beauty.

Being at Salisbury on Saturday really made me want to take more Art History classes as soon as I get back to KU. Since this semester is such a joke (sad but true) academically, I continually find myself patiently (and impatiently) awaiting summer and fall enrollment for 2008. I can't tell you how excited I am to scroll through the timetable, trying to figure out which classes to take and to once again plan out an immensely busy schedule, much like last semester's, but with a bit more flare.

I guess I'm not saying I've got loads and loads of free time here; if I'm not catching up on reading, I'm usually surrounded by everyone, leaving me little time to myself and my thoughts. I'm hoping that this summer and next fall when I'm back in Lawrence, that time will come back to me, because I really miss it so.

It's funny. Robbie and I were discussing at lunch yesterday how our study abroad experiences really aren't what we thought they were going to be (not in a bad way) and how there are some people here who are leading the lives we thought we would be leading: ie, people who are getting work done. People who have actually been taking the coursework seriously, even if it is extremely difficult to do so.

This really is the freshman year experience I didn't have last year and sometimes complain about not having. But, looking back now, if my first year at KU had been like this, I wouldn't be here right now. For many reasons, actually, and not just because I probably would've flunked out from all of the heavy drinking and lack of heavy studying.

Last year forced me to reevaluate my priorities and myself as a person. I found out that I honestly am a loner at heart, a trait I like very much about myself, and that there are so many different facets to my persona (but not in a schizo way). If I had ended up in a typical freshman experience, or, worse, if I had ended up at UGA, I feel like my high school self would still be dominating my life. And I am so happy that has not happened at all.

If anything, I have become closer to my friends at home by leaving them. I have become more secure with myself despite sometimes wondering if this is exactly what I want. And now I am here, making even more wonderful memories and spending time with some of the greatest people ever in some of the world's most beautiful and interesting places. And I couldn't ask for more.

Tomorrow's exploration: The intellectual in me is emerging once more. I'm off to Bath for a lecture at the Holburne about the making of Penguin Books. The museum has an exhibit on right now of all these amazing Penguin book covers, and I cannot wait to roam. Speaking of roaming, I am also going to take a gander at the Roman baths (sorry for the lame pun, but I had to do it...). Hopefully I won't fall in, and hopefully I won't get sick from drinking the spring water. Bob says it's pretty narsty.