Within the month, I’ve traveled to many places (see previous post) – that’s probably the most interesting part of the last blog-less month. Classes, though, have kept me busy. The problem with having all of your final grades rely on two papers, for each class, is that eventually the due dates for those papers occur. I spent all of last week researching and writing two of my three papers due in March and the last is due next week. I’m excited to have those completed, though I’m anxious to see how my American writing holds up in comparison to these English assignments. It would seem like an easy transition, but the spelling of words here is subtly different, along with the way they grade work. Besides coursework and travel, life here has been normal. I finally feel like I live in Leeds, which is good because we’re approaching the two-month mark. 

My friends and I have finally booked all of our travel for our month-long (!!!!!) Easter break which begins March 28. I’ll be traveling to Geneva, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and London throughout the month and I’ll be doing so with old friends from America and new ones from Leeds. I could not be more excited! 

Currently, however, I’m suffering from the flu. It started earlier in the week. I had been feeling ill so I stayed in and watched Grey’s Anatomy (naturally) and of course it was an emotional episode, so I cried. When I stopped watching I noticed my eyes were quite red, but I chalked that up to the emotional toll that show places on a human, but when the redness wouldn’t go away, it dawned on me that there might be something wrong. And, after some intense eye flushing and a trip to the pharmacist, it became clear that I did in fact have pink eye… which until this week, I’ve never had before in my life. It is my belief I inherited the sickness from a train ride I was on the weekend prior. So that’s been fun, I seemingly cried myself into pink eye. Anyway, due to that I haven’t been doing much this week, but I am glad I got sick this weekend, of all weekends. Next weekend my friend from home who is studying in Ireland is coming to visit and the weekend following is the start of break. I’m also glad I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s for this, the meds the pharmacist gave me have been working perfectly. Though the school provides us with health insurance, navigating a hospital and answering medical questions, while sick and in a foreign country, did not sound like something I wanted to partake in at all.

But, if the last week has taught be one thing, it’s that when studying abroad it is extremely important to always be polite. At home I always try to be courteous, but here, just simply, thanking a person has gone a long way in making life easier for me. For example, when I was sick and traveling home from Stratford via train last weekend, I realized I booked a different train than my friend. I also realized the train made three transfers. Three seemed like a lot, and it seemed even more ridiculous when I realized one of the stops made me get off in Derby and get on another train to Leeds, while the train I was supposed to get off of was already going to Leeds. So essentially, my ticket had me get off of a train heading to Leeds, only to get on another train heading to Leeds (thanks Trainline…). I asked a worker at the station if I could just stay on the train and he said it was up to the attendant on the actual train. So after transferring once, I got on the train and asked the man working, who seemed annoyed before I even approached him, and he told me that I had signed the terms and agreements so I had to transfer like the ticket said. Though frustrated, I understood it was my own fault and thanked him for his help. I also asked how in the future I could avoid such a predicament. Then I went back to my seat. Eventually, the same man came around to check tickets. Upon seeing me, he smiled and told me I could stay on the train after all. He said that I was far more polite then most customers and thus he would let me stay. It’s moments like that when I realized that it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world, as long as you are kind, people will be as well (even if it takes them a moment to realize).

Besides that, the last month in Leeds has been filled with many new adventures. But there are still so many things I want to experience and places I want to go to. Planning for Easter break has been stressful. Even though I’m going to so many incredible places, I still can’t help but feel like there are so many more places to explore.

Our final exam tentative schedules have been released, and if all stays the same, I’ll be done with exams May 23. My flight back to America is June 20, so I have another month to explore Europe around that time. That is however, if I stay until June 20. I’m having a blast in Leeds, but I must admit planning for my life once I return has been a bit of a headache. Not only am I trying to figure out my class schedule for next semester without the close comfort of an adviser nearby, but I’m also trying to get a summer internship — most of which begin in early June. I’ve been applying and corresponding via email, and I even did two interviews via Skype, which was interesting, to say the least. It’s been a little challenging figuring out what I want to do when I return to America, especially when I want to focus all my time and energy to my time here.

I’ll keep you posted on my quest to balance it all. 

-Kelsey