One Year Later: A Study Abroad Reflection

Hi everyone!

So, today marks the one year anniversary of the day that I stepped off the plane at Heathrow Airport in London and made a dream that I had been dreaming since I was 15 come true! It really felt weird to start my semester at WKU a couple of days ago. I feel like I should be going back to England this fall. The whole fall semester last year was honestly so surreal. I would change some things, but overall I believe that everything that happened during and after the experience has made me grow as a person. That's one of the things that I wanted to be honest. I wanted to say a year later that I had become more grown up than I was before. I had never lived anywhere but home with parents for my first eighteen years of life. I had to be away for my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (which was a little better because my parents and sister were there for that holiday), but I missed all of our normal family traditions. I definitely won't be taking any of those experiences for granted ever again. In fact, I've learned in the last few months that I really don't need to take anything for granted on a day by day basis. You really never know when it will be the last time you see someone, do something, or go somewhere.

I'm back to blog! I think this is super exciting because that was one of my favorite parts of studying abroad, which I will expand on later. I've been wanting to write this post for a few months now, but I figured that I needed to wait until the one year anniversary to see if I still felt the same way about the lists that I am about to share.

I make lists. It's what I do. I suppose it's part of my organizational psyche.  So, I have compiled a few lists with five things each. They include my top five places, five things I learned from studying abroad, and five new goals that I still have or have set for myself since being home.  Without further ado, here are my lists!

The Top 5 Places I Went

I have very meticulously narrowed down a list of the top five places that I visited while living at Harlaxton. It was extremely difficult, but I'm happy with my list! 

 

1.  London

 Here's the thing. I was most excited about going to London. I had dreamed about walking the streets of London for a long time. I did go to London on three separate different occasions during my four and half months in England, and I probably would've gone more, even just for a day, if I could do it over again. London is one of those places that I had a gut feeling about. I knew that I would love it. I knew that it would feel like home. It did, which didn't surprise me. I can't wait for the day that I get to set foot on London streets again.  

2. Cheshire

If I ever live in England, I will either live near London or most likely, in the beautiful county of Cheshire. Everything about it reminded me of home. The picture above looks like something I would take in my hometown except Cheshire is a smidge greener than home. Also, it's close to the next the place on my list.

3. Liverpool

Yes, we did all of the touristy Beatles things in the city, but this is actually the city that I am most excited about going back to. Liverpool, the city, was incredible. I would definitely live there. It was a big city, but felt quite small, like most places in England. It was a beautiful place to visit. I mainly just love England the most in general. It was autumn from the time I got there until December, which made me love the country even more.

4. Paris

I was actually very nervous about Paris. I wanted to like it, but I didn't know how it would compare to London. I was pleasantly surprised. Walking around Paris and admiring that beautiful architecture was one of my favorite things all semester.  Also, Parisian food was hard to beat. Yes, even escargot.  The Eiffel Tower wasn't too bad either. ;) By the way, I still don't know what my hair is doing in that extremely touristy picture.

5. Venice

Venice was my favorite Italian city because....well, look at it. It's gorgeous, and the canals and the living arrangements there blow my mind. It's on the top of my 'take my family to' places. If you ever go, you must do a gondola ride. I feel like you don't get the touristy Venetian experience unless you do it. If you can find some more people, it's actually not that expensive. You're only Venice once, just ride on a gondola! It's a magical place.

5 Things I Learned From Study Abroad

This list is going to be a little bit deeper than the last one.  I learned a whole lot during my study abroad experience. I even continued to learn after I got home.

1. You Only Live Once

I've never been one to use YOLO, but I think that in this case, it's necessary. You really do only live once as far as we know. Make the best of it. Don't worry about what other people think. Honestly, if you're doing a life changing experience like studying abroad, it's about one person: yourself. Be selfish for once in your life. Do this for you and only you. Don't do something just because someone else does it. It has to be what you're passionate about, not what your neighbor or friend is passionate about. Work hard, and make your dreams come true. 

2. Don't Take Your Family for Granted

Family is one of the most important aspects in my life. Without their support and advice, I would've never been able to do this in the first place. I thought when I left that I would be very homesick, but the truth was, I was too busy to be homesick. This was true until things started to slow down after the Paris trip. Thanksgiving dinner made me extremely homesick. One of the biggest things that was reiterated during and after study abroad was that no matter what you go through, your family are always going to be there for you, they will always be your best friends, and you will never be alone when you have your family around you.

