American land is different than English land. Right now, seeing it after almost 9 months, I prefer the American land. I couldn't stop smiling when I saw mountains again.
But I can promise you that in far less than 9 months I will be missing English land even more. If you drew a diagram of your heart today, it would be split in half: one side would be labeled "everyone and everything I've missed for eight months" and the other would be "everyone and everything I've come to love in eight months." The worst part is, these two sides cannot touch. They're like trying to fit together the wrong sides of a magnet. Inherently incompatible. But equally important to me. I've cried on four different forms of transportation today and the day's not over. My heart has been repeatedly cracking all day. Because my plane has been chasing the sun, it has literally been the longest day of my life with me experiencing around 22 hours of daylight before I finally see the sun go down. There were also some dramas with my catching my plane, so it has been a long and miserable type of journey. Going abroad, at the time, felt pretty natural. Something that I was meant to do. It wasn't a big deal, because I had to do it. Looking back now, it occurs to me just how big that step was. I left everyone and everything familiar to live abroad for nine months, which is kind of insane. And it's definitely changed my life. There were a lot of downs in the whole experience. But I promise you there were a lot more ups. I wouldn't trade the friends I've made and the experiences I've had for anything in the world. I believe I took full advantage of the opportunity even if it did terrify me. So I guess want to tell you to also take that chance, whether it's to study abroad for a year or simply changing something in your life. The experience is worth it. Memories are priceless. My heart is an abstract painting splashed across the globe. Nobody told me how much your heart would have to expand when you travelled. The growing pains hurt, but it means my heart is getting bigger. Love is limitless. It is not based in time or space, there is not a limit on how many people and places can have a sport in your heart. It hurts when you make more space, but there is room.
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A Facebook memory from three years ago popped up and reminded me that today, May 24, is Turtle Day. I dug through some old writing and found the first 'Letter from the Editor' I wrote for my school paper. It was both hilarious (not my worst writing) and kind of relevant. I wanted to share it here because it's too good to just keep in an aging school newspaper, and it also holds a deeper meaning. As my time winds down in England, I am reminded the value in each and every day. Every interaction grows more significant and I realize that this is the beginning of the end of my time abroad. Each day is special, so even though it's not very travel related, enjoy this celebration of Turtle Day. I would like to inform you of the momentous occasion occurring on Saturday, May 23. This day has been set aside as Turtle Day and I believe it is all of our duties to celebrate it. This glorious day is meant to allow all to explore the beautiful world of turtles and tortoises, and raise the awareness needed for these cute little nuggets to survive and thrive. Ways to celebrate Turtle Day include educating yourself about turtles, personally saving turtles (this may be difficult in the turtle-deprived landscape we call home), dressing up as a turtle, or petting a turtle. Turtles (and their tortoise brethren) are severely underrated reptiles. Very few know, but turtles can actually be taught tricks. In ancient Turkey, they were often taught to ‘dance’ to a song. Some tortoises eat cactus, because they are just that cool. Seriously, who could make this stuff up? For those of you less experienced with turtles, here is a quick guide on how to pet such a magnificent creature:
WARNING: Turtles do hiss. Do not be thrown by this feline-like action. All the turtle wants is love, but you have to let him come to terms with it on his own time. Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to destroy habitats and pollute the air and water, which has led to a sharp decline of turtle populations. Increased awareness of these liabilities through actions such as Turtle Day have lead to a larger conservation effort for the turtles. Personally, I encourage you to create your own turtle costume and initiate conversations with those around you about the importance of turtles and the celebration of their existence. On a broader note, did you know most days are allocated some sort of obscure event? For example, May 22 was named Don’t Fry Day, a day to encourage sunscreen application and sunburn prevention. While this pursuit is noble, it does not come close to competing with Turtle Day. However, please do wear sunscreen. Maybe you can go sunbathing with a turtle after you lather up, because turtles love the sun. To me, these daily celebrations are truly a magical thing. We can have holidays to celebrate each day, whether it is Turtle Day or May the Fourth. It is so easy for us to let the days blur together until they become this giant, sad blob. Do not take these days for granted, Palmer. Celebrate each day you have because there is always something magical in it, even if that magic is simply Googling a turtle eating a strawberry (highly recommended, by the way). Make sure you remember to commemorate life’s small miracles as much as possible. And a very happy Turtle Day to all! I'll be honest: a few weeks ago I was ready to go home. The charm of England had worn off and I missed everyone and everything in Colorado so much, it felt like the month an a half left to go was too much. But then my good friend Haylee came all the way from Colorado to visit and seeing the country through her fresh eyes made me fall in love with this place all over again. Haylee, originally from Hawaii, seemed to have brought the good weather with her because the majority of the week she was here was unusually hot. We actually had to go buy new outfits one day because of the heat! Her first day in England had blue skies but wasn't terribly hot. We explored the beach and had the classic fish and chips. It reminded me of the first time I went to the beach back in early October with my flatmates. The next day we took an early train to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was my second time in the city, and I was struck both by how much I loved it there and how much I hadn't yet seen. We explored the huge castle and walked the steep hills and found a rock band on the streets that featured a fabulous bagpipe player. On the hottest Saturday I've experienced in the UK, we went to Newcastle and drank (iced) coffee while petting cats at CatPawCino. After an impromptu shopping trip and an outfit change, I showed Haylee the Newcastle Castle. Watching her stare in awe at the imposing building reminded me of how equally stunned I was at seeing it back in January. One thing I love about England is that you can go around and casually touch actual castles: beautiful and intimidating buildings full of history much older than anything we have in the US. On Sunday, I had an all day rehearsal for an upcoming theatre show (which will be featured in an future blog post). Haylee went to York that day and had an adventure of her own. After spending five days in a row visiting five different cities, we were both pretty exhausted and so spent the next day in Sunderland. The weather continued to be beautiful and we ended up at a local park. Because of England's constant rain, their spring is extra beautiful with thousands of flowers blooming everywhere. Walking through this park in Sunderland felt like a fairy tale, and it renewed my love for the city I have been calling home for almost eight months now. Having Haylee here really reminded why I was here in the first place. England has always called to me; deciding to study in this country was less of a choice and more of an automatic reaction. It was something I needed because of the experiences like I had this past week. Visiting castles, wandering cities, riding trains, drinking tea.
