And Now It's Time for So Long

I knew coming home would be a mixed bag. On one hand, seeing my family, eating at my favorite restaurants, and even taking a bubble bath for the first time in months was such an exciting prospect. Yet, as my plane dipped below the clouds in Baltimore, I found myself crying. I was leaving the best semester of my life. I knew going abroad would be so much fun, but I couldn't have anticipated making best friends, traveling all over Europe on the weekends, and really connecting with my neighborhood. It felt like I was ending a big, important chapter in my life, one that had been so long in the making. From deciding on a program to applying, to getting my visa, to going, and now coming home, it had been about a year in the making. 

Feeling like I didn't have a new adventure ahead of me was a little paralyzing. Saying my big semester was done was really hard. I had gotten used to calling London my home! Settling back into ordinary life seemed less sparkly than the life I had been living. Even the little things had become so normal; my usual bus routes, my favorite grocery stores, getting into a routine for classes. I'm still getting emails from my favorite London bakery advertising their Christmas cakes. I've also started noticing things about home that I miss about being abroad, even little things like calling an elevator a "lift". 

It's been nearly a week since I got home, and each day I settle in more back to the USA. Every now and then, I'll see something that makes me long to be back in the UK with my amazing friends. Besides planning a reunion trip, I'm glad I can easily keep in touch with them. I'm so grateful for an amazing semester that I truly will never forget.