There’s no place like home…

I have now been home for about a month and a half.  What does it feel like?  Am I having reverse culture shock like everybody warned that I would?  At the moment, no.  But that’s the key phrase – at the moment.  

I wish my life were more continuous, but it is far from it.  It is made up of moments, all differing and seemingly disconnected.  Yesterday I was annoyed with my family, missing Winchester (because it snowed TWO FEET recently…argh), and thinking about how I miss traveling on the weekends to places like Sicily and the Lake District.  But today, I am comforted by the familiar sluggishness of my hometown on a Sunday afternoon, lazily drinking coffee and thinking about all the things I learned while I was abroad – the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet. That’s what I feel like writing about, so here goes.

I learned that not everything is permanent.  I hold on to things, tangible or intangible, thinking that they will always be mine to own.  The fact is, we never really own anything permanently. When we try to, it seems to me that it slips away even more rapidly.  Two of my dogs from childhood deteriorated in health while I was gone, and they died within a week of my return.  They were always there, and now they are not, and this happened within just a few moments’ time.  

I learned that traveling is something I will and need to do for the rest of my life. I need to keep experiencing newness, and also to keep learning that we all, despite our cultural differences, are pretty much the same.

I learned that open-mindedness is painful.  I think we’re lying to ourselves most of the time when we say we accept others’ differences.  Often I befriend people and learn from them, but I still retain my own identity.  Accepting takes a lot longer – years of living, laughing, eating (and even drinking, in England’s case…) with its people for a person to really get to know a culture well enough to say they’ve accepted it. 

Finally, I learned that home, well, it’s just home.  There’s no other place like the town you grew up in and the people you grew up around.  I adapted to England while I was there, I learned from their culture, and I mostly felt at ease. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t home.  That feeling of solidarity, of the security that you know every little quirk and rhythm of the place you’re in, for me, that only belongs to Greenwood, SC.

So concludes this blog…thanks for reading!

-Kelley

Alas…

The time has come to say goodbye…

Everyone has left today, or they are leaving tomorrow – it’s so sad!  I am more attached than I thought…

Dillon and I went to a Kate Rusby concert (one of my favorite folk singers ever) up in Barnsley yesterday…it was the perfect ending to the trip.  I have videos on Facebook if you have an account; for some reason they won’t load on here.  She was amazing – just like her CDs, which is rare.  It was a Christmas concert, too, so everything was really happy and festive looking.  

I come back in 3 days, basically…and Logan is leaving tomorrow.  It’s insane.  None of us can really process it, and we’re all very mixed emotionally, because we are all homesick, but we realize that this is the last time we’ll see some of these people, and that’s weird, at the least.  Two or three people are planning to visit us in Greenwood though, and we want to take a road trip next summer around America.

See you all soon! I probably won’t write anymore, between packing and goodbyes and everything…and so concludes this blog!  

All the best,

Kelley

Back from Edinburgh…busy week ahead.

This will be a short post, but I wanted you to know that we got back safely, and it was very enjoyable. There are pictures up…here is Album 1 and Album 2 from Edinburgh.

I’ll write more later; I have to write basically nonstop before the end of this week…ugh.

Edinburgh…

I hope everything back home is doing fine and the same…I can’t wait to see all the Christmas decorations!  Here’s an update…

It has ended up that it is only Dillon and I who will be going to Edinburgh this weekend.  I’m excited.  We’re staying in a hostel in a room with 14 other people in it…should be interesting.  Haha.  We will probably be meeting up with Ju-Ju and P-pa’s (my grandparents, for those confused) friends one night, who live in Edinburgh. By bus, it’s only 3.2 miles away from the hostel we’re staying at, which is quite convenient.  We are planning to go ice skating on the outdoor rink one night while we’re there, and other than that try to find as much free stuff to do as possible – museums and the like.  Oh, we’ll get there Thursday night and leave Sunday late afternoon.

Yesterday, Natalie and Matt (a couple from here) and Dillon and I went to Southampton for the day and saw some interesting stuff, like the port where Titanic sailed from, and also the Mayflower!  It was really nice.  There was a museum as well, rather small but interesting, and we talked to the curators for a little bit-I think they were glad to have some people be interested.  Here are some pictures…

See you in 2 weeks and a day!

The week of work…

This week looks like it will be filled with work…I am planning to get ahead so I can relax and travel the last week or so that I’m here.  Dillon and some friends and I are going to Edinburgh Dec. 11-14, and I can’t wait! We found a flight for 45 pounds…which is insanely cheap.  It’s only about an hour’s flight from Southampton.

I got one of my essays back and did well, so I’m not too worried about grades (maybe I should be!).  Off to writing…

Here is an album of miscellaneous pictures around Winchester during November.

-Kelley

“It seems to leave this troubled world behind…”

I am going to summarize this crazy weekend…or so I will try.

 

Thursday:  Mom and Dad and Gran-momma and Boogie-daddy (my grandparents, for those that are confused…) arrive in Winchester.  We had a very nice dinner at a gourmet pizza place on High Street in Winchester.

