Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Homesick
Well, the snow is officially gone. We're back to the same old rain and gray we've had since I got here, which is okay because at least it's not sunshine, but now that we've crossed the line of first snowfall I wake up every morning and the first thing I do is look out the window to see if it's coming down again. So far, no luck.
A lot of American students are going back to their home universities pretty soon. I guess it's less common to choose to spend a whole year abroad than just a semester. I'm really glad I don't have to go home just now that I'm really getting used to the way things work over here, but in a way I'm jealous because I've really started missing my family. It happened when I was staring a silly movie poster in someone's flat, and I remembered taking my parents to cinema -- I say it like that because they have horrible taste in movies and I consider it a form of education to prevent them from paying money to see Gothika, which they did anyway, but you can't win them all -- and how much fun it is to talk about movies with them afterward, because my dad gets as excited as I do, and my mom asks me questions like, "Why does Hellboy like kitties so much?"
For some reason I find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it would be possible for me to just go home for Christmas, or for anything. It's as if here and there couldn't possibly exist at the same time -- leaving America was such a big step, how could it be undone just by sitting on an airplane for 9 hours? Crazy, I tell you.
I miss my city, too. Very, very much. But mostly I miss my family. It would be so nice to spend Christmas with them, but I'm also excited to experience a British Christmas for the first time. I keep talking to more and more American study abroad students who are going home for good in just a few weeks, and I'm glad I signed up to live here for 10 months instead of 3. Even if it means waiting until June to use the word "pants" again without getting funny looks.
A lot of American students are going back to their home universities pretty soon. I guess it's less common to choose to spend a whole year abroad than just a semester. I'm really glad I don't have to go home just now that I'm really getting used to the way things work over here, but in a way I'm jealous because I've really started missing my family. It happened when I was staring a silly movie poster in someone's flat, and I remembered taking my parents to cinema -- I say it like that because they have horrible taste in movies and I consider it a form of education to prevent them from paying money to see Gothika, which they did anyway, but you can't win them all -- and how much fun it is to talk about movies with them afterward, because my dad gets as excited as I do, and my mom asks me questions like, "Why does Hellboy like kitties so much?"
For some reason I find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it would be possible for me to just go home for Christmas, or for anything. It's as if here and there couldn't possibly exist at the same time -- leaving America was such a big step, how could it be undone just by sitting on an airplane for 9 hours? Crazy, I tell you.
I miss my city, too. Very, very much. But mostly I miss my family. It would be so nice to spend Christmas with them, but I'm also excited to experience a British Christmas for the first time. I keep talking to more and more American study abroad students who are going home for good in just a few weeks, and I'm glad I signed up to live here for 10 months instead of 3. Even if it means waiting until June to use the word "pants" again without getting funny looks.
