a complete wanderlust

Hello there! This morning I woke up and received two emails that delivered great news. The first one was from the Meet & Greet service from Swansea. Once I land I'll meet up with the service from Swansea uni and join other international students to the coaches, where they'll drive us all the way to the university. I read from the websites that London to Swansea is about 2-3 hours, but I heard by bus ride it'll be 4.5 hours!! Not sure, we'll see how this goes but I'm looking forward for some sight seeing on the way, or maybe get some sleep after some possible jetlag.

The second email I received was about my student visa. It's done processing!

I keep a countdown on my phone until the day I leave and it is crazy realizing that the number is only getting smaller and smaller. There are only 34 days left and soon it'll go into the twenties, then the teens, then ONE DIGIT NUMBERS! I remember counting down when I had 72 days left, great scott! 

I am enjoying my time for now, even though the majority of my summer consists of staying at home and watching movies. I have been spending lots of time with my family and my cousins. I really like sitting outside with my sisters with our books and tea. We hung twinkle lights in the backyard; I am loving summer nights. I got to catch up with two of my favorite cousins and it was really nice because we distanced during our teen years due to ~family drama~ but glad that's over. I hate how the adults pull apart the family. We baked a lot while they were here.

On Saturday my sisters and I are planning another beach trip. At first I wanted to go to the beach this summer as much as possible because I'll miss it, but then I realized that my host university is right next to the beach! I'll get to experience the Atlantic ocean rather than the Pacific. My friend Ingrid invited me to go to Disneyland on Monday with her for free! The benefits of knowing someone who works at Disneyland. She got the tickets from a friend who works there. I am looking forward to it, I really couldn't spend that much money on a ticket there and I love Disneyland!! I haven't been there for about two years now.

I got another email today from my home university mentioning there is another student from my school studying abroad in the UK too, and suggested that we contact each other before one of us departs. I don't remember meeting another student from my school from the orientation, but this person is going to Kingston University. I think he or she starts school earlier than I do.

I'm still thinking of what to pack. I don't want to bring so many things, yet when I look at my closet I don't feel like I have any clothes (how girly of me). But I do have really great jackets to bring! I even hesitated about bringing my trench coat, but my friend Cheska said "HOW COULD YOU NOT BRING A TRENCH COAT WITH YOU, YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN THE UK!" and I figured she was right hahaha. I browsed around the mall with my sisters today and saw some nice tops on sale and really hesitated because whenever I picked up a shirt I really really liked, a little voice inside my head kept saying 'No Linda, you must buy warm socks - real socks, not those little ankle socks with cute designs on them. Noo Linda, buy some underwear instead. Think about your accommodation payments'. I am nervous about how the banking situation will turn out, and I am dreading over the currency conversions. I've already experienced a lot of that already with paying the fees. I will get a job when I get to Swansea! And the idea of getting a job, well, and how it is possible makes me realize that I am not just vising a town but I'm moving out and living there on my own.

There will be events there once I get to the university, like 'freshers week' and an international students orientation. They are giving us a lot of time to settle in because the official first day of classes start on October 3. It's so late! Latest I have ever started.

Here and there, I tell myself that I just need to move out because I am tired of the same settings, the same people and how nothing is ever changing. I think I have developed this kind of mindset from never really traveling and living in my hometown ever since I was born. I will say this, even though this is cliche, but I am very much a wanderlust. Maybe I've been influenced by too many movies, but hey, if the idea of it exists, so why not make it happen? Stop dreaming and make it happen. And I think I am making it happen because I always thought I could never study abroad. I was scared of what my parents would say, felt too comfortable with what I had here, but everything went back to a full 360, and all that I had left lead to this decision and I am happy, because doing this means that I am doing something for myself, which I have neglected before. And during the process of applying to study abroad, I've learned more about people and learned how to put my guard up (not as high as I want it to be, but its something) when encountering people rude people. I have met a few like-minded people, and I am so thankful for that! It makes me really happy. The past year I told myself that I needed to remind myself of the things I like, and figure out why I loved them. I have been fascinated and interested in English culture/the UK ever since I was a little girl and I think this is the time where I make it happen and go there. I also convinced myself to choose a career choice that I wanted, not what my parents think. And all of that is going well. Hard, but well.

I got really personal here. Sorry if it was too much!

I changed my layout. I like it and it is similar to my old one, but I dislike how there isn't a comment button. I found the comment box when I clicked on the title link of the post. If that doesn't help, I'll just create a comment link at the bottom of this entry.

And if you read all this and are following along with my blog - thank you. <3 It really means a lot.

Will blog again soon. 34 more days! :)

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