Being in England is something I really enjoy and something I'm really going to miss. I've fallen a bit behind on my posts as my family pointed out to me today. With the end of the semester coming up, it's been pretty busy. I've also started writing for the online blog for my study abroad program (check it out at https://www.isepstudyabroad.org/people/amy-golden ). But here are some highlights from the last month or so! The most exciting thing in these past weeks was being reunited with my family. There is nothing like hugging your mom and dad after missing their arms for over six months. And my giant of a brother hadn't grown at all since I'd been gone, much to my surprise. I was able to give them a small tour of the Northeast and then... Ireland! We spent a week driving around the bottom half of the country and I fell in love with the place. The greens and blues there are more vivid than anywhere else in the world (except maybe Colorado). The people were so friendly and wonderful, the pubs were full of traditional Irish music. I loved everything about it and going home was doubly difficult because I had to say goodbye both to the beautiful country and my beautiful family. To distract myself from all that, I was able to get tickets to a real life football/soccer match! This was something I'd been hoping to do all school year, so I jumped at the opportunity to see Sunderland's football team play. There was a dreadful fog that made everything look spooky, and the game ended tied 1-1, but I was so glad I got to experience the true British sport. The weather took a turn for the better and England had an unseasonable four days in a row of 60-70 degree weather. I went to the beach two days in a row, as did most of the city. The sun and blue skies were such a refreshing change. It was also funny to see the pale British population turn bright red for a few days in reaction to this strange thing called sunlight. My most recent adventure was to the Big North Tattoo Show over the weekend. It took place in Newcastle and featured tattoo artists from all around Great Britain. There was every type of tattoo style there, including the traditional tapping tattoo rather than mechanical. The room rung with the sound of buzzing tattoo guns and I walked past around 100 people getting a tattoo of sorts. The people were all so kind and from every walk of life, every age. It was a one of a kind-type day.
Today marks six months in England for me. To commemorate the event, here are the six most important things I've learned since being here. 1) The things you miss most from home are hugs and the weather. Technology is amazing and allows us to be connected with people from halfway around the world. I can see pictures, watch videos, talk face to face with my loved ones. But that can never replace the inexplicable comfort of being in their arms. And it is cold and rains every day in England. It's beautiful and makes everything green, yeah. But sometimes all I need is the warmth of the Colorado sun and the sky. I miss the sky that is somehow bluer than anywhere else in the world.
2) Experiences don't just happen; you have to seek them out. Even abroad, nothing's going to happen if I just stay in my room. If I want experiences, memories, pictures and stories, I need to go out there and collect them. Even if it means just going for a walk or hopping on a bus to the two over, I've got to go find it. 3) You've got to keep reaching out. It's easy to fall out of contact. It's easy to isolate myself from everyone from home or even everyone from England. Being so far from everything gives me the option to reach out to people and isolate myself. There's a million reasons to not reach out: how busy life is, time zone differences, the energy maintaining social relationships with people here and there. The balance is difficult, but I love these people and I've learned that you've got to keep trying. They'll try too. 4) There are still days you won't believe you're there. At the strangest moments, I look around and realize I'm in England. It seems so simple, so plain, but that small reminder that I've made it to this country I've always dreamed of going to will make my heart swell every time. I made it here and I'm experiencing all I've dreamed. That novelty doesn't wear off. 5) No one will ever stop teasing you for being American. I've been in this country for six months, but just today someone repeated what I said in a horrible Southern accent and someone else said that me going "Ewwww" was the most American thing they've ever heard. Most of my friends are used to the American being around and don't bring it up as often, which lulls me into a sense of false security, but acquaintances and strangers still notice it. 6) You can get anywhere with your own two feet. A lot of people are surprised by how many places I've visited, even locals say they haven't been around England as much as I've been. A lot of them say they wish they were traveling that much. I'm not saying it's easy, but traveling and exploring isn't as difficult as everyone seems to think it is. Maybe we can't all go across the ocean on a whim, but we can go to the town over to see something we've never seen before. Or you can grab a cheap train ticket to a random city. With a little savings and a little planning, traveling isn't nearly as difficult as a lot of people believe. And there is something to empowering about taking myself to a million different places with only my feet and my wits. It's something I'll be doing for the rest of my life. I took a day trip to York earlier this month. It was another cute British city built around a river, full of old buildings sporting weirdly modern shops. The most important part of visiting York, for me at least, was sampling the Yorkshire tea and the Yorkshire pudding. Invented and named in the area, Yorkshire tea is a black tea that I enjoyed in a small cafe and Yorkshire pudding is a fried bread bowl that I enjoyed with extra gravy. I was also able to explore three different museums in the city and wander through the famous Shambles Market. The following is some writing I did at the Elephant House in Edinburgh based on the prompt "The best thing I read this week." "Made famous as the place of inspiration for such writers as JK Rowling, who sat writing much of her early novels in the back room overlooking Edinburgh Castle."
