Welcome back!
As I sat down to begin writing this entry it came to me that this is my second to last post. Now that is weird, but the thing I thought was more weird was the fact that after next week I won't be recording what happens during my weeks abroad. I don't think I fully appreciated what this blog has done for me until just now. It has forced to take lots of pictures (something I usually forget to do), it has made me remember the big events of my time abroad, such as visiting London, but also the small moments, like family game nights with friends. I'm very happy that I have been able to document my time abroad and now I will forever be able to look back at my entries and reminisce. This blog has become my own personalized souvenir! Basically what I am trying to say is that even if you do not think you are a good writer or don't want to publish your writing on a public platform, journal about your time abroad. It is well worth the effort!
I have also come to the realization that leaving Sussex next week is going to feel odd and almost wrong. Sussex has become my home away from home for this summer and, yes, they call pants trousers and most people don't believe in drinking water, but I am going to miss this place.
Like my title suggests, my week seven at Sussex was very nice. As I mentioned in my previous post weeks three and seven are the in-between weeks where you just had the midterm and it's still too early to begin studying for the final. They are the weeks to relax and truly enjoy Sussex. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to pretend otherwise, my last full week in Sussex was nothing out of the ordinary. I think what happened was as the program was coming to a close everything began hitting me. I realized that soon it would be time to start studying for the final so I needed to get everything organized and make sure I was caught up on the material. I also needed to figure out what I was going to do with all of my luggage after my studies were finished and even things like booking my flight back to UCLA (I'm going home to Chicago after my travels for a week and then back to school). So this week was filled with lots of logistics and planning. However, when the weekend came I took some time to make the most of my last weekend in Brighton.
Friday morning I woke up early because I had a few more logistic things to take care of. When I was done, because it was such a beautiful day outside, my friends and I decided to go back to Stanmer House and have a picnic. I stopped at the co-op on my way back from the library and picked up some baguettes, prosciutto, fruit salads, iced tea, and a Cadbury Oreo bar, which is a must for anyone to try when they visit. We climbed back up the hill, laid out our blanket and spent the next four hours eating and laying out under the sun. After our picnic I decided that I should begin studying for the final that was less than a week away. I began reviewing notes and getting everything organized for when the real studying started.
As I sat down to begin writing this entry it came to me that this is my second to last post. Now that is weird, but the thing I thought was more weird was the fact that after next week I won't be recording what happens during my weeks abroad. I don't think I fully appreciated what this blog has done for me until just now. It has forced to take lots of pictures (something I usually forget to do), it has made me remember the big events of my time abroad, such as visiting London, but also the small moments, like family game nights with friends. I'm very happy that I have been able to document my time abroad and now I will forever be able to look back at my entries and reminisce. This blog has become my own personalized souvenir! Basically what I am trying to say is that even if you do not think you are a good writer or don't want to publish your writing on a public platform, journal about your time abroad. It is well worth the effort!
I have also come to the realization that leaving Sussex next week is going to feel odd and almost wrong. Sussex has become my home away from home for this summer and, yes, they call pants trousers and most people don't believe in drinking water, but I am going to miss this place.
Like my title suggests, my week seven at Sussex was very nice. As I mentioned in my previous post weeks three and seven are the in-between weeks where you just had the midterm and it's still too early to begin studying for the final. They are the weeks to relax and truly enjoy Sussex. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to pretend otherwise, my last full week in Sussex was nothing out of the ordinary. I think what happened was as the program was coming to a close everything began hitting me. I realized that soon it would be time to start studying for the final so I needed to get everything organized and make sure I was caught up on the material. I also needed to figure out what I was going to do with all of my luggage after my studies were finished and even things like booking my flight back to UCLA (I'm going home to Chicago after my travels for a week and then back to school). So this week was filled with lots of logistics and planning. However, when the weekend came I took some time to make the most of my last weekend in Brighton.
Friday morning I woke up early because I had a few more logistic things to take care of. When I was done, because it was such a beautiful day outside, my friends and I decided to go back to Stanmer House and have a picnic. I stopped at the co-op on my way back from the library and picked up some baguettes, prosciutto, fruit salads, iced tea, and a Cadbury Oreo bar, which is a must for anyone to try when they visit. We climbed back up the hill, laid out our blanket and spent the next four hours eating and laying out under the sun. After our picnic I decided that I should begin studying for the final that was less than a week away. I began reviewing notes and getting everything organized for when the real studying started.
Saturday was Pride in Brighton. Brighton Pride is the biggest pride celebration in all of Europe so as you can imagine it is pretty crazy! One of my friends had her entire family come down to celebrate it, so we met up with them at their flat to have a pride party. Then around 1pm we walked down the street to watch the parade. The parade was incredible! Everywhere you looked there were bright colors and people dancing. Watching the parade you also got a sense of the true community that exists in Brighton, literally everyone walked in the parade: the police, paramedics, fire department, grocery stores, kids, seniors and everyone in-between. It was so fun and after experiencing Pride I will not hesitate to say that Brighton knows how to party! The whole town shuts down for the entire weekend and everyone just celebrates!
After the parade I received a text from my aunt telling me she was in London. I was so excited to hear this I immediately hopped on the next train out. Because everyone was in Brighton for Pride the train station was a mess. I got confused so I just hopped on my train without buying a ticket. I thought worst comes to worst I'll buy my ticket on the train. But no one ever came around to check tickets so I ended up riding all the way to London for free! Thank you Pride! I got into the city around 4:00 pm and met up with my aunt at her hotel. She was staying in a hotel near Marble Arch, somewhere I had not seen during my previous trip to London, so I was happy to explore that area. My aunt is a pilot so she had flown in that morning and had about 24 hours before she would fly back to Chicago. We made the most of it by going out to dinner with some of her crew members.
After dinner we walked down Oxford Street and she took me into Selfridges food department where we found some delicious looking eclairs and canulis. Of course we couldn't pass those up so we grabbed some for the road. Because she had a 5am call time at the airport, we were forced to call an end to the evening. We said our goodbyes and then I hopped on a train back to Brighton (unfortunately this time my ride wasn't for free).
Sunday I spent most of the day studying and preparing for my final week at Sussex. And just like that my seventh week came to an end. Looking ahead to these next four days (yes only four days left!) I know most of my time will be spent studying for the final exam. However, I do plan on enjoying every last second I have here. Come by again next week to read about my final moments in at Sussex and in Brighton.
Until next time!
Veronica
Sunday I spent most of the day studying and preparing for my final week at Sussex. And just like that my seventh week came to an end. Looking ahead to these next four days (yes only four days left!) I know most of my time will be spent studying for the final exam. However, I do plan on enjoying every last second I have here. Come by again next week to read about my final moments in at Sussex and in Brighton.
Until next time!
Veronica