3. Don't Worry

Haha! I would like to see my face one year ago if future me had offered this piece of advice. I am a first class worrier. I get it honest from my Mamaw.   Sometimes, I worry so much that I get physically sick, which I learned in Europe. This is literally one of the only things I would change if I could do it over again.

4. Take Risks

Just say yes. Just do it. Pre-Study Abroad, Bowling Green Alexandria would've have never done some of the things that I did. I'm proud that I did things that I did. I'm still shocked about some of things that I did. They include sleeping at Paddy's Palace in Dublin, walking around the alleys of Edinburgh at night, walking around anywhere at night for that matter, and of course, getting on the (wrong) train in England.

5. Life Changes Like the Weather

Sorry to go all Taylor Swift on you, but it's true. You never know what's going to happen. I used to think that that was scary, but life is beautifully unpredictable. With that comes the hard topic that people change as well. The absolute biggest life lesson I learned from this experience is that people change and people grow apart. Friendly reminder that this is your life, and you can chose who want or don't want in life. It's not something to be bitter about, it happens. People wouldn't grow if this didn't happen. I know that I used to feel confused about friendship and growing apart, but now I know that friendship is a two way street and growing apart is a natural part of life.

5 Goals For the Future

Harlaxton was my goal since I was fifteen years old! That is three and half years of wishing for this experience to happen, and it didn't disappoint. However, I felt a little empty when I got back because my goal had been accomplished. Of course, I have LIFE goals like graduating college, going to graduate school, becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner, getting married, and becoming a mom. These goals on this list are more short-term goals though. I think that those are just as important as life goals.

1. Travel to Three New Places Within the Next Two Years

I definitely want to keep traveling because it's a part of who I am. I want to make sure that I see three new places in the next two years, which I think is a fair goal. Hopefully, one of  those places is New York City.

2. Travel Back To England By 2020

The year 2010 didn't affect me, but I think that 2020 will. I hope that I can say that I've been back to England, my second home, by that year.

3. Keep Blogging

I've been crap at this since I've been back, but it was one of my favorite parts of the semester. I've always found writing something, anything, to be a therapeutic task. It helps you regroup and reflect. It made me so happy to post blogs every week when I was in Europe. I know that I'll have this to look back on.

4. YouTube

Something that has always made me happy was being in front of some kind of audience. Being on camera is one of my favorite things. My family can tell you that from my camera hogging technique of childhood home movies. I loved vlogging in Europe, and I have been thinking of getting back in the YouTube swing of things. I hope to have 100 subscribers in the next year.

5. DeTox

This means that I need to continue to do some life spring cleaning if you will. Any relationship that is healthy, I will keep, even though I am extremely horrible at keeping in touch. Any relationship that I feel is unhealthy for me, I will distance myself from. I want to eat healthier as well, which is part of this. I need to drink as much water as I did at Harlaxton, and I'm slowly but surely working on that again. I just want to be happy and make sure that I am my first priority when it's my time. This is my life afterall.

Once again, I cannot believe that it's been year since I left for Harlaxton, but I am excited about what's to come in the future. As always, thank you for reading.

Tell me in the comments if there are any short-term goals that you have, or maybe you have learned something in the past year that you would like to share with me! 

Thanks again!

All the love, 

Alexandria :)

Family Vacation Part 2: France

Hey everyone!

Happy Thursday!  I'm back to recap the second half of our family vacation at the end of my semester.  The last five days of our trip were spent in France.  I loved Paris when I visited in November and was very excited to go back, but I was also excited to see more of France and also go to Disneyland Paris!

On Friday, the 26th of December, I sadly had to part ways with London early in the morning.  I rode in a black cab for the last time of the semester and made my way to St. Pancras International for our train to Paris.  We waited for our Eurostar to depart at eight in the morning, and soon, we were speeding through the English countryside, under the channel, and into the French countryside.  One of my favorite things about Europe that I will repeat over and over is the proximity to everything.  Within a few hours, you can be in a completely new country doing something so culturally different than what you were doing before.

Cheeky Eurostar selfie

Another selfie...

