3 weeks from today....

..... I will be home!! I am flippin' pancakes excited to be home. It's been difficult for me to keep my mind with my physical self lately because I constantly day-dream about my momentous arrival. I have this scene in my mind that I keep imagining: I ride the escalator down in the Austin Bergstrom Airport with Willie Nelson music softly playing in the background and at the bottom of the escalator is my whole entire family with signs and balloons that say "Welcome home Vanessa!" and then after I am enveloped by a group hug with my progenitors. In my idealized dream, we then all go to Kerbey Lane Cafe and eat queso and pancakes until I roll myself home.

Anyways, I know that won't actually happen but I am nonetheless excited to be at home for countless reasons (primarily queso). This semester has taught me to appreciate some daily conveniences that I never before thought of as more than basic facts of life. When I return home, I will have a new and deep appreciation for constant access to the internet, opportunities for complete privacy (living with 3 little kids who don't understand knocking on doors keeps me on my toes), a fridge that I can aimlessly sift through at my own leisure, and mostly the assurance that there are human beings in close proximity that really care about me.

Moving on from that little rant, I went to London last weekend! I was so enthused to hear English being spoken around me I wanted to strike up a conversation with literally everyone. One night, some young British men in suits did randomly strike up a conversation with me and the two guys I was eating dinner with and bought us drinks! I found that British people are extremely friendly and nice in general and I really appreciated that contrast from the German stoicism. Visiting the Harry Potter studio was expensive but completely worth it. It was wonderful to waddle in nostalgia from the days where I was unabashedly obsessed with Harry Potter. Out of all the cities I've visited this summer, I can imagine myself living and working in London the easiest and I think I would enjoy it very much.

I don't even want to talk about classes but I feel like I should at least mention academics since this is a STUDY abroad trip. One observation I've made is that I am happy to be in an environment full of exceptionally academically motivated students. I know that I've benefitted just from being surrounded by intelligent and hard working students this semester.