More signs I'm not in Texas anymore

• A couple nights ago, I was playing the game Life with a couple of Brits, and they put their drivers in the right side of the car. The money was in pounds. I thought Life was like the classic American game but apparently it's not.
• Today I went to the gym for the first time over here and had to give my weight in kilograms and the treadmill used kilometers per hour. More metric conversions to learn.
• I haven't seen a single pair of flip flops or sweatpants on campus. Everybody dresses up all the time. Even in the gym, girls didn't work out in T-shirts. I feel very uncool.
• I use words like loo paper, rubbish, lovely and queue now. I think cheers and blimey are my favorites.
• I had to change the spell check on my computer to English (British). Programme, cheque, globalisation ... words seem much fancier now.
• Stores close around 7 p.m., a few convenience stores will close at 11 p.m. Gone are the days of going to the gym at 9 p.m. and the library at midnight, they aren't open. This is probably why everybody hangs out at the pub. The only things open past midnight are clubs and the kebab stands outside them.

I started classes last week, and I think I will really enjoy my course (major). The classes are mainly seminars each week, led by different student groups with the professors as moderators. My grade in my modules (classes) is determined by a final essay. The British system is very self-taught. My professor explained that they want students to form their own opinion and make their own academic discoveries rather than rely on the opinion of lecturers and textbooks. For each class session, I have a reading list of about 10 books, but it's just for my benefit to learn about the subject and be able to contribute during the seminars. It's all very different. No reading quizzes or homework checks here. Somehow I was assigned to lead the first seminar sessions in both of my classes, so I have about 20 books that I'm trying to plow through and become familiar with before I give my presentations this week and next. I'm discovering it's a lot harder to get back into the swing of studying than I thought it would be. There's so many distractions (like this) and I can't seem to stay focused while I'm reading.

I think I'll call it quits on the post for now. There's more going on, but I have some studying to do. Enough procrastinating. Cheers!

High: The sun was out today!

Low: I had a bottle of juice in my bag, and it leaked all over my iPod. The iPod no longer works. :(

Beginning of week 3

I have been avoiding posting because I just don't know what to write. Every day has been a new adventure or obstacle or discovery. How do you sum all that up in a 300 word post? It's not easy. I went to London last weekend for Fulbright orientation and met all the other Fulbright scholars in the UK this year. There are 18 of us, and they told us there were over 700 applications. Holy cow. Why am I here? I expected all the other scholars to be really intellectual and make me feel out of my league, but I was wrong. Everyone was really nice and well-rounded, interesting and fun. So I had a good time, though we were so busy I didn't get to do a whole lot of sight-seeing in London.

Of course, none of my solo travel expeditions would be complete without some kind of mishap. This time, I bought my train tickets online ahead of time and then tried to find my train at the station, only to be very confused because it didn't seem to exist. Turns out I bought my ticket from Leeds to London for the day I was supposed to return. I apparently had the wrong dates in my when I buying the tickets. That mistake only cost me 22 extra pounds - much better than my $200 pound luggage fiasco on my flight over here. I'm still upset about that one.

I took a day trip to the old Roman city of York on Saturday with my Norwegian friend, Kirsti, and her British flatmate, Vicki. It was so fun! I seem to have a knack for visiting places on the days of special events. This time, there was a big parade going throughout the city for the Yorkshire troops returning home from Iraq. It was a neat experience to see the patriotism and support of the troops in another country. Also, the Duke of York was there. I have no idea who he is, but everyone was excited about it.

I guess the last pieces of exciting news are that I'm moving to a new flat today, and that classes finally start this week. My old flat was just in a bad location and I didn't feel safe there. It actually worked out for me to move to a flat closer to campus and the other friends I've made her so far. The only downside is that I will now be sharing a bathroom with four other people - a British girl, a Chinese girl and two guys from Thailand - instead of having one all to myself. I think the trade-off will be worth it though. I'll send y'all my new address soon. Cheers!

