Counting Down the Days

It's official...I am leaving for Kingston in less than a week's time. This time next week, I will be at my residence in England, most likely preparing for orientation and class registration. I have to admit, it still seems unreal. It felt more real at the beginning of the month, when all of my friends were returning to college and leaving me behind :(.

I had a bit of a scare this morning. Dad handed the phone to me, saying that it was someone from Northwest Airlines about my flight. Now, I am the type of person who wants every single detail planned out weeks in advance. I was terrified that the guy--who had a bit of a strong accent--was going to tell me that my flight had been cancelled or delayed a day, which would mean that I would arrive a day late, missing Kingston's meet and greet program.

Fortunately, the call was not about my flight next Tuesday, but about my return flight in June. He informed me that the flight had been moved ahead an hour, so at least it wasn't a big change. Even so, the entire idea made me apprehensive about last-minute changes before my departure. I will be very relieved when all the travel time is over with. Then, I'll probably have other things to worry about.

Even the Best-Laid Plans...

So here's the post that I promised about my trip to Grand Valley this weekend. My sister and I left on Friday and returned earlier today, managing to avoid the snow that fell all day yesterday. The weekend was, in a word, hectic. Definitely busier than either of us had originally planned. I never realized how many close college friends I've been blessed with, and of course I had to visit and say good-bye to as many as possible.

First on the list, I went to my friend Ryan's birthday party on Friday night. Most of my closest friends--our "group", I guess you could say--were at the party, including my two best friends from high school. It was a themed costume party, where everyone dressed up as their true opposite, both personality-wise and gender. We had a sorority "girl", a biker "chick", a gamer "dude", a country "cowboy", and a gay "guy", among others. I was the partying frat boy. I'll see if I can post any pictures, but I'll probably have to beg permission from some of my more self-conscious friends.

Saturday, which I had hoped to spend resting and relaxing at my sister's house, did not go as planned. I got together with my Bible study girls for an Apples to Apples game night. It was undoubtedly fun, but I have to admit to feeling a little disappointed that I wasn't able to remain at home on such a snowy night. I wouldn't have given up being able to see my friends, but the timing could have been better. Well, at least I also got a cherry Italian cream soda in the bargain, as well.

It snowed on and off all day Sunday, but the roads weren't that bad. It was a good thing, too, since I was out almost the entire day. I met with some of my friends from last semester's American Literature class and we had a Starbucks day. We just hung out at the coffeeshop for the afternoon. Unfortunately, the snow that stayed pretty slow during the day picked up for the evening, thus delaying the trip home until this morning. And so, even the best-laid plans go awry. Yet it still worked out. The time that I'd regretted on Saturday was instead replaced with Sunday night. I was able to relax with Jennifer, Chris, Michele, and Avery, which I enjoyed just as much as the busyness of the rest of the weekend.

I'll Take an Accent to Go With That Soup...

I've been meaning to post this idea for the last couple days, but haven't really found the time, what with everything going on. I'm staying with my sister and brother-in-law for the weekend, taking advantage of the time to visit and say good-bye to my college friends. I'll probably give a better recap after the weekend has ended. For now, I'll just write about a topic that has amused me for the last couple of days, as I've battled with cabin fever and boredom.

I guess you could say that it's somewhat of a tradition for my twin sister and I, in the days and weeks following Christmas, to watch all of the movies that we received over the holidays. By some odd coincidence, most of the movies we got this year were either set in England or produced by a British filmmaker. Whether Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, or V for Vendetta, I've become so familiar with the sound of a British accent that I have to concentrate in order to distinguish whether a person has one or not. By the same familiarity, I can usually tell when an accent is feigned. Is that weird? British movies and books have been favorites for a while, and I'm banking on the hope that this familiarity will help me when I'm abroad.

It's one of my grandmother's favorite movies. I think I've already mentioned that I want to genuinely pick up an accent while I'm in England. After watching so many movies, though, I doubt that it's going to be possible. I mean, I can already mimic an accent, but applying it to everyday speech naturally would probably take much longer than the five months I'll have.

I'm watching The Mummy on TV right now and in this case, the mixture of American and British voices are quite definite because of the direct comparison between the two. This particular movie is one that my grandma likes a lot, and it was during one of our "movie days" that she first introduced it to me.

I'll go for an impromptu subject change right now. I think it was sometime last week that Jenn and I went over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for a "lunch day" with Grandma and one of her good friends, Tish. Grandma provided sandwiches and Jenn and I tried out a creamy carrot soup recipe that, we found, needed a lot of work in the "creamy" part. Before and after lunch, we spent a lot of time talking about our upcoming experience and what to expect. In her youth, Tish studied in France for a bit and traveled around Europe, so you could say that she was a wealth of cultural information and experience. She's also a true character, and many of her stories kept us laughing through the afternoon.

