Saturday, July 4, 2009

Ramblings and scribbles.

I'm a pretty nostalgic person.

I'm halfway through the book 47 Roses which was written by an Irish author and takes place in Dublin.
Having been there, it's such an awesome experience to just read and remember the streets
and the pubs and to sympathize with the author over the high cost of beer.

Studying abroad helped develop my passion for travel, but it also made me appreciate the things at home more. Appropriate to the date (July 4th), it made me realize that despite the bad international stereotypes, I love living here. I love the luxuries that our country has to offer, and I love being driven by the one and only "American Dream."

That may sound really silly, but I remember Jensina and I talking about the sadness that surrounded the people in Wales. Well, maybe sadness isn't the right word.
It was as if they were just more in tune and accepting of their realities. Complacent. To us, this was devastating to experience.
Here you can strike up a conversation with a stranger and learn about their dreams and aspirations. Where they came from. Where the long to go. Who they long to be.
In Britain the attitude was more: This is what my life is, and I accept it. Not to say that the British don't have hopes and aspirations, they are just more realistic.

I guess in some aspects that's good, and it's what holds the stereotypes of the talkative American to be true. I mean, we're always talking, tweeting, or blogging about something, right?

I digress.

I long to settle down in the States. Fall in love. Raise a family.
All of these things one distant day in the future...


Right now, however, I'm nostalgic.


I want to hope on a plane with Katie and travel back in time to spend another day in Kilvey, our Welsh dorm. I want to wake up and open my window and smell the ocean. It was always so bright in my room.
The sun would rise and keep the light in all day, and at night I loved to watch the blinking of the lighthouse in the distance.

But semesters abroad are a unique and meant to be kept only in their allotted time frames.
It is a time when it's not about the classes you take or the grades you make.
All of a sudden the world opens up, and you have this unwritten agenda. No appointments or obligations. It's just you and what you decide to do to get you through the day.

It was lovely and all kinds of wonderful.

It was 4 months that I will never get back.
Four months that I don't need back.

But it was lovely and all kinds of wonderful.