Wednesday, June 5, 2024:

I left for England today with high hopes. I had a direct morning flight from SFO to LHR and I was all prepared to be gone for six weeks just like last summer: this time on a study abroad trip. The program was ASE Bath, run by Franklin and Marshall College in conjunction with the University of Bath, and I was taking two courses: London Calling—a course on the narratives of transnational migration, identity, and belonging—and Jane Austen in Bath. Jane Austen was actually from Bath, where the program was held, which was going to make it all the more interesting. The flight itself was around 11 hours and not that bad; I read my books, watched a movie, ate, and slept, as one does on flights. I was in Premium Plus which was quite nice; I had lots of legroom and slightly nicer meals, though they could not really accommodate me, and I was glad that I had food my mom had packed as well as food I had picked up at the airport.

Thursday, June 6, 2024:

I got off at Heathrow at around 6 am London Time and made my way quickly through immigration; they have automatic passport scanning gates for people from Britain, the US, Singapore, and a couple other countries with strong passports. Once I had picked my giant black suitcase up, I sweated and lugged it all the way to the Underground station, which took me like 10 minutes, and finally boarded the Elizabeth Line, which would take me all the way to Ilsford, where my uncle would pick me up. The underground ride was quiet; I reckoned with the absurdly heavy suitcase I had and scrolled on my phone. I had activated data for the day so I could talk to my uncle, but the plan was that he was going to get me a UK Sim Card so that I didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on international roaming. I was pretty exhausted and jet lagged by that point since I only got like four hours of sleep on the flight, but I knew I had to power through it as much as I could. It was really nice to see my uncle, and my aunt made me some breakfast while I settled into their house for the next couple of days. I think I genuinely just worked on my laptop and slept; when my cousins came home, I spent time with them as well. They’re pretty young, and I had gifts for them! I had gotten my twelve year old cousin a bracelet to wear, and my seven year old one a little collection of fake gems to play with. Last time we had been in London, he had been enchanted by the emerald on my moms necklace, and wanted one really bad. He seemed to love the gift, and was already wearing some of the little stones on his neck. We told him they were real, but to be honest, they were cheap from Macy’s. As long as he enjoys it, right? My mom and I had also gone shopping in the Liverpool outlets to get gifts for my uncle and aunt: a Loccitane shaving kit for my uncle, and a cute Kate Spade phone bag for my aunt. I napped in the afternoon, helped a bit with dinner, and ultimately, took an early night to bed.

Friday, June 7, 2024:

I woke up pretty early today because of jetlag, but did my best to stay in bed and get some more sleep. I woke up at 5 am, but passed out again around 7 am and slept till like 11 am, at which point I was much more rested. The day itself was chill, since my cousins had school again, but once they got back from school, we all got ready and went out for dinner. We took the Central Line to Stanford, and in the Westgate Mall there, ate at Wagamama, a Japanese restaurant. I loved the food because they were able to accomodate my allergies easily and had a lot of vegan options; I tried this delicious udon, and would go back if I could. I also made sure everything was nicely put away, because I was taking the national rail to Bath tomorrow.

Saturday, June 8, 2024:

My train was booked for 12:30; I left the house around 10:30 and took the Elizabeth Line train to the Paddington station, which I got to with half an hour to spare, just as I liked it. I picked up some gyoza and sushi from a small Itsu, which is like a Japanese chain store in the UK, and snacked on it while waiting for my train, which would stop at Bath on its way to Bristol. Once on the train, I tried reading one of the course books for London Calling, but I got dizzy and ended up just listening to music and looking out the window. My seat had actually been double booked, funnily enough, but the train was mostly empty so it wasn’t an issue; the other woman just sat somewhere else, since I had gotten to the seat before her. The train was really rowdy as well; it seemed to be a football night, so a lot of people were drinking and being rowdy, and I had a small headache by the end of the ride. Once I got off at the Bath Spa train station, I found the ASE chaperone waiting with a few other group members, and after some time, he took us to our apartment. I was staying in Nunes House, which was right downtown and centrally located, with a few others. I had an apartment on the 3rd floor with three others: I had a single as did another woman, and then there was a double for two others. Everyone was super friendly, and we made pasta for dinner and got along well. We were lucky to be so centrally located to all the classes; some students were housed up near Royal Crescent, which was like a 10-15 minute walk if they were fast, and longer if they weren’t.

Sunday, June 9, 2024:

Today was mainly program orientation. We were doing it in a rented room from the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution since there were so many of us. My class schedule was as such:

Jane Austen in Bath from 11:30-1. There were two Jane Austen classes, but I was thankfully in the later one instead of the 9:30 timing.

Book List (all Oxford Classics):

• Pride and Prejudice
• Northanger Abbey
• Persuasion
• Lady Susan
• Sanditon

London Calling from 2:30-4: about the transational narratives of migration, identity, and belonging

Short book list:

• Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernadine Evaristo – a beautiful narrative of the intertwined lives of 12 Black British women (one of whom is ultimately nonbinary) growing up and learning about life
• Bright Fear, by Mary Jean Chan – a collection of poetry from a Hong Kong poet about queerness, immigration, and identity

There was a lot more, but these were the two biggest texts of the course: on top of this, the syllabus laid out poetry, short stories, excerpts from books, and two movies, along with lots of creative writing. The morning class was actually in the basement of one of the student houses, Linley, wildly enough. I was also in the main summer school which was much bigger: the education and theater schools were much smaller, with only 6-7 people in each. The afternoon seminar courses were taught by US faculty, but the main courses in the morning—Jane Austen, Britain and the Black Atlantic, and Romans in Britain—were taught by faculty from Bath.