We were sad that our snack was all gone

When we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris, we made our way to the RER A train to head to St. Lazare station to catch our train to Bayeux, France.  Dad wanted to see the Normandy things and take a D-Day tour of the American beaches and sites of the famous invasion in 1944 that eventually ended the Second World War.  I, myself, am also a history geek sometimes and was very excited to see these infamous sites and a new place.

We waited and caught our train to Bayeux. Along the way, we had a stressful eight minute train change in Caen, then we were on our way.  (P.S. it's not a good idea to "backpack" through Europe with four large suitcases, three carry-ons, and two backpacks).  The reason we had that much was due to my bags from the four months I was there.  I had told my parents to have extra room, so I could divvy up my things, so my suitcase was under the 50 lb limit.  Next time, we won't have or need to have that much stuff.

Another 20 minutes on a different train, and we were in Bayeux.  We learned the hard way in London that we do not want to walk 15 minutes to our hotel with all of those bags, so we caught a taxi from the train station.

Our hotel was Hotel le Bayeux, and it was a cute, family-owned bed and breakfast with two floors and no lift.  Of course, our room was up the winding staircase.  Our room, as well as the bed and breakfast, was so cute.  There was a queen sized bed for Mom and Dad and a bunk bed for me and Catherine.  We also had a tiny bathroom.  The room over looked the small street that the hotel was situated on, and I fell in love with France.  There is absolutely more to France than Paris, and I have yet to travel to the sunny South (which I plan to visit one day).  I snapped this picture out the window of our room. 

I LOVE FRENCH BUILDINGS

That night, we ventured out and explored the small town.  Really, we were in search of food.  The receptionist at the hotel told us that most places do not open until seven, but we were starving, and there was one place that was open 24/7.  I had the "best burger in the world", which was very good.

Saturday morning, with our stomachs full of the most delicious homemade croissants, we got into an eight passenger van for our tour of the D-Day sites.  The wind was INSANE that day, but the tour was still very good.  We went to a German bunker site called Point du Hoc first.  American soldiers climbed up the cliff to attack German soldiers.

I can't imagine having to climb this cliff

It was SO windy!

The landscape was made this way by bomb craters (Catherine's photo)

Inside a German bunker (Catherine's photo)

After being knocked around by the vicious wind there, we drove to Omaha Beach.  It was incredible to stand on that beach and realize how many brave men lost their lives for so many people.

We went to the American Cemetery after that, which has the beach as its background.   No words can describe the cemetery and so it justice. Catherine snapped some pictures with her fancy camera.

After our tour, we ate at the place that we had eaten at the night before.  It was still delicious.  We walked around more and went in the beautiful Bayeux Cathedral.  The village of Bayeux was so cute, and really was the perfect French village.

Main street in Bayeux

Bayeux Cathedral

We lit this candle for the Colovos family in the Cathedral

Little town, it's a quiet village

We had a great time in Bayeux, but it was time to travel back to Paris.  After our train ride back, the rest of the evening was a NIGHTMARE.  First, our taxi driver pretended like he had no idea what I was talking about while the meter was slowly topping up.  Second, we ended up waiting for our RER train in the sketchiest metro station in Paris, equipped with three French military personnel patrolling the station with huge machine guns.  And last but not least, the food we got at our hotel at 11:30 pm was a microwaved  Croque Monsieur (glorified ham and cheese sandwich) served by a rude bartender.

Needless to say, Sunday was not a day to be going back into Paris and exploring.  We all needed rest, so instead, we slept in and explored Disneyland Paris' Downtown Disney and hotels.  It was just a chill day that was slow-paced and much needed. AND packed full of good, old-fashioned family fun in Disney.

A family selfie a day keeps the doctor away (or something like that...)

I finally got some Minnie ears

You don't know how happy I was to see this sign

Chief Dad in Disney's Sequoia Lodge hotel (Catherine's photo also featuring her pink camera bag that she didn't want to carry)

Reunited with my childhood pal, Magic Mickey

The beautiful Disneyland Hotel

First glimpse of the castle

I think after Sunday, everyone was finally ready to see Paris.  I was ready to be the tour guide for the morning and show them around.  I started my tour off at Notre Dame. Then, it was off to Tuileries, which provides amazing views of landmarks and pretty pictures.  It's one of my favorite parts of Paris.

Notre Dame, this time with a Christmas tree!

