"Not all who wander are lost"

I'm not packed yet. In fact, I haven't begun packing. I think I have all the stuff I need, though, it's all a matter of rounding it up. Oh, and making it fit. I'm up for the challenge. I want to take this time to assess what kind of things I want to make sure I do while I'm overseas, and what kind of a person I hope to be when I return.

So here is my list of things I want to make sure I do/see:

• Westminster Abbey (gorgeous architecture, and I especially want to go to the Poets'Corner and see the tombs of people like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen and John Hardy and so many other famous people)

• London Eye (a gigantic ferris wheel, 450 ft high, with these enclosed compartments so you're standing up and seeing the view of the whole city)

• go punting at Oxford (row row row your boat)

• go running in the countryside often (my *house* is a fair distance from the study center, across a bridge and such, so I think I'm sort of in the country)

• join at least one club at Bath University...even though we don't take our classes there, we can use their gym and library and stuff and also join their organizations

• really immerse myself in some of the British hangouts, not just the bars where all the Americans congregate

• be responsible, but not end up BEING responsible for a house full of drunk classmates. i really hope I don't have to take care of people a lot.

• Make a scavenger hunt in Bath for my friend Ashley Hamilton who is coming on the same program in the spring

• do any harry-potter-tourist-attraction I come across

• take in a production at the opera house in Paris

• have a pint in a pub in Dublin (perhaps)

• keep a journal- a real one, for myself

• take lots and lots of pictures so I can scrapbook when I get back

• write a postcard each day, or every couple of days

• put forth the effort it requires to get everything I can out of my one-on-one spanish tutorial at Oxford. I could come back a much better speaker even if I don't make it to Barcelona this trip

• buy a piece of art in Europe. Either a print from one of the museums, or a drawing from some street artist, whatever. It's on my life list of things to do.

• Read under a tree at Oxford. Preferably with an apple in my hand.

• Become a very proficient cook while I'm in charge of making my own meals. (and come back to mary washington ready to cook for my lovely roommates)

• go to a "football" game

• try cricket

• eat fish and chips, once, from somewhere locally owned and operated

• make a trip up to northern england and see Gloucester, where all the quidditch scenes in HP were filmed, and also the cathedral there, and where Gryffindor tower was filmed

• see the Wind in the Willows exhibit at the Museum of Rowing and Rivers

• admire all the plunder from the empire at the British Museum (mummies and gold and lots of stuff that rightfully belongs to some other country haha)

• go to the Roald Dahl museum

• go to the National Portrait Gallery (everything from royalty to Winston Churchill to JK Rowling)

• go to the King's Cross Station in London and take my picture at Platform 9 3/4 (actually track 4), then take a walk up Diagon Alley (Charing Cross Rd in London)

• go hiking in Wales (built-in weekend in my program!)

• have a cup of tea almost every day

• play in the rain....because there's going to be lots of it

• do my best in my classes, and not put all of my homework off until Tuesday morning

• keep in touch with people back home (tallahassee and school)

I can already feel that I'm going to come back much older...not TOO much older...but just more learned. And, let's see, when I get back I will have been to England, Ireland, Wales, France, and probably at least one other country, so I'll have experienced a lot of new cultures. I think I'll be more independent since I won't be able to call home everyday and hear my parents or my friends on the other end. Oh and I want to spend a lot of time reflecting on what I'm being called to do. I think I'll be able to run further/longer, cook a broader variety of things, write in a more polished way (creative nonfiction writing class), and that I'll be more comfortable in a wider range of social situations (I think it is going to be hard to go to Europe with this bunch of people and never go to a club). Overall, I think I'm going to return to the states a more confident, well-rounded individual. As cheesy as it sounds, I think I'm going to learn a lot about myself while I'm away from everyone familiar.

OK, that's it til I get there...hopefully for you they won't be this long from now on.

Much love,
Leslie
(Les, Guadi, short person...etc)

First and foremost, I am going to find Mr. Darcy. I mean, Jane Austen wrote a lot of her stuff in Bath, right? So it seemed like the most logical place to go.

And oh yeah, I'd like to shake Harry Potter's hand. Tell him I expect great things from him in the seventh book.

Ok, ok, I'll be serious. *deep breath*

I'm really excited because I've never been out of the country. I can't wait to go places and see things I've only read about, and to discover new things I've never heard of before.

I know God has blessed me with a *splendid* opportunity to go to Europe while I'm young, single, and still in school. It's going to push my education so much further, and I'm going to enjoy it so much.

So I'm going to use a blog to share my trip with all of you, my friends and family. I'm keeping my own written journal, but this will be an easy way of communicating. I can also post pictures on here along my trip.