Mid Semester Reflection

Hello! So two weeks ago I passed that half way mark for my semester in London. But now its more like 6 weeks left until my parents finish and 8 until I come back to the States. Can you believe that! These past few months have flown by. I really want don’t want it to end but I admit I am missing America. So in this post I’m just going to post a little reflection on what I’ve done so far and how I’m feeling now.

So lets start off with few good things! I love the amount of traveling I’ve done so far, I’ve gone to France and Spain. I’ve been really happy with where I’ve been. And within those trips I’ve been to Paris, Bilbao, and Barcelona, and currently I’m on my way to Edinburgh for the weekend. I decided to study in London to explore a city I really enjoyed catching a glimpse of in 2014. I knew I wanted to do a few trips but I didn’t want to go to a different place every weekend. Now that doesn’t seem like very many places but when I was setting some goals before I left I told myself that I wanted to explore most of the city I decided to study in. I wanted to try my best to become as much of a local as possible. So that being said, Edinburgh is one of my last trips I plan to take out of England this semester.

Along with travelling outside of England, I’ve done a few day trips to different cities in England. One of the very first weekends that I was in London I travelled to Bath with my program. Now I have to say I didn’t really like that trip, Bath is a beautiful city but I didn’t spend that much time there, I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had more time to spend a full day or two in the city. A few weeks later I travelled to Brighton which is in south of England. That trip was so fun! We took the train down which I have found is a great way to travel. (And I say that as I’m on the train). Brighton was so beautiful! It was super sunny and being able to hear the rush of the waves along the beach put me back at home for just a brief moment. I am definitely heading back to Brighton before I leave, either over Easter and definitely with my parents in May.

And speaking of my parents, I definitely miss them. Luckily not so much, but enough that as May continues to get closer I’m getting even more excited to show them my home for this semester. And getting to hang out with my sister in Ireland! This will have been the longest I’ve been away from home. I miss UMW as well, and I miss being on an actual campus rather than in the city. I also really miss a lot of aspects from America, like Target, Wegmans, Chick-fil-a, Moe’s and most of all Carl’s. Now I know these seem very trivial but the UK doesn’t compare to a chicken sandwich with waffle fries and a lemonade. Although we do have Nando’s which is a delicious second, there’s just something about Chick-fli-a on a sunny day at the beach. I miss my car too! I just want to take a drive in Downtown Fredericksburg, or even down at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach.

Although I miss a lot from home I really love London and I’m having such a great time here. I can’t wait for my next adventure exploring London even more!