Don't Want to Say Goodbye

     I haven't done a very good job at keeping up with this blog, I'll admit. When I sit here and focus on the fact that I'll be leaving Coventry in just a few days and going back home next week, it really makes me wish I had written more. Actually, it makes me wish I had done more. But maybe saying that I wish I had done more makes me selfish. I mean, I've experienced more things, learned more lessons, traveled more places, seen more incredible sights, and met more amazing people in these last three months than I have in my entire life. I didn't even know it was possible to fit so many things into such a short amount of time. (And believe me, three months is very short-- too short, in fact. It goes by faster than you can say "Sultan's Kebab Shop.")
     In John Green's novel, Looking for Alaska, he writes how one event can split our lives down the middle. There's the Before and the After. In the Before, everything's peachy keen, and you carry on with your normal routine never knowing, or even looking, for anything more. You may not be the happiest person in the world, but you're content, and that's good enough.
     And then there's the After. In between the Before and the After, something big happens. In Looking for Alaska, it's tragedy. Death happens. But for me, these three incredible months have been my inbetween. Going back home will mark the After part of my life, because I don't feel the same anymore. I feel like a better version of myself. I'm more confident, I'm not afraid of asking questions (even if they sound stupid), I'm more independent, more outgoing... and happier. The happiest I've ever been in my life, really. I miss my family and friends like crazy, but I'm happy here. It's strange, but this feels like home. My tiny room in this mental institution in the middle of a dingy city is my home. And the only reason for that is the people who live here with me.
     God, I'm going to miss these people. I'm going to miss the amazingly good breakfasts and horribly bad dinners at the Hub. I'm going to miss passing by the familiar smokers standing outside on the steps of Priory, and pulling out my ID card to get inside. I'm going to miss my stupid, squeaky trainers on the tiled floor as I walk towards the one working elevator to go upstairs. I'm going to miss having to open nine doors and passing through China Town just to get to my room. I'm going to miss the stupid fire drills, and complaining outside in the cold with everyone else, standing around in various stages of dress- everything from pajamas and slippers to wet hair and bare feet.  I'm going to miss the sounds of music and shouting and banging on other people's doors. I'm going to miss sitting and gossipping with Rieneke. I'm going to miss Inge's hilarious sayings. I'm going to miss Jill calling out everyone's names at the top of her lungs ("Frida! Inge! Mariano!"). I'm going to miss Alice and her wonderful Belgian accent. I'm going to miss Frida and Peter and David, the three friendliest Swedish people I think I'll ever meet. I'm going to miss Nico and his awesome dance moves. I'm going to miss Dirk and his funny Dutch songs. I'm going to miss Mariano and his faithful dog, Alex. I'm going to miss Selma's infectious laughter. I'm going to miss giving Edgar high-fives, and speaking with Bernat. I'm going to miss Martín and his alter-ego, Fernando. I'm going to miss seeing the always-smiley Jéssica. I'm going to miss Alessandro and giving him a hard time about being older than the rest of us. I'm going to miss Andy and his deep questions. I'm going to miss Krys being right across the hall from me. I'm going to miss Wednesdays at the cinema and eating hotdogs and donuts at Ikea with Edward. And I'm going to miss Rieneke and Krys especially, because they were the first people I met, and the first people who made me feel like everything was going to be okay while I was here.
     It's strange to think that I've only known these people for three months; I feel like I could call them my international family. And for as much as I complain about this city, if I was given the chance to go back and choose another place to study, I'd still pick Coventry every time. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything, because it's the friends you make who matter the most. They're the ones who have helped to shape my After.
     When I leave on Friday, I don't want to just tell everyone "Goodbye." I want to say, "See you next time." Do I know when next time is? No. But do I fully intend on traveling to other people's home countries, or having them come to mine, so that we can see each other again? Indubitably, I do.
     But I can't promise I won't cry.
     Cheers, my American friends-- I'll be seeing you at Christmas.

P.S. I just want to say a really big thank you to my parents, the two most amazing people in the world. Without you guys, this trip would never have been possible. I owe you everything, and I can only hope to repay you one day for all the opportunities you've afforded me. Can't wait to see you again and tell you all my stories!! XX 

So It's Been Awhile...

