Bittersweet beginnings

OK. So I’m starting to freak out a little.

I’ve been browsing the University of Wales, Swansea, Web site where I’ll be studying/living/possibly freaking out, and it’s finally hit me that it’s gonna be like I’m a freshman again. Not even a freshman, a fresher, as the British say. Damn it.

I just got things all figured out.

Swansea has a student union that I hear throws kick-ass socials, and I was browsing through their photo gallery, http://www.swansea-union.co.uk/. Yeah, looks pretty great, much more interesting than the Greek life I’ve experienced at OU, perhaps up there with a well-planned 110 blowout, but throw in the British accents and the whole foreign country thing and it tops out. At least in my imagination.

And now I’m having flashbacks from my freshman year when I didn’t yet know any upperclassmen, wasn’t brave enough to meander into a random kegger on Palmer or Mill and most definitely didn’t have a fake I.D.

Then came the flashbacks of wandering through Gordy trying to find my first Italian class. Next came the memory of working up the nerve to answer questions in my first journalism class, praying that no would find out I was a freshman who managed to slip into newswriting my first quarter.

Buying my first textbooks. Applying for my first job at The Post copy editing. Figuring out my RA wasn’t going to kill me for waking her up at 1 a.m. when I locked myself out.

Oh yeah, and making friends. That's the part that's really gonna suck. I've already lost a couple to graduation and now instead of just summer break, it's gonna be six months until I really get to hang out with most of them. OK, now I'm whining.

But you guys are so great :-).

Sure, by winter quarter most of my unfamiliarity, uncomfortability etc., etc., had changed, and by spring, as usual for the freshman class, I blended right in with the sophomores. I knew campus like I’d been born there, I had my favorite hang outs and my favorite friends.

I’d figured out how to pretend I knew where the bathroom was at each house party I ventured into and had made enough upperclassmen friends I could score a bottle of coconut rum for the weekend for watching chick flicks in the dorms with my girlfriends. Or at least on of my girlfriends could (cough, cough, Virginia).

But I’m only going to be in Wales for fall quarter. Just enough time to settle in. On the upside, it'll be the last two quarters of my senior year. Kind of a bittersweet moment.

In the next few weeks I'll be voluntarily throwing myself into a situation that I only think I’m familiar with, most likely to find out that, no, I not and I have to figure it all out. Again.

What was I thinking when I decided to leave my senior year, fall quarter, prime time to rule the campus and the bars and make ever-lasting memories with my people?

Probably that this might be my last chance to travel Europe on my parents’ dollar and that it’ll be one hell of a time.

Plus, I’ve already got three years of college under my belt. It can’t be that different. Right?

Welsh Fun Fact No. 2: The United Kingdom is about the size of Oregon and Wales is almost six times smaller than Ohio.

Getting Ready to Go

This is the first of what I plan to be six entries before I fly out Sept. 21. The summer has flown by and after applying to an exchange program in January, it's finally time to start thinking about finalizing travel details and saying goodbye for a few months to my family and friends. They, might I add, are the main reason for this blog. I'll try to update it as frequently as possible while I'm abroad and of course welcome any feedback about the posts or any other type of correspondence from home. I'm sure I'll miss you all terribly.

Mom has so graciously bought me two pairs of jeans so I'm decently clothed for the next few months, a new pair of tennis shoes for walking my ass off around Europe, a rain jacket and fleece to keep me warm and dry (they say it rains every day in the UK), and ginormous backpack to hold all my crap for day and weekend trips. She and my dad also have so graciously given me the means to fund my trip :-). So I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks Mom and Dad. I'm pretty sure I couldn't make this trip without your help.

I decided to go to Wales because, 1) the exchange program allowed me to use my scholarship money, 2) the Swansea University has a journalism program (but of course after I was accepted and had committed to the program I realized I didn't need to take anymore journalism classes, 3) the people speak English (although 30 percent of the population also speaks Welsh), and finally, 4) I just wanted to study abroad while it was still affordable.

Anyway, the next few weeks I'll be tying up lose ends, hangin' out with as many peeps as possible and pumping out as much work on my senior thesis as possible before leaving. Peace.

Welsh Fun Fact No. 1: There are more than 3 million sheep in Wales and almost 3 million people. Mutton anyone?