Although everyone at Harlaxton experiences homesickness at some point, from missing our families and friends to some missing their significant others, it is hard to go a day without feeling a sense of happiness surrounding you. We live in a beautiful manor house, in the countryside of England, a mile off the main road with some pretty awesome new friends.
One day this past week I woke up with that sinking feeling that the day was going to suck. I was running late to class, overwhelmed by the amount of homework that was piling up and missing my family. However, I opened my mail box up after lunch and had a card from my Mom. She is definitely a first grade teacher...with stickers decorating the outside and everything. The card wasn't much but it was a reminder that they were thinking about me. It instantly brigthened my day and was reminder that there is always a positive in each day.
The following day I woke up and had no choice but the be productive, I had a paper due by 5:00 and still had some major tweaks to adjust. I sat in the floor of my room (on a blanket fort), with the window opened and jammed to some country music. I am still unsure how those ideas flowed out of my fingers but I finished the paper in no time and I feel fairly confident about it!
My room mate, Carly, came in at a perfect time and we decided to go on a walk. There was about an hour before dinner and it was such a pretty day outside. The weather was cool but the sun was shining and the sky was crisp blue. It has become habit to check our mailbox sometime after lunch in hopes of some kind of snail mail communication. I wasn't expecting anything particular but was stoked to see a package slip in box 76.
I went up to the receptionist and received my package from an unknown source. I opened it to the funniest card with a picture of horse smiling and a small present from Jalyen Lee. She bought and sent me a gift without even spilling the beans about it, something that I could literally never do. The gift was a bracelet with a charm of St. Christopher (the patron saint of travel) on it. Little did she know how important St. Christopher is to my family. My dad wears one around his neck (whenever the chain is not broken but that happens a lot) from my Mom. This act of complete kindness for Jalyen was again a little reminder that people back home were thinking about me.
This whole positive outlook continued yesterday when I agreed to bike into Grantham instead of riding the shuttle. Granted, Grantham is not very far away from the manor, but for me this was big thing to do. Carly, Jackie, Jake and I jumped on the bikes after lunch and headed towards the canal. It was such a pretty ride next to the flowing water against the brightness of the day. I of course huffed and puffed the whole time, the whole out of shape thing has hit a new level, but I made it. We ventured around Grantham - going into book shops, to the knitting store for me and to ASDA before returning back to the manor. The trip altogether was 8.2 miles but I felt great after the ride! Last night us girls had a movie night and lots of laughs were shared while watching "Friends with Benefits". It is great to be blessed by so many new friends!
Harlaxton is giving me so much more than just an international experience filled with school and travel. This place is teaching me to see the beauty in every day, and to love each and every situation that I am placed in. I hope to continue this PMA (positive mental attitude, thanks Carly for getting this stuck in my head) once I go back home in 2 months. Yeah, 2 months. How insane is that!
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