     Ok, first off, my sincerest apologies to everyone back home. I know you've been asking me to write a new entry for awhile, and it's taken me forever. But that's only because I've been so busy having fun and traveling-- and doing school work, of course-- that I literally just couldn't find the time. And it's better to be going out and doing new things rather than just sitting in my room.... right? Right. So I'm just going to take a leap here and assume that all is forgiven.
     Alright, moving on. So in my Short Story Workshop, we've been focusing on something called flash fiction, which is basically any story under 1000 words. Typically, they're only about 250 words, with mini-sagas coming in at just 50. I know it sounds a little weird, but writing a 50 word story is a lot harder than it seems considering you have to create a scene, develop a character, progress a plot point, resolve a conflict, and come to some sort of conclusion all within the span of a paragraph. But I thought that as a bit of a practice run, I might tell you what I've been up to flash-blog style and sum everything up in 250 words or less. So here goes:
     Halloween was fun, party was good, still lots of candy in my room. Classes getting better, although not easier. I'm getting to know my classmates better since we're left alone to talk a lot during our seminars, and I'm realizing that they're not so different from American students-- well, except for their awesome accents. My mom and Jean visited, and I got to go to London for a weekend (AMAZING), visited Oxford to have a drink at a pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien used to meet up and discuss their writing (also AMAZING), and spent another weekend in the beautiful Stratford-Upon-Avon (needless to say, AMAZING). I met a lot of Cassidy's that week, and they're all extremely entertaining. Spent last weekend in Dublin with some friends and found the city basically disgusting but still a lot of fun. It was a bit of a nightmare actually flying there, but that's a story for a another (longer) entry. Saw Jamie perform as a Beatrice-Joanna in Milton & Rowley's production of The Changeling which was phenomenal (and she was, wait for it... AMAZING!). Had more crappy Hub food, and usually tried to follow it up with good pub food or kebabs. Ate more Nutella sandwiches than is medically advisable. Watched a lot of The Office. Went to the cinema nearly every week. Aaaaand had my worst Thanksgiving ever (it's just not the same without your family, even when you're using Skype).  
     Ha! I did it-- 240, according to word count. I came in just under the limit. Not too shabby, I think I mentioned all the important parts. Ok, well I hope this was enough to suffice for the time being. I promise to write more later on, maybe fill you all in on my horrible Ryanair experience. But for now, there's coursework to attend to.
     Alright, to be honest, I'll probably go on Facebook for awhile, check my email, maybe skype my family. But eventually, I will start on my coursework. I has to be done. It's just so hard to find the motivation sometimes....
     Cheers, my American peeps.

P.S. I'm really missing home today, for some reason. I mean, really missing home. Why can't I be chilling in the living room, watching football with my dad, wearing my big, comfy Cowboy's sweatshirt, eating fresh la brea bread and prosciutto di parma from the Italian deli and Dubliner cheese, making fun of Tom Brady's stupid hair, and laughing at the new Troy Polamalu commercials?? That is what I should be doing on a Sunday afternoon. Not coursework. Just saying.

