The only substantial thing I used their money for was a travelcard, but really, that's all. Everything else has come out of my savings and money from TU.

-More friends: While I haven't made any friends as close as Lea or Carolyn, I have managed to make at least one friend in each of my classes, and in my seminars and my journalism class I feel a lot less like an outsider than I did at the beginning. Not to mention, I've hung out several times with Carolyn's boys, who are great. Also, I've made connections with most of my professors, which is reassuring because that's usually how I operate at home.

-Room tidy: Mostly a success. Lately it's been more difficult, as I've been more busy and staying out later, but all in all I've been a lot neater than I usually am at home.

-One postcard per week: Overall a success, but lately a big fail. I've sent enough postcards to average out one per week, but I have a pile of them on my desk right now that have been sitting there for weeks that I haven't sent. Oops.

-One thing per day I fear: This one is so weird. For about the whole first half of my time here, I was hyper focused on this, and it took a conscious effort to do anything, because I was afraid of everything. I know that I am still afraid of things, like turning in papers and going to seminars and singing in the choir and filming interviews and ordering at pubs and talking to people in shops... but I don't notice it anymore. That is, I don't notice the effort it takes to do these things. I don't know if I'd say I wasn't afraid anymore; rather that I have proportionally more ability to cope with my fear. This is the part of me that I think has changed the most over the past twelve weeks, and the thing that I most hope sticks when I go back home. But, I think it will. I am, of course, so afraid of sliding back into my timid, always-assume-the-worst mindset. In the spirit of not always assuming the worst, however, I am confident that I can keep it up.

-Internships: Just applied to six, but I still have the Tulsa World, Breakthrough Collaborative, and NPR to do when I get back. The point is, I didn’t slack off and miss all the early deadlines like last year.

-Don’t say mean things: This might have been a success simply because I know fewer people about whom to talk. I am converting this one into a goal for when I get back.

With this evaluation, I score myself about an 80%. But that does not take into account all the other stuff I accomplished, which I did not think to incorporate into my goals. Like writing a novel. And embracing feminism. And making a lifelong-caliber friend. And developing a taste for beer. And gin and tonics. And re-investing myself in my faith. And re-wetting my literary appetite. And taking a few excellent photographs. And becoming a regular at a pub. And knowing my way around London. And discovering the electric kettle. And going to the Globe three times. And not wanting to come home.

So, you know. I think I earned some bonus points.
<3
C