Derek's Jolly Old Blog: Two Weeks

As of right now, I leave London to go back to the United States in two weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. 20,160 minutes. Where has the time gone? As I look back, I cannot believe I have already been here for three months. It is blowing my mind.

Just yesterday, I was saying bye to Austin and Sammie as they drove off in the other direction towards Tempe with my mom and dad on our way to LAX making sure to stop by In-N-Out.
Just minutes ago, I was sitting on the airplane wondering if I would ever fall asleep, knowing that I was far too excited/nervous to sleep. A couple seconds ago I was panicking not knowing if I would have enough Pounds to pay the cab driver on the way to my flat.

Wasn't it just yesterday that I walked in and met my seven roommates and went out with all our neighbors trying to find a bar in central London and failed miserably? Looking back now, it is almost embarrassing not being able to find something. Now we know where to go based on the night because we know what place has deals for students.

There is no way that 13 weeks ago I was in orientation wondering what classes would be like. Now I am just doing everything I can to get through these last couple classes, feeling almost as routine as they do back at ASU.

It seems like I was just getting together with friends to plan out all these weekend vacations, and now the guy who had never left North America can say that he has been to London, Paris, Versaillse, Normandy, Dublin, Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Toledo, with Oxford, Manchester, Windsor, and Brighton hopefully still in the cards.

In the blink of an eye I also went from the kid that had never used public transportation(besides the lovely Orbit in Tempe), but could now navigate pretty much any bus/tube/rail system in Europe. Regardless of language.

Seconds ago I feel like I was making this blog, thinking that I'd be updating it multiple times a week. Now I am doing everything I can to make sure I post so all my fleeting memories of the greatest experience of my life don't leave me forever.

No more than five minutes was I walking into Sammie and Sara's house thinking no one was coming over only to find 25 or so people waiting to surprise me and reassure that I would be greatly missed in the months to come. Now I am here with my new friends, but highly anticipating getting home and having the best Cinco de Mayo that Tempe, Arizona has ever seen.

As much as I miss my life back home, I feel like I have established a whole new life over here and it is really upsetting me that I am going to have to leave this all behind me, most likely forever. It has been great. About twelve hours after I arrived in London, I felt that I didn't belong here and was ready to board the next flight back to LA. Knowing what I know now, I would have hated myself for the rest of my life.

14 days. Really? There is no way.

The weather was absolutely amazing today, so I wandered the city for about 6 hours today. Going to several areas, some new some old. Hopefully this weather keeps up.