Halloween and Other Scary Things

     I can't believe I've officially been living in England for a month now. In a weird way, it feels like I've been here for much longer than that. I'm starting to realize, though, that the three months I'm studying abroad are probably going to turn out to be the shortest three months of my life. I'm going to exercise my poetic license and hope that you all forgive me for the cliche, but time really does fly when you're having fun. Actually, that's not entirely true: time gets distorted. Things that happened just yesterday feel like they happened a week ago, and things that you were planning on doing next month are suddenly coming up tomorrow.
     Speaking of yesterday and tomorrow, exciting news! We celebrated Alessandro's 25th birthday on Saturday by throwing him a surprise party in the TV lounge in the basement (he was in fact thoroughly surprised, considering we had sort of ignored all his texts and calls during the day trying to keep him uninformed) and then headed over to Platinum where they were having a one pound night. I think everyone had a pretty good time, myself included.
     So lots planned for the upcoming weeks and weekends! Halloween is next Monday, and I really want to go on a scary castle tour or something like that; my Mom and Jean will be arriving in London the first weekend of November and I'll be meeting them there for a lot of sightseeing and shopping and pub crawling; then they'll be traveling around for the next week and I'm going to join them whenever I can (planning to make it to Oxford, Warwick, and then staying at Barbara's house in Stratford with them for their last weekend here); and finally I'm hoping to make it to Ireland with some friends the third weekend of November!!! We want to go and explore Dublin for a few days, which would be so awesome since Ireland has always been number three on my list of countries to visit. (England was number one--check-- and Scotland was number two. Wales and New Zealand came in at numbers 4 and 5, but my list has grown considerably longer since meeting everyone here. Now I also want to visit Holland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, France... I need to win the lottery so I can just go whenever I like.)
     Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, I found out some interesting information about Priory Hall. Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Are you holding onto something? Because apparently, Priory Hall used to be a mental institution. That's why it was built like a maze, so that the crazy people couldn't find their way out. I am literally living in a loony bin. Although, it does explain why I'm constantly hearing voices and some people's idea of "good music."
     But that could just be the paper-thin walls.
     Cheers, my sane American friends!

P.S. Playing Mad Libs with people who have never done them before? Priceless.


   

I'm an Idiot.

     Okay, I CANNOT believe that I forgot to mention that I received an awesome care package from the Cassidy family last week. How could that have slipped my mind?? I've only been staring at the awesomeness of my fully-stocked food shelves for the past 6 days now, since it arrived. Although, in my defense, I'm starting to get sick and colds always make me a little thick-headed. Example: just yesterday, I thought I lost my room key three times. Three times! And I never lose anything, let alone something as important as a room key! But still, that's no excuse for me forgetting to say something.
     Jean and Chelsea were wonderful and kind enough to send me all sorts of delicious things, including Cheerios, cup-o-noodles, instant Kraft mac n' cheese, dark chocolate M&Ms, oreos, Quaker chewy bars, hand warmers, a tropical-scented air freshener, and Mad Libs. I've been living like a queen in my room, and most nights I'd rather just stay in and eat what I have stocked on my shelves than the stuff they try to serve us at the Hub. My cup-o-noodles is practically a feast compared to their mystery pasta and caggabe that more closely resembles saurkraut.
     Anyways, I really wanted to apologize for neglecting to mention you guys in my last blog entry-- THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!! I truly appreciate the gifts!
     Cheers :)
     