There's a grammatical error and it's not even a complete sentence, but it's still the best thing I've read all week. I'm sitting in the Elephant House in Edinburgh, Scotland, where JK Rowling began to write Harry Potter. The room has the warm vibes of a cafe; I'm sipping lemon tea and busy groups of people chatter as indie music plays gently in the background. Candlelight flickers, illuminating the repeated images of elephants that decorate the place. Maybe I'm sitting in the same place the decorated author did, I hope to myself. Likely not: the menu says she sat in the back and I'm at the bar in the front. But still, sometimes her favorite seat would have to be taken, right? Harry Potter wasn't written in a day. The novelty of the place quickly wears off quickly. Yes, JK Rowling may have sat down near me in this very room 20 plus years ago, but she's not here now. It's really just a cafe that's allowed to be a bit pricier because of it's claim to fame. This leaves me to wonder about the reason why I still find myself at these places. I've been traveling a lot, fiding myself near the homes and tombs and hangout spots of famous people. Especially famous writers. Why? That brings me to the second best thing I've read this week, an old journal entry of mine: "There are towers of people existing before me on which I build my foundation to rise higher still, before gratefully giving my shoulders to yet another tier." I'm a young adult with my entire life ahead of me. People tell me I have so much potential, so my greatest fear is not fufilling that potential. I'm scared of failing, but we stand on the shoulders of giants. I am drawn to the places of people like JK Rowling because she did it right. She found her purpose and became successful. Maybe by putting myself near the places where the people who did things right actually were, I can do the same. It seems a silly thought, but while sitting in that Elephant House inspiration did strike and out spilled what you read now. So maybe, just maybe, places like that do have a magic power (pun intended). Maybe they provide the path to the shoulders on which we stand. Having more time than I realized for winter break, I decided to spend six days going north to Scotland. I spent two nights in Edinburgh, the capital, two nights in Inverness (to see Loch Ness), and one night in Glasgow. Edinburgh was beautiful and charming, a city full of many interesting stories like Blackfriar's Bobby. I also went to the Edinburgh zoo and got to see a panda and some koalas, along with a bunch of other animals I had never seen in real life. Inverness was a much smaller city; in fact, it only became a city in 2001. I found it very welcoming (though colder than any place I've ever been) and was able to take a bus to Urquhart Castle, the third most famous castle in Scotland that sits right on Loch Ness. The Scottish Highlands are truly striking and I plan to spend more time there one day. I spent the entire train ride down to Glasgow staring out the window in awe. Glasgow was a grittier city with a lot of artistic influence. I really enjoyed the modern art museum there. It felt like I was constantly going uphill in that city, but it was a nice way to end my tour. I ended my tour with a second visit to London. I did some more of the touristy things and focused my trip around Sherlock and Harry Potter hot-spots for the most part. I also wandered along the Thames quite a bit because I really like how water looks at night. It was a peaceful way to end my tour and the adventure of a lifetime. When we told our new friends in Rome that we were going to Naples, they grimaced and told us to clutch our bags. Keep in mind, these are people from Rome where you already should clutch your bags. Naples seemed to be the brunt of Roman jokes and and suddenly, I wasn't sure what we were getting ourselves into.
While I tried to go in with an open mind, Naples was probably my least favorite of the places we visited, though that's not to say it wasn't fun. The town felt like a more crowded and dirtier Rome. However, the people and activities of the city were wild. For example, Italians and especially Neapolitans do not car about road laws. Busy intersections would have no traffic lights at all and the best way to cross the road was to just go for it. Mopeds zoomed up all roads and sidewalks, giving you a beep and about four seconds to jump out of the way. The was a lot of graffiti in Rome and it honestly looked clean compared to the streets of Naples. We went to Pompeii, which was a bit overrated. The preservation was amazing and the casts of bodies were haunting, but the novelty rubbed off pretty quickly. I think my favorite part of Naples were the two castles we visited against the coast. Even that view wasn't super great because of the heavy smog that had settled on the mountains in the distance. It was an interesting city and worth visiting once, but I don't think I'll be hurrying back there any time soon. |
Amy Golden
Amy will be spending the academic year at the University of Sunderland in England studying journalism. Archives
February 2018
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