The Arc de Triomphe through the Ferris Wheel at Tuileries (Catherine's photo)

We wanted to go into the Louvre museum, but the line looked like it was hours and hours long, and we only had one day in the city!

Why stand in line when you can take a selfie?

 I took them to one of my favorite cafes by the museum for lunch, and then we made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  To get to the Eiffel Tower, the best way is to get off of the metro at the Ecole Militaire station, and keep walking straight until you see the tower, and you will see it.  I loved seeing their reactions when the Eiffel Tower was right in front of them.

Sunny selfie after they got their first glimpse of the tower

This happens to be the cutest picture ever (Catherine's photo)

Me and my sister at the Eiffel Tower!

We had tickets to go to the top of the tower at 3:30, so to pass the time, we got drinks at a cafe by the Eiffel Tower.

I may not be in England, but that doesn't stop my tea drinking

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower was scary for me because I do not like heights, but it was incredible for views!

Selfie at the top

Awesome picture from the top

The Seine at Sunset, part 1

The Seine at Sunset, part 2

And then, the most awesome part of the trip was when Dad surprised us with a dinner cruise on the Seine.  It was a great way to end a great day in Paris.

view from our table

delicious food added to the experience

Our last day in Europe, we did what the Colovos family does best: DISNEY OF COURSE!!!  Disneyland Paris was soooooo much fun! It was a great way to end the trip.  I have this life goal to visit all the Disneylands in the world.  I've got two down. Now, I just need to go to California, and then try to figure out how to make it to Hong Kong and Tokyo (those might be a little harder to get to).

We started our day at Walt Disney Studios!

Me and Catherine were excited!

Then, it was on to Disneyland Park

Disney Family selfie

Main Street

Selfie with the castle

Castle by day

Castle by night

Fireworks never disappoint

 My unforgettable semester ended with fireworks at Disneyland Paris, and I couldn't ask for anything more!

It was amazing, and I can't find the words to thank everyone and describe how important this semester was for me.

I do have many plans to continue my travels, and I will DEFINITELY go back to England - my home away from home.

See you soon!

Love always,

Alexandria

Family Vacation Part 1: England

Hey Everyone!

I'm so excited about these next couple of blog posts because I get to recap my favorite part of the semester: when my family came to spend 10 days in England and France with me!

I'm splitting this recap into two parts because I have a lot of pictures from our adventures to share with you.

On the 19th of December, when I was leaving Venice, all that was on my mind was Sunday and seeing my family again.  That Saturday was a resting day in a hotel in London.  I was wayyyyy too anxious and nervous to go out in London that day.  I was going to sleep in London, and my parents and sister were boarding planes to travel to Chicago from Nashville and then on to London just like I did four months ago.  I tried to get some sleep, but I did not sleep well that night.  I had the flight tracker open on my laptop, and I was too worked up to sleep.

The next morning, I got to the airport two hours before they arrived.  I wanted to make sure that I was there when they got there.  I couldn't keep my eyes off the arrivals board to check the progress of their flight.  When the words next to their flight number finally said arrived, I went to stand by the barrier to greet them.  I made a sign a few weeks back at Harlaxton, and I was nervously gripping onto that.  They came out of the door and around the corner, and as soon as I saw them, I couldn't hold back to the tears as I was trying to anymore.  My dad didn't even get to me before we both started crying.

I've had a lot of great feelings and experiences this semester, but my hugging my family again has to top the list.  I was so excited to show them around and have a great trip.

We made our way to get our rental car.  Those first few hours of the trip were stressful, however.  Dad was getting used to driving on the left side of the road and roundabouts.  It took us four hours to get to Grantham when it should have taken us about two and half.

My family loved seeing wind farms for the first time

But we got there safely, and that's all that matters.  Catherine snapped a picture of our Jeep Cherokee for the trip from a window in Harlaxton.

We checked into our hotel and freshened up, so we could meet my Meet-A-Family, the Baths.  It was so nice to see them again.  They did so much for me during the semester and taught me so much about everyday life in England.  I loved having my my family meet them and have a nice Sunday roast dinner at The Gregory.

The next morning, it was time for me to show them around the place I lived, ate, and went to classes in for a semester.  They loved it! Someday, I want the rest of family to see Harlaxton in person.  It's such an amazing place, and I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to live there.