Paella and Chocolate Ice Cream and Other Unexpected Things

     So today I promised myself (and my Mom) that I'd write a new blog post, mostly because it's been over a week since my last one and also because it means I can momentarily ignore the homework that I need to do. Procrastination, thy name is Jessy.
     Unfortunately for all of you back home, I haven't really got anything too exciting to report. My classes were good, the food was sub-par, and the weather was chilly- all as usual. There were a few parties that I declined to attend, which probably turned out to be a good thing because everyone else seemed to have hangovers the day after. On Tuesday though, there was a football match between Sweden and Holland that a bunch of us wanted to see. We had planned on watching it at the Phoenix, a pub that we've been frequenting, but the owners wouldn't put on the game. So everyone piled into Dean's room to watch it as a live-stream on his massive TV. Seriously, I think the TV in his room is bigger than the one I have at home in my living room! I'm very jealous. Anyway, the game was a big upset because Sweden won, 3-2. Peter, David and Frida were just about the happiest Swedish people in Coventry that night.
     I felt the need to celebrate afterward (even though I wasn't in any way Swedish or Dutch) and went to Quids with Krys, Alessandro, Jill and Mariano for drinks. We ended up talking for a really long time, and eventually I got hungry so we went to this place called Benny's for a late-night snack before heading back to Priory. The food was exactly the kind that you'd want late at night after a drink: hot and greasy and artery-clogging.
     On Wednesday, I went ahead and booked my ticket for the Manchester day trip that the school was sponsoring. The university actually offers some really cheap day trips throughout the term to different cities, and we're all trying to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, when Krys, Alessandro and Inge tried to book their tickets the next day, they were sold out. I was pretty bummed at first 'cause I didn't want to go and spend the day there by myself so I was all ready to just call it off and try for the next trip. But then Krys did some super-sleuthing and found really cheap bus tickets to Manchester for the three of them to go and meet me there. I can't tell you how nice it was to know that they were willing to catch a bus at 6 in the morning on a Saturday so we could spend the day together in Manchester. I gotta say, Dutch people are awesome!
     As a matter of fact, all of the people here are awesome. You're probably going to get tired of hearing me say this, but its honestly the people who have made this whole experience so amazing. Being able to sit down with them and share stories and ideas and jokes makes me feel like Eliza Doolittle at the end of "My Fair Lady" when she's finally refined and cultured and classy, minus the accent. I mean, I have international friends-- I've never been able to say that before! (With the exception of the brilliant Laura Rorato, who is in fact an international friend, but who I technically met through Madde.)
     When I was filling out my application to come here, I had to include an essay explaining why I wanted to study at Coventry and what I thought I would gain from it. I was mostly honest in my answer, saying that I had always wanted to travel to England and that I hoped to gain from it's rich literary history (all that stuff that college administrators like to hear). What I didn't write though, and what I hadn't expected, was that it would give me the opportunity to meet so many new and wonderful people. They've even given me the confidence to think about traveling to other countries where English isn't the national language, which is something that I've always been a little leery of. Four weeks ago, I would've never thought of going to Holland, or Sweden, or Belgium, or Spain, but now I've been invited to all those countries and I'd go in a heartbeat!
     Or at least, I'd go as soon as I had the money.
     Cheers, my American friends!

P.S. Manchester was awesome! We went to all the free tourist attractions and took a bunch of pictures. There was also a food festival going on and I got to have paella for the first time in my life. Plus, they were handing out free samples of chocolate ice cream, so bonus!
    


  

Thoughts From Places: Stratford-Upon Avon

     I don't know if any of you are familiar with the author John Green, or his Youtube channel that he shares with his brother Hank Green called Vlogbrothers. My wonderful cousin Lauren is the one who actually introduced me to the Vlogbrothers over the summer, and I remember that one of the first segments she ever showed me was a "Thoughts From Places" video where John sort of talks about his experiences when he's traveling abroad somewhere. He does an amazing job at connecting different historical and modern concepts together and he always comes off as amusing and thoughtful, which is a hard combination.
     Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all of this is because when I was visiting Stratford-Upon Avon yesterday with my friends, I sort of had a "Thoughts From Places" moment where all the pieces of the puzzle came together and I realized what an incredibly huge deal it was to be standing where Shakespeare himself once stood. (Interesting tidbit: did you know that the average height of a man in Shakespeare's time was only 5'2"? I'm starting to think there really are hobbits in England, just hiding out somewhere in their hobbit holes...)
     Which got me to thinking about all the other amazingly influential writers that came out of England, everyone from Wordsworth, to Keats, to Byron, to Austen, to C.S. Lewis, to Tolkien, to Chesterton. I am literally milling about in a country where these people lived and breathed and slept and ate and most importantly, where they wrote some of the greatest literature of all time. Literature that I read in school and admired, and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be able to come here and maybe catch a glance at what inspired them.
     And I don't know why it took me until yesterday to realize that I shouldn't be spending my free time worrying about getting things done for school or missing home- I should be out there traveling, trying to soak in as much culture and history as I possibly can!
     I always had this idealized view of England growing up, because it's weather and landscape and funny accents fascinated me. And I think there was an aspect of mystery that also made me want to come here. Because no matter how much I could try to learn about this country or it's famous writers, no matter how many months or years of lifetimes I could spend tracking down and memorizing information, I would never know it all. There's just too much, and there's too much that was forgotten or never recorded.
     Even yesterday, when we were walking through the garden's at Nash's House, I overheard a woman saying, "Everywhere you go, it's all speculation. Like, 'Shakespeare might have gone here, or he might have done that.' It's all a bit vague, isn't it?"
     But that's what makes it so intriguing! That's what leaves tourists and students and even the most learned of scholars coming back, to solve the mystery and turn a "maybe" into a "definitely."
     Right now, my life is full of "maybes." Maybe I'll become a successful writer. Maybe I'll get a job straight out of college, maybe I'll get married and have kids, maybe I'll win the lottery. Maybe I'll end up doing exactly what God has planned for me to do.
     Or maybe one day, people will go walking through the house that I grew up in, trying to piece together my life, and what it might have influenced me in the year 2011. Maybe they'll even be surprised to find out that I was a whopping 5'8" tall.
     Until next time, my American friends.
     Cheers!