It won't be long now. Through boredom and whatever small events I can find to plan to fill up the next week and a half, I'll be flying to England before I know it...and definitely before I can believe it.

Nothing Much

Just checking in, reassuring my readers that haven't died or forgotten them in the week since I last posted. I don't count this as a real post, since it will be inadequate in terms of length. I'll be staying with my older sister and visiting my college campus this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some stories to write about.

My Lazy List

I know I haven't updated for a couple days and to be frank, I'm not feeling overly ambitious right now. Because of my laziness, I've decided to post a list of sorts, just general information about me, my family, and random other stuff that I may not have mentioned in any of my posts yet.

1.) Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour.
2.) I am an English major at Grand Valley State University and, before anyone asks, I am not going into teaching with my major. I tried taking an education course last year, and I think I can safely promise that it was the last Ed course I'll ever take. Instead, I want to break into the publishing world, whether as a writer or as an editor.
3.) I am an avid reader. Not only do I love to discover new books and authors, but I reread books like there is no tomorrow. I read my favorite book, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, at least twice a year.
4.) I have two older siblings. Michele is married to Chris, and they have a daughter, Avery, and another baby on the way (Michele just publicly posted this on her own blog, so I don't feel guilty spreading the news on mine). My brother, Sean, is ten years older than me and will be turning 30 this March. Unfortunately, I will be in England during this time, and having to miss his birthday is one of my biggest regrets about studying abroad.
5.) I also have a twin sister, Jennifer. She will be studying in France while I'm in England, and it will be the first time that we've been apart for over a week.
6.) My most prized possession is the ruby birthstone ring that I wear on my left ring finger. I consider it as my "purity promise" or "True Love Waits" ring, and I rarely take it off.
7.) If possible, one of the things I want to bring back from England is...an accent. Not a fake one, but I would love it if I could genuinely acquire a slight British lilt.
8.) I truly believe that the friends I make in college are the friends I'll keep for life...I'm anticipating a lot of laughs.
9.) One of my favorite TV shows is Top Chef on Bravo. Unfortunately, whenever I watch it I tend to become hungry and to feel an urge to cook. Since the show doesn't come on until 10 at night, this can sometimes be a problem.
10.) My favorite books are usually my favorite movies as well: Pride and Prejudice (A&E), The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and Jane Eyre. Probably the only exception to this pattern is Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle. I love the books, but I hated the movie.

So, there you have it: 10 random things about me, probably the most random and obscure list that you have ever read.

Will Modern Wonders Never Cease?

I never thought I would see the day when three members of my family--myself included--would talk to one another on the phone while in the same house. But tonight, pigs flew and hell froze over thanks to Skype, one of the modern technological wonders of the day. My mother sat at her computer in the back room while Jennifer and I sat not five feet away from one another in the living room. With our laptops on our laps and our headphones affixed to our heads, we must have looked like aliens as we talked to our brother on a conference call. Sean was the only one who in good conscience could say that he truly needed Skype to talk to any of us, being at least twenty minutes away.

All kidding aside, it is nice to know that Skype offers a free way to keep in contact with my friends and family while I'll be overseas. Plus, the webcam that I got for Christmas will make it even easier to keep up with everyone. The only shortcoming is that people actually have to download the program first.

So if you have a computer with a microphone and you're interested in keeping in contact with me, go to http://www.skype.com/. Downloading is free and so are all computer-to-computer calls. Search for me by name and say hello!

The Tedium Ahead...

Now that the New Year has started, I'm looking ahead to nearly a month of break. While that may seem appealing to some, I'm the type of person who likes to have her day planned out at least a little bit. There are certain events here and there throughout the month, but without schoolwork or work to fill up my everyday life, I don't know what I'll do until the end of January.

For some reason, I've been preoccupied with packing. Isn't that sad and pathetic, that I'm anticipating being so bored in the next month that I'm already considering the most tedious part about traveling? I haven't actually started packing yet, but I've been cataloguing everything I have to pack or buy, what I plan to leave behind, and how I'll attempt to fit it all in the least possible space.

I've always been a big reader, and that's going to be one of the biggest sacrifices in trying to pack when the time comes. I'm determined to be harshly minimal by only packing a couple of my favorites, like Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. What better place to read the British classics than in England?

Inspiration!! I have a solution to both problems mentioned above. If I want to pack as little books as possible, I'll have to do my best to read as many of my favorites before I leave. That way, I won't feel like reading a book that isn't available to me when abroad. Plus, it'll help me fill up the time I have in the next month. Well, no better time to start than the present...