london calling.

i leave for london, england in 41 days. almost 6 weeks. it feels so far away in some ways, and so close in other ways. i've been asked several times if i'm nervous/scared to leave the country for almost 3 months, and the answer is....no. sure, that's because i've never been out of the country (with the exception of canadia & tijuana) and have nothing to compare it to. i suppose the more accurate answer is that i'm excited. i've been asked that too. i know that there are a lot of unknowns, and some of it might be scary, but the risk will be worth it. i know it. studying abroad (particularly in england) is something i've wanted to do for SO long. even before studying abroad wasn't "cool" ;) (....kidding!) i do understand why people don't want to study abroad: leaving your friends/family; being in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar environment; all of the tedious arrangements/details, etc. and i 100% agree. all of the above is true, but they pale in comparison to the adventure i will have. i look at it as: meeting new friends/locals; getting to experience life in a new and different culture and adding it to my college experience. and it's not like i have a significant other anyhow ;)

i was thinking the other day about a couple of my friends who are also studying abroad shortly. we all have one thing in common: we took the same "major/career exploration" class spring quarter of freshman year (see here). more than once we were exposed to the study abroad office and had guest speakers who had studied abroad. they only further "fueled the fire", if you will. at that point, i wasn't even sure what my major was, but i was sure of one thing: i wanted to study abroad. and the sooner, the better.

my friends that shared my interest were victoria (my roommate at the time) and lindsey. 

after one of our class sessions, we immediately marched over the study abroad office to check it out even further. and now, almost a year and a half later, all three of us are about to venture into new adventures in 3 different countries. 

victoria is studying in thailand this fall (and ironically, left about 15 minutes ago!) and i could not be more excited for her! when i first met her, she already had a major picked out (business administration) but after a few economics classes, quickly realized it wasn't what she thought. throughout our class, she became interested in sociology and took the intro class that fall. she loved it, applied for the major, and is now going to thailand to further study it, specifically working with a trafficking shelter called Baan Yuu Suk. victoria has such a huge heart, and i know is going to grow and learn so much there.

another one of my good friends (lindsey) is going to the netherlands to study this fall. actually, she leaves next week (the 23rd) and isn't coming back until after christmas.     

lindsey, like victoria, came into college knowing exactly what she wanted to major in. or so she thought. she was a bio-chem major. after doing less than stellar in her chem classes, she  realized maybe she was going down the wrong path. we took macroeconomics together this past winter, and she thought business admin would be a good fit. i could definitely see her doing that....but the story doesn't stop there. she had to take financial accounting (the same one i got a C in) for her business major and absolutely LOVED it - so she decided accounting is the path for her. i think she is crazy (much like my brother) but only because i'm AWFUL at it. and as for the netherlands? lindsey is indeed dutch, like the rest of Lynden (and even has relatives who live there) so in a sense, she's exploring her roots.

and then there's me. i'm going to england -- okay, so there isn't really a language barrier (other than certain words like "bloke", "rubbish", and "bloody" etc. and their dialect...) but i'm okay with that. and the weather is very similar to seattle. but... i'm studying fashion....in london. i just said that out loud. how crazy. i'm so excited for my fellow studying abroad friends and am slightly jealous that they get to start their adventures so soon! 

patience is a virtue......or so i keep telling myself!