Hello! You found the compass!
It’s that time again!
I’m writing this from thousands of feet in the air (above Texas) on my way to
Boston to spend time with friends before shipping myself off to graduate
school. I am returning to Kingston University in London to obtain my Master’s degree
in Creative Writing. The process of preparing to go overseas for a year is a
complicated one, and there were some unexpected financial curveballs as well
(like dropping $545 for a visa). Even knowing I’ll be on my way, it feels
unreal that everything is in order. The months leading up to my departure from
California were filled with visa this, FAFSA that, pack this, do this, fill
these out, check mail, send mail, panic, etc. Having nothing to do is strange,
but a huge relief. (I should have thought of a better word than relief. I’m
sitting at the window seat trying not to be “that person” and uproot my
traveling companions for the sake of getting to a bathroom. Given that I have
three and a half hours left in this magical flying box, I think I may have to
give in.)
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| I like jetBlue, but uuuuugh flying gets old quickly. |
On leaving California: I
am terrible at goodbyes. Drinking with friends last night seemed to help dull
the usual outpouring of emotions that comes with saying farewell (with the
exception of saying it to one young man in particular, who came out briefly to
say goodbye to me and I proceeded to cry on his shoulder for a solid ten
minutes). Overall, though, I managed to hold myself together….until shortly
after the plane took off. That’s when, for whatever reason, every single event
that transpired during my time in California hit me. I thought about the
friends I made, the ones I lost, the jobs I had, the scary moments, the funny
moments, how I’d changed, what I would do differently, things I’d said or done,
and the things I’m happy I said and did. My saving grace from this crying fit
was a book I’d purchased at LAX: Hyperbole
and a Half. (I didn’t expect to find the book of one of my favorite blogs
in an airport, and I excitedly purchased it. Check out Allie Brosh’s work at http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/.) As I reached the point
where my mind was stuck in sad mode because of missing people and being
concerned about what the next year will bring, I decided the best thing to do
was to keep reading to distract myself. I opened up to where I left off: the
end of a chapter on depression. There, staring up at me with the glory of what
I assume is MS Paint, was a picture of Allie’s character, smiling under a
rainbow, and the words “maybe everything isn’t hopeless bullshit” scrawled
across the sky. That hit me. For whatever reason, to me that was the funniest
thing I could have possibly read right in that moment. My crying quickly turned
into laughing, and at that point I could only assume the lady in the seat next
to me was getting distracted from her Korean medical drama to be mildly
concerned about the seemingly mentally unstable redhead next to her.
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| Here it is! - Megan from the future, September 2015. |
With my
sadness safely out of the way, I continued to read my book until attempting to
nap. Despite getting a mere two and a half hours of sleep last night, I
couldn’t nap. I tried my best, using my book as a pillow as I hunched over my
tray table/bed with my eyes closed and headphones in. I managed a ten second
dream about a football player injuring his elbow before I woke up to find that
my elbow hurt. (It was really exciting, guys.) Bleary-eyed and not thinking
straight, I decided to open the window shade and see what I could see. Well
what I saw were sun-drenched clouds so white that my retinas burned with fury.
Acknowledging that any more staring into the endless white abyss would only
continue to hurt, I shut the window with mild disappointment and dragged out my
laptop.
So
that leaves me here, typing away at thousands of feet while listening to my
iPod and hoping the plane doesn’t rock too much. I plan on updating this blog
regularly while overseas, as usual. I haven’t even arrived in England and I’m
pleased to say that my calendar is filling up! Fresher’s Week will bring plenty
of social events, as well as meetings with the creative writing faculty. I plan
on going to several of the dances, as well as a Harry Potter themed tour of
London and a boat trip to Greenwich. Outside of Fresher’s Week, I’m working on
solidifying some travel plans both in and outside of England. Within England, I
would love to hike Hadrian’s Wall. The idea was brought to me by another young
woman getting her Creative Writing degree. At the time I didn’t know much about
Hadrian’s Wall or the hike. After looking into it, hiking the wall made it near
the top of my to-do list. It’s a relatively short hike (84 miles), but there
are areas of historic significance within easy walking distance from the wall
(which, of course, is historically significant in itself) that I would like to
explore as well. I’ll be sure to let you know as the plan gets updated.
Other
trips within England that I’ve toyed with are seeing Dartmoor and Brighton.
Dartmoor I’ve wanted to see since the first time around, and Brighton has been
highly recommended by everyone I know. As for trips outside of England, budget
and time provided, I would like to get to any of the following: Ireland,
Scotland, or Norway. Norway, the seemingly odd one out, actually has been
planned the most already! There are several other people I’ve met through
Kingston who are interested in taking a few days and going to Bergen to see the
fjords and enjoy the town.
There
is one definite trip: a quick stop in Germany. The first weekend in October, me
and another Creative Writing major (master?) are skipping town and heading into
Berlin. We’ve already reserved the hostel, so the only (very important) item we
need to acquire are plane tickets. We decided it would be easier to buy tickets
when we’re together in person, rather than trying to coordinate flights over
email from different time zones. We’re just heading there for the weekend, as I
said, but it should be a fun little adventure!
(I’m
just taking a moment to point out that my iPod just started playing Ass Back
Home by Gym Class Heroes. I’m almost there, Boston! One hour and twenty minutes
left! Plus, by the time anybody is actually
reading this, I’ll be in Wakefield…most likely comatose in my pajamas and
shamefully stuffed with much-needed “real” food. Plane food is a poor choice
for a meal, but I hadn’t eaten and I was desperate. Now my stomach feels like
it’s processing troublingly sharp cardboard. Fun!)
(Megan from the present would like to briefly interrupt here to say that Megan from the past, to nobody's surprise, did math wrong. She did, in fact, have two hours and twenty minutes left. Upon realizing this, internal weeping began.)
Well,
there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to write just now. I’ll have a good time in
Boston playing games, attending a music festival, possibly going to King
Richard’s Faire or Room Escape Adventures, and then I’ll make my glorious and
triumphant return to the land of the Brits! My program lasts one year, so
that’s plenty of time to get to adventuring.
(Ooh,
and now Childish Gambino is playing! I’m seeing him tomorrow! Or today, if
you’re reading this on September 6th! Woohoo! Oh, and it looks like
I’m flying over Saint Louis! Hi, Amy! Exclamatory sentences!)
Okay,
I suppose I should tear myself away from the computer. My right shoulder is in
pain, for reasons I can’t begin to understand, so I am going to get some Advil
and keep reading. Or watching Food Network. Or both. Both is good. The next post should be significantly more exciting and better written than this one. Until next
time….
