Waving goodbye to a chocolate city and hello to a familiar city by the water.

My pink luggage (soon to be crammed with Americanness!).  And yes, yes I'm 24 and traveling with a stuffed animal.

It's really random how 10 months have whizzed by and suddenly I'm staring at my suitcases, (pink, of course!) in my cozy English bedroom, ready to take their long passage back to New York, home. Soon they'll be chock-full (they're nearly empty, it was an easy pack this time, mostly clothes and items headed back to Buffalo!) with all of my favorite American/Buffalo things. I'll shop my little heart out this summer and the result will probably be overweight baggage fines on the way back to England! As cheesy as it sounds, it felt like I packed those pink bags up yesterday to come to Birmingham, England. Surely when I booked my ticket if felt like there was more time before I'd fly, right? Departure wasn't supposed to arrive immediately, was it?

In September, all I could think was first, how jet lagged I was, and second, how much I missed Tim Hortons coffee and absolutely everything else about home (especially since it was the beginning of my favorite season at home, Fall-I know its "Autumn" here!). "Straight away" I missed the traffic lights, red lipstick colored stop signs, yellow school buses, family, friends and everything from the life I stripped myself of. The questions in public, "are you from America, are you on holiday, do you miss home?" and my favorite, "why would you come here?" all provoked my homesickness and made the transition seem impossible.

Thankfully, it soon became less about missing home and my old life and morphed into a home away from home. Getting up for school, (on the days I had it, when my family wasn't mocking me for the vacations I get at university!) and visiting with friends all became routine; my British life. People and friends, some English and some foreign like me, my professors at college all challenged me; not to ignore being away from my comfort zone but to embrace and feel welcome in their world. They've made me laugh (to the point of spitting out my drink!), dance on Broad Street, (Alice! and yes, I don't have rhythm!) visit Londontown, learn how inept I am at pool AND bowling (giggling the whole time though!) and feel like I've known them for much longer than I actually have. Although it never feels like America, the people I'm lucky enough to have supporting me and in my life, gave me a new and irreplaceable kind of comfort.

An employee at my train station makes me giggle and reminds me of home (he used to live in Western New York-where I'm from!). I love walking into New Street station and seeing the police men in their uniforms and official hard top hats (not just because I love uniforms either!). On the train home from college, (I feel so commuter-ish! At home I drive, which at first was strange to not do here but now I like it!) I love to see the purple polls and signs signifying I'm in Bournville where everything chocolate and wonderful comes from!! I'm the envy of American friends (the English ones aren't really as Cadbury obsessed!) and family who've all asked me to bring some yummy chocolate back for them (which, of course, I'll do!). It isn't that we don't get it in America but it DOES not taste as delicious as British Cadbury! My favorites (although its hard to chose!) are flake and the apricot crumble bars-yum!
On walks in my neighborhood, (which I still couldn't tell you all the street names...even though I see them everyday!) I love that I know other regular walkers and their dogs now (especially a little wire fox terrier named Star!), the little kids in their uniforms walking home (I love it! It's way better than public schools at home with no uniforms, these kids look adorable!), the shops in West Heath (and the salons!) and the owner of Buds and Woods who always sees me walking and says "hello darlin', how are ya bab?"

Any day I can see how lush and green England is, (which is so different from my area where its all commercial and concrete!) smell the block in my neighborhood that always smells like pancakes, notice the double decker buses (my favorite, of course, is to sit on top!), see horses trotting along the side of the road and sometimes get the feeling I'm not in England but a little closer to home in Canada (it sometimes feels very beachy and smells like it does on Lake Erie, Ontario!).

You can't get this view just anywhere.  I was out on a walk when I took this and this is about 10 minutes from my house.  Brilliant!

At Christmas, I love how alive the city centre (I'm learning and adapting as my friends have told me to do-I'd say downtown!) became with the German market and Christmas shoppers. In some ways it wasn't much different to home (and next year I WILL slide down the big slide in town!). I was like a little kid at the Brindley Place Christmas parade, even attempting to get a picture with Santa!

Brindley Place Christmas (you bet your ass I wanted a picture with Santa...but there were too many actual kids waiting).

