Before the Dawn of a New Day

So there are these stages of culture shock that they tell you about. It's sort of an up and down roller coaster

Well I thought I was hitting a low a little bit ago but lately I have come to realize it's a bit lower. No sense in sugar coating it at this point. Studying abroad is hard. There's a lot of little things that I miss back home that I will never take for granted again. Like my shower, free space, friendly people, people who actually give a damn about your day, nice customer service members, service at eating establishments, or just some semlance that people care about something other than themselves. This is supposed to be a city of multiple cultures and mixing of diversit but everyone seems to be in their own little bubble and their own little world. Being an American makes us weak, most of us don't even speak American English correctly, let alone fluent in another language. People here know up to 5 and that's normal. Three is good and two is kind of pushin' it. I love some of the luxuries that the states provides but our ignorance is leading us blindly to our demise. Do you know how many "civil wars" that Europe has had... for millenia. We've had one. Today Taylor and I tried to get our phones to text each other so we went to where we purchased it, they sent us to the providers store, the providers were rude and just made us call customer service that re-routed us 3 times to Samsung, who the lady was so rude and hung up on us before she would help us. So we went back and bought a new SIM card. This was one of the most ridiculous days I've had in London to date, and then Taylors card stopped working again and we don't have access to call our banks really, and we're 7 hours ahead. Why aren't there International Banks? This is stupid to send students abroad blindly. Positive side? It's showing me my true potential at taking care of myself in a foriegn land. I am learning my breaking points and what I can and can't live without. I never knew how truly wrapped up and obsessed my iPhone made me until I came here. Jamie activated is and so did a few others. I'm glad I didn't. I use the wifi when I can and listen to music on the Underground because no one talks and no one looks at each other on public transportation. I miss how confident US people are, or how they start small talk with others for no reason. How else do you connect yourself to the people around you if you don't talk to them first. I tried to make conversation here the other day with this man at the bus stop and after a few sentences he just stopped responding. I am really excited to go to Rome on February 28th, a little mini vacation, with Taylor, Jamie and Heather. But I need to start finding things to do on my off days. Start exploring and things. Taylor and I went to see a few movies. Moive 43 and Les Miserables, Les Mis was phenomenal!! Such a great prouction! They have such comfortable seats! The US is doing that really wrong haha. I've been reading the books from the "Beautiful Creatures" Series and I really like them! I think there are more advertisements here than I saw in the US. The UK is really big on Hollywood and American cinema. The fashion here is so impecable that it makes me a little sick to see how afforadble the clothing is at times. Style is so natural, and normal. I would really love to get used to that if I wasn't dressed like a little American. Tonight Taylor and I are going to see the Woman in Black in theatre. I can't wait! It's supposed to be scary :) We'll see. Then maybe go to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace tomorrow. The weekends are harder to get around for me because my Undergroud station is closed for construction on weekends. I did discover Tesco, which is like Walmart but British so now I can find really cheap affordable groceries which is really nice! I was starting to worry about those expenses. It's hard to keep track of things here sometimes. it can be frustratiing but most of the time it's pretty much what you deal with. I'm starting to just wish I were home, this will be a life changing time, but not the time of my life. This isn't my city, now I know that. So I can go home with a greater appreciation for things and understandings that London has and will teach me. There's so much acceptance and interesting dynamic here that has progressed far beyond the United States. At the same time the US has some real upsides as well.