Showing them the Long Gallery (Catherine's pictures will be noted with her name)

I never got to take silly statue pictures like these in British Studies lectures.

(Catherine)

(Catherine)

Showing them the grounds (Catherine)

My favorite picture (Catherine)

The conservatory (Catherine)

taken by Catherine

Me and my red towel - taken by Catherine

I even got to show them the room that I lived, and they were surprised that it was smaller than they thought.

taken by Catherine

After I gathered my bags and drove down the drive to Harlaxton for the last time (for now), it was time to start the next leg of our journey.

Off to Liverpool! I was excited to go to a new place and explore it for the first time with my family.  The to Liverpool was so much fun.  Down the road from Harlaxton is a place called Belvoir Castle that I heard about during my time there.  Dad saw the signs for it, so we took a little detour to go and see it.  It was beautiful.  I'm using Catherine's picture of it because apparently mine wasn't good enough! Haha!

After driving for about two hours, I wanted to stop back in one of my favorite places from the semester: Holmes Chapel.  I took my family around the village to show them what it was like, and we went to the bakery again because I can't live without those gingerbread men or millionaire shortbread!

While eating our delicious treats from W. Mandeville bakery, we made the final stretch of the drive to Liverpool.  Our hotel was right across from Albert Dock and a short walk from the main shopping district.  After checking into our hotel, we ventured out onto the streets of Liverpool to find a Nando's of course!  I think I fell in love with Liverpool.  I could see myself living in that city!  I love it!

The Ferris wheel on Albert Dock

My last Nando's for a while

Tuesday morning was finally the time for me and my sister to drag our parents on The Magical Mystery tour.  I think my sister and I both agree that this was one of our favorite days on the trip.  There was some major Beatles fangirling going on.  The tour was amazing and we got to see so many cool Beatles things.

The Mersey River

Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour

Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye

Strawberry Fields Forever

John Lennon's childhood home

Paul McCartney's childhood home

George Harrison's childhood home

Me, Catherine, and John Lennon

Our parents are awesome and let us go to the Beatles Story museum on Albert Dock, and we loved it!

Rare picture of the Beatles on Albert Dock

Highlight of the museum was John's Imagine set-up

Rocking some John Lennon glasses

After grabbing some frappuccinos  at hands down the best Starbucks ever, we made the drive to London to return our car at Heathrow.

The best Starbucks ever

We had about a 45 minute ride on the tube to Westminster station.  I wanted to take my family to Westminster tube station, so they could have the same wow moment seeing Big Ben when you first walk out that I had the first time I went to London.  We walked to our hotel and checked in.  We were laughing so hard because Dad blended into the curtains with his sweater.

 The first thing we did the next morning was head to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard.  It was so cool, and they played Christmas music. I even got to pet one of the Royal horses. We were standing right in front of the gate, so we had a great view.  Mom and I started laughing so hard during ceremony because we were being squished up against the barrier by some Asian tourists.

The horse I got to pet. You can take the girl out of Kentucky, but you can't take Kentucky out of the girl!

The Royal Horsegaurds - taken by Catherine

taken by Catherine

We grabbed lunch at this Italian/French restaurant over by Green Park, and it was delicious.

We got back on the tube and went over to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

The tower of London - taken by Catherine

The rest of the day we walked along the southbank beside the London Eye.

London Eye - Taken by Catherine

taken by Catherine

Christmas Day started out with service at Westminster Abbey, and it was incredible!

Mom got sick, however, so she stayed in the hotel the rest of the day.  Dad said that it was the best day Mom could've come down with the stomach flu because we didn't have anything planned other than the service.  While Mom recovered in the hotel room, I took Dad and Catherine on the walk that I first took on my first visit to London.  We walked across Lambeth Bridge.

Then, we walked down the southbank and across Westminster Bridge.

taken by Catherine

 After that, we visited the Royal Horsegaurds and the Royal Horsegaurds Hotel where I had some fancy tea.

Then we walked down the street to Trafalgar Square!

A new statue in Trafalgar Square

Overall, the first half of our trip was amazing.  I was super sad to leave England because I love it so much, but I have no doubt that I'll be back many times.

I'll be back with you on Thursday to recap the second half of our trip in France!

See you soon!

Love always,

Alexandria