I've enjoyed seeing castles, such as Warwick, (which I know now isn't pronounced with two "w's" just say the first!) and feeling the buzz and charm in Stratford (by far my favorite place-tied with London, of course!). The local farms are superb and I loved bottle feeding Emily the lamb at Ellenbee farm. I got to snuggle her when she was small like a cat!! Small things like what I've described and the Pershore fox hunt after Christmas have endeared me to England and shown me a little of what it means to be part of the British culture.

Feeding Emily!

As much as I've enjoyed part one of my time here, I'm thrilled to be off to Brooklyn, Manhattan, North Carolina, Buffalo (home!) and Canada (yay, the beach!) this summer! I'll see people and do things I've missed for what feels like forever and I'll capture it all to the fullest (especially since I've got a gangster difficult school year ahead-year three, eek!!!) Even with my excitment though, I'm leaving part of my heart in this green and welcoming country.

"Getting to know you"...or me in this case!

This is the furthest I've ever been from home.

Away from my father (who before leaving made me take a picture in front of the American flag so I 'don't forget where I came from'!), older brother and sister, dear friends that have supported me even when I was cranky, my lovely pets Abby (a Wheaton Terrier), two tabby cats Boris and Dude, and virtually everything I know. Oh yes, and my two favorite local barbers who always said hello when I walked in my village, in Williamsville, New York. Now I'm in Birmingham, England. That's a far trip back for a cup of delicious Tim Horton's coffee (for those unfamiliar think along the Costa lines), which I miss terribly!

Is this a gripping enough introduction? Do you want to know more about me and why I'm writing this?

Long story short, my mother, an American, married an English bloke after an Internet romance and moved here in 2006. When I'd finished my Associates' degree, I thought it might be time to take a risk for the second part of my degree. Normally a shy person, I was nervous to go somewhere that when I spoke, everyone would know I wasn't local. After some critical thinking, and staying for a few months to get acquainted with England, I wasn't sure I could remain so removed from my life of 21 years.

I returned home, but, after a day I knew it had been the right choice, to go to school in England. Why? Because I was scared. I thought about how anything worth doing in life would probably cause some anxiety and determined it was the right choice. A lot of money borrowed, and now in my second semester at Birmingham City University, I'm enjoying the benefits of my decision.

I've met loads of people who have made me feel far more welcome than I could have ever predicted. Everyone seemed so eager to make the transition smooth, although several have said," . . . yes we're nice to you, you're American, but we're not nice to each other," which I find hard to believe. As a result of being here, I know people from not only England, but France, Greece, Portugal and Poland. Its like my own United Nations!

My education thus far, has been wonderful including instructors who genuinely love what they do and try to get students engaged at every point. Sometimes I have to laugh at being out somewhere and hearing 'cheeky', 'squidgy', or 'wonky'. It reminds me where I am and how fortunate I feel to be experiencing life in a different culture.

For this semester in On-line Journalism, I'm working on the topic of conservation. Normally, I might consider conservation to be watching Hugh Laurie in the series, House, on the couch as a way of conserving energy in place of exercise. Unfortunately conserving my energy won't be the kind of conservation talk on this blog (or anything about being sluggish!). I'll be reporting on Midlands, UK conservation both here and on a site created for our class. I'll post links to research and findings here as well as any updates our class has. I'll try to make whatever information I post interesting and fun!

This is my first blog and foray into becoming more technology-literate. A teacher I had at the beginning of my university career, in America, said I had no writing potential, so hopefully I've not bored you and my writing has improved! If you've made it this far, enjoy reading what is forthcoming and let me know how I'm doing! Even if what I write sucks, say it! Any feedback is good and will help me improve! More Midlands conservation information to come, amongst other information too!

**After being here awhile and becoming more comfortable, people that know me/meet me can't shut me up! I think I'm used to sounding like a Yankee idiot now-you can't be shy in foreign countries!

**Sadly, the photo in front of the American flag is tucked away in Rough Buff (Buffalo) so I've posted a different one. Surrounding myself with the likes of the NYPD or other men in uniform is one of my favorite activities!!