Yes, this is a travel blog, and study abroad is a time of change, excitement, new faces, new places, and probably a ridiculous exchange rate (depending on where you’re headed). At the same time though, you are still yourself and there are still 24 hours in the day to fill. I’m hesitant to post blog after blog of cool places where I merely describe the places with the crystallized nostalgia that inevitably comes with looking at amazing pictures–because yeah, sight-seeing is cool, these cities and places awesome, but sometimes, when I’m there, the most important thing is finding the hostel and crashing…or finding the nearest fish and chips. The Rosetta Stone, after all, is merely a rock in a class case, surrounded by a crowd. That’s not to belittle it–just to acknowledge the real nature of things. Life doesn’t always speed up, and sometimes, that’s when the best things happen and I feel most like myself. Ordinariness in the midst of upheaval is no light thing. So this is a blog post dedicated to mundane-ity, the normal, and the not-exciting.

One of the least glamourous (note the spelling) aspects of going to school here is going to school here: I do have class, though less often than I’m used to. Tonight, in fact, is my first real homework binge night, complete with Grooveshark (Pandora doesn’t work over here), Facebook, and actually this blog as welcome distractions. I’m wearing my PSU tee-shirt, shorts, and fuzzy socks–my normal regime for school-mode me. My housemates are probably surprised at the transformation and eyeing me strangely when I come down into the kitchen to get yet another slice of cheese, but this is how I would haunt my dorm room halls. It’s incredibly calming actually; I’m familiar with homework-packed nights and procrastination. It reminds me of home, although I’m missing my roommate to commiserate with me, and reminders of home, schedules, and normality are comforting–as is the sound of Bon Iver in the background.

A few days ago, I took a walk past the outskirts of campus–by myself, headed in no real direction, just me and my camera. This wasn’t an epic journey, but I discovered a gem of a cute British neighborhood right near my house, and the walk gave me time to think, be alone, and muse on life as I currently know it. Here are some of the cute places lining the streets around my university!

Is this postcard news? No. Is it blog-worthy? Yes. It was a chance to reflect and, even less than that, a chance to exist outside of the constant barrage of sensations and new things: to be separate, to be in the moment, to be doing nothing much.  I’m dwelling on this and it’s starting to sound cheesy, but it’s so important. I’d say it’s like taking time to stop and smell the roses, but in a way, it was taking time not to stop and smell anything: I’m sure I could have been seeing some historic site, meeting new people, or hey, doing homework. But in all the madness of study abroad, some things remain the same. I liked just letting everything be, taking a metaphorical deep breath, and realizing that life is still just life–made up of mainly the same emotions, excitements, and failures that life at home consists of too. I guess I just wanted to give that aspect of the study-abroad experience (although of course, there is no one definitive experience) a shout: in the end, sometimes it’s you sitting in your room thinking whatever thoughts you would be thinking anywhere. And that is not a bad thing because–according to Frost–the thing about life is that it goes on…wherever you happen to be.  

Location: Canterbury, UK