P.S. Here's a link to one of John Green's "Thoughts From Places" videos. I highly recommend you watch it, for it's entertainment value if nothing else!
http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/8/tVvAE8ZM24o
    

   

In A State Of Confusion

     Classes have officially started this week, which means I have officially begun to panic and stress. I think I hinted in my last entry that everything here at Coventry is pretty much as dysfunctional and disorganized as it can be, but I really need to give you folks at home a better idea of just how crazy the system is.
     So in England, the classes are called "modules," and you must take 6 in order to be considered a full time student. Before I left to come here, I was told I would only need to take 4. So it was a little bit of a scramble to pick out two extra classes (mind you, the dean of the English department back home only gave me a list of 7 possible classes that I could take here that would count as transferrable units, so basically I just eliminated the one class out of the list that I really didn't want to take and BAM- there was my schedule). Then you're given a timetable according to what department you belong to (English for me), and this timetable contains all the class times and classroom numbers of each of your modules. Given the chance, I'd like to strangle whoever came up with the timetable idea. There is one allotted time slot for each module. That means you don't get to go online and see all the available times that the classes you need are offered. Nope- they're offered at one time, and one time only. And if that time coincides with the time of another class you need to take, well my friend.... you're screwed.
     The biggest reason why this doesn't work is because there are a lot of English majors, who are all trying to take the same classes at the same time. So what the module tutors (who we normally call "professors") do is tell students to sign up for different seminar times, and then you only end up going to classes alternate weeks. My Short Story Workshop, for example, was so large that the module tutor had to break us up into four different groups: two that meet on Mondays, and two that meet on Fridays. This means that I only have to go to class on Monday every other week. And when you break that down and do the math, it means that I'm only going to be attending this class five times before I go back home. I already went to the first class, so now there's just four left. Can you imagine trying to pass a class and only showing up five times the whole semester? Thank God there's no exam, we just have to turn in two pieces of flash fiction with a commentary attached.
     I don't blame the teachers for this at all, because they seem just as frustrated as the students. But then shouldn't they start complaining to the higher-ups? I mean, what maniac came up with this demented system???
     I got a chance to chat with a third year student on Tuesday when I went in to my Shakespeare Today class (which technically meets on Wednesdays, but the first class was on a Tuesday.... yet another example of their stupid timetable system). Her name was Sam, and she was very kind and assured me that everyone here is confused all the time. She asked if the system back in California is any better, and I told her that it is-- it's infinitely better. Cal State Long Beach couldn't look more appealing at this point.
     Am I complaining too much? I should be appreciating all the amazing things that I get to do and see while I'm here, and instead I'm complaining! Shame on me.
     Alright, so let me focus on the good things, like the fact that I get to read Hamlet again this semester! Hamlet has always been my favorite Shakespeare play. Whenever I think of it, I'm transported back to 12th grade when my best friend Sarah and I started composing our own version of Hamlet, set to the awesome music of Queen. I miss those days.
     Another cool thing is that I get to wake up every morning and see a beautiful Cathedral outside my window. Not many people can say they have that kind of view!
     Well, I think that's it for now. I need to finish getting ready for my Contemporary Novel class at 2, and I think I might grab some lunch before I go. The food at the Hub sucks most nights, but the other little restaurants and pubs around here are great! Still miss my dad's cooking, though :(
     Cheers!

P.S. If you'd like to send me a nice hand-written (or typed) letter, please do! My address is: Priory Hall J Block Room 03.50, Priory Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 5FB
P.P.S. If you'd rather send a little care package or something bigger than a letter, you can still use that same address.