Friday:  Gran-momma and Boogie-daddy go to Portsmouth, I believe, and then up to Oakham.  Mom, Dad, Dillon, and me go to Stonehenge.  That was really awesome…it was sort of smaller than i expected, but also a lot older than I thought, too.  It was assembled around the time that the Egyptians were building the pyramids.

We then drove from Stonehenge to Bath, which I found to be a charming city.  It is nestled in a valley between two very large hills, and contains a lot of history — there are natural hot springs there where Romans used to bathe, and you can still see much of their structure/temple that they built around the springs.  They basically had a spa…it was pretty cool.  We also saw a lovely abbey from the 15th century; it had really pretty windows (apparently they made up 60% of the entire structure).  Here are pictures from Stonehenge and Bath.

Saturday:  We left at 9:15 to go to Paris — Mom and I almost became ill on the flight.  It was a fun memory…haha.  We got there around 10:30/11:00.  Minus the crazy traffic, Paris really did ‘leave this troubled world behind,’ I think.  It is one of those few places that lives up to and even exceeds your expectations, and it deserves every bit of romanticization it’s gotten over the years.  Something happened inside me, and I was happy in Paris.  It just looks and feels exactly how I imagined it to be.  Yes, we saw the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and all the gorgeous and wonderful things you’re supposed to see in Paris, but the feeling of being in Paris would have been enough for me.  There is the sense that it is unique, because it hasn’t been influenced by the rest of the world, really. Every other big city, like London, has a sort of metropolitan feeling to it, but Paris didn’t to me.  The French value their culture very much, and I think it’s paid off.

It sounds cheesy and touristy and all, but my absolute favorite moment was when Dillon and I went up in the Eiffel Tower.  It was something we’ll always remember, I think, as being the moment we realized where we were, and how amazing it was to be there with each other.  The view was obviously amazing, and we went up at night, so Paris was lit up with magic….heehee.  

The next day we took a 3 hour tour of Paris; there was no one else that had signed up for Sunday morning, so it really was like a private tour!  It was so nice.  You’ll see the pictures, so I won’t go into everything.  Here is Album 1 and Album 2 of the trip to Paris.

Mom and Dad are in Oakham with my grandparents now, and I will see them again on Wednesday, when they will get to see more of Winchester.

See you soon!

Winchester Cathedral

Dillon and I just returned from the Sunday morning service at Winchester Cathedral.  Neither of us had been to an actual service before; it was so beautiful.  We both agreed that the definite highlight was hearing the boys’ choir sing along with the men of the regular choir – every high note that the boys hit contrasted so strikingly with the men’s deeper and more mature voices that it was breathtaking at every peak.  I do like going to services like the one today, much like Episcopalian churches at home. Every type of worship has its own contribution in its own way, I think.  One thing I always like about very structured and traditional services is the sense that you will leave knowing exactly what you can think about for the next week from what you experienced in church – I think God works through both personal revelation and through more ordered and “planned-out” things, such as a high Anglican service or a Bible study.

 

looking behind you...

 

Anyway, if you’ve never heard a boys’ choir, you really should in your lifetime.  They sound so pure…and in a cathedral such as Winchester’s, you can’t help but feel inspired.

Home from the Lake District…

Grasmere and the surrounding countryside was beautiful! Absolutely magical.  Although, it did rain the ENTIRE time…but that almost added to the whole experience.  I posted pictures on Facebook; here’s the links for those who don’t have an account:

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

And a sampling…

Hope you enjoy!

Friends…

I wanted to write a post about all the friends I have made here.  We struck gold with our dorm; it is full of really nice people – good friends – that I’m not even going to think about leaving yet.  Here are some photos…

 

(Left to right) Jerry, our hilarious German friend (those of you who know Nikola, he reminds me of him); Steve, and Dillon

 

(L to R) Laura, Natalie, me, Ruth, April, and Amy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dillon and I with Martin in London...

 

We love Amyy..:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dillon, Logan, and I have made more friends here than we have in Greenwood at Lander…it will be so sad to come back.  I think everyone here is so laid back, plus we basically live with all these people, so we all just get along and go everywhere together.  

Dillon and I are going to see Jerry (the guy in the first photo) play rugby today; it should be really fun.  Afterwards we are going to eat with him and his girlfriend…I’m excited.

See you…

The Lake District

Finally, one of my dreams (from Mrs. Fortner’s senior literature class) will be fulfilled – we are going to the Lake District on November 7-9!  We, being Dillon, Logan, Martin, Steve (two English guys from our dorm), and me will be staying in a “luxury hostel” on a farm in Grasmere, Cumbria.  Grasmere is where William Wordsworth was inspired to write much of his poetry on nature, and it is on a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains.  

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils…..”

-William Wordsworth

 

Here is the hostel we will be staying at:

I am so excited!!!  

See you soon,

Kelley