Fun British words of the day: "jumper"= sweater and "pants"= underpants ... oops!

York=Quaint

Some things are universal

Last night I was playing pictionary with students from Nigeria, Thailand, Canada, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and Britain, and I just kept thinking, "Is this really my life?" It was surreal. Also universal: girls having crushes on Prince William. Leeds is in a tizzy because Prince Harry's girlfriend is starting uni here next week. My odds of having a siting actually seem to be going up.

I'm finally in Leeds. I'll write a true post later.

Fun British phrase of the day:
Going "to spend a penny" means to go to the toilet.

This time next week,

I will be here:



Right now I'm staring at my two suitcases on the floor. There are so many pieces of clothing on the floor, I don't even know where to begin. How do you pack for a year? Especially when I'm limited to 20 kg per suitcase. Damn the British for giving us the standard system and then switching to metrics. It's made me completely useless for figuring out weights, measurements and temperatures outside of the U.S. All the weather Web sites I've been looking at for England only give the temperature in Celsius. I had to go look up the Farenheit to Celsius conversion formula and figure out the temperature myself. I hadn't done that 9th grade algebra homework. I think I'm going to have to find a big metric conversion chart and tape it up on the wall in my room in Leeds.

Drum roll please

I've realized I won't get what I want if I don't know what I'm aiming for. So ...

My life goals:
1. Travel through every continent
2. Go to an Olympics
3. Write something of influence.
4. Go up in a hot air balloon.
5. Fall in love and build a healthy, stable marriage.
6. Raise children who love the Lord.
7. Be a mentor.
8. Compete in a triathlon.
9. Never let my fears stop me from doing something I should.
10. Find a job that I love where I can make positive difference in people's lives.
11. Walk intimately with God.
12. Be opinionated.

Today, my Dove wrapper told me to live my dreams.

This summer, my life has consisted of: work, work out, eat, read, sleep. Every day my alarm goes off at the same time, I hit the traffic lights in the same pattern on my way to work, I hear the same songs on the radio on the way home, and I can't shake the nagging feeling that each day is rinse, wash, repeat. (I feel like I need to insert a disclaimer here: I really have had some fun times this summer and enjoyed the time with my family. It hasn't been all bad.) Nothing can beat me down quicker than monotony. It makes me feel like I'm worth a little less, that I'm wasting precious days of my life. Movies and books, even the Bible, tell us to reach out and embrace life, to live each day to the fullest and not get beat down by the drudgery.

So, here's where I have problems. I am a dreamer, a romantic. I like to live in fantasy world, where every conversation and situation plays out the way I see it in my head. But there's another side to me. The side that keeps my feet on the ground - the rationalistic, journalistic side of me that jumps to see the impracticalities, probabilities and logistics of every situation.
How do I marry my two sides? How do I find a way to "live life to the fullest" and have a spectactular summer inside my cubicle while updating spreadsheets? If I were in a musical, I would tune in to the rhymic taps on the keyboard while tabbing between columns in Excel, start picking out some notes and belt into song. My coworkers would pop their heads up from behind their carpet walls and sing and bob along. Suddenly work would morph from dull to exhilerating. Maybe I've watched High School Musical too many times.

I don't want every day to be the same. I don't want to feel like I'm wasting my life. Soon, I will be off to England and my summer routine will be a thing of the past, but I'm tired of placating myself with mediocrity because I'm just waiting for the next big thing to happen. There will always be something ahead that seems better than where I'm at now. But I want to take advantage of the present. Have you ever driven somewhere and then got there and realized you didn't remember the ride? I don't want that to be my life.

So, the lesson here? Turn my "grown-up" summer into something more and enjoy this stage of my life.

I leave two months from today!

Passport ... check
Visa ... check
Fulbright grant papers ... check
Medical clearance ... check
Plane ticket ... check
Housing ... check
An idea for my dissertation ... ummmm
Fitting everything I'll want to have for a year in two suitcases ... impossible