After orientation was over, we had some time to relax and cook, and then my flatmates and I headed down to the first floor flat, where the girls had invited everyone in our house, Nunes, for dinner. We were the biggest house—17 of us—and we all had a wonderful dinner on their little patio talking and getting to know each other. One of the girls even fed the seagulls, which were absolutely huge. After dinner most of us headed to a nearby pub called the Alehouse, which was unfortunately closed, so we went to a different pub whose name I can’t remember. I can’t drink, but they had some excellent nonalcoholic drinks, including nonalcoholic Heinekin, all of which tasted quite good. We played games around the table as we drank, like 15 of us, until late at night. At around 11 we left the pub and I headed back with three other girls while the rest of the house grabbed a light night snack at McDonalds. I really loved the bonding activity and getting to know others, and felt very safe with groups of others despite the late hours. It was also really interesting to experience pub culture in the UK a bit, which felt very different from bars in the US. It felt rather safe and friendly and chill, and there are a lot of pubs all over downtown.

Monday, June 10, 2024:

Today was our first day of classes, which was mainly introduction stuff, and it went well. I grabbed lunch at a small panini cafe with three others, which was nice. My flatmate is in both of my classes, so we do a lot together, and she was probably the person I was closest with. After class, I headed back to my room, showered, and got ready for our big reception dinner. I chose to go for a less feminine look, in a white button up with rolled sleeves and a black waistcoat to match my eyeliner and gold earrings. Nunes house walked to the dinner together. ASE had rented out the Roman Baths for the dinner for the first time in 20 years due to size constraints: the 57 of us were the biggest ever ASE class. The Roman Baths were gorgeous—a big natural mineral pool in the middle that no one goes in, surrounded by uneven cobblestone, Roman columns and statues, and torches. It was honestly an incredibly cool experience. We mingled for two hours, talking, getting to know one another, and sipping on the wine and lemonade provided to us by the waiters who were very generous with the wine. I myself didn’t drink, but many people were drunk by the end of the night. After a few speeches, we dispersed, and I was happy to say that I had met many new people over the course of the night.

Thursday, June 13, 2024:

After two days of classes we had a change to routine: a field trip as part of the Jane Austen class. We walked to the Sydney Gardens in the morning to discuss the history and culture of the 1800s and the setting in which Austen’s books took place. Along the way, we visited the actual house Jane Austen stayed at across from the gardens, as well as took photos in front of the Holburne Museum, which is used as the location for Lady Danbury’s house in Bridgerton. Bath actually hosts a large number of places that are used in Bridgerton filming, despite the show claiming that it is completely in London: the modiste and the Featherington House are both in Bath, and on my visiting list. After my afternoon class, a shower, and dinner, I went to a nearby pub called Sleight with some friends from Nunes. It was entirely empty at the beginning, so we had the run of the place. We ordered drinks and sat down for a magic show. The big appeal of the bar is that they have a free close up magic show. I only stayed for one set, mainly based on card tricks, and it was really cool to see. The guy was friendly, and I got to help out with a trick that involved picking a card and signing my name on it. He did flirt a lot and make some very sexual jokes, which flustered me a lot, to the amusement of my friends. It took me a bit to recognize the jokes, but once I did, I was blushing purple. It was really cool! I left after the first set because I was tired, and we had an early day the next day.

Friday, June 14, 2024:

We left for our three day trip to Dorset today as a program in our big coach. It was about a two hour drive to our first stop, Lulworth Cove, which is part of the Jurassic World Coast Heritage Site. It was a beautiful area along the coast. On the way, we took a break at a small station to use the bathroom and grab food; my friend and I rushed to the cafe so we would not be caught in line, and grabbed coffee and food. I ordered a delicious avocado sourdough toast with pumpkin and chia seeds that I enjoyed. Once at Lulworth, I grabbed my packed lunch, which I had brought with me due to dietary restrictions, and hiked to Durdle Door with some friends. It was only about a two miles both way, but entirely uphill one way. We had regular breaks to wait for the group though, so it was pretty easy, and the sites at the top were worth it. Apart from the wind, we had a clear view of the cove, the ocean, and Durdle Door: a limestone arch in the water. After the hike we headed back down and reboarded the bus before driving to the nearby Corfe Castle, which is a main guard route in the Purbeck Hills with a really complicated and long history. We had an hour to wander the ruins, which was really fun and beautiful, and then we grabbed dinner in the Greyhound Inn in Corfe, which is right at the base of the ruins. They unfortunately lost our dinner orders, so dinner took longer than expected to come out and we had to order from scratch. They had not been able to accomodate my allergies, so I got to pick something new off the menu, a cheeseless pizza, that I would be able to eat. It was really good; it had greens, tomato chutney, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It was nice to talk to my friends and relax at dinner after our long day, but the dust was driving my allergies absolutely insane, and I went through a lot of napkins just blowing my nose. After dinner it was about an hours drive to Swanage, where we were staying at a youth hostel. The rooms were completely random, but I had a good set up, with me and four other girls sharing a room with a bathroom. I took the top bunk and immediately took a shower so that I could relax. I know some other students had a shared, hallway style bathroom which was absolutely disgusting, so our clean, private bathroom with good water pressure was quite the treat. I then spent the entire evening finishing our main course text for London Calling, Girl, Woman, Other, before going to bed.

Saturday, June 15, 2024:

We left Swanage after breakfast and took the bus to Poole Quay, and from there, a ferry to Brownsea Island, a nature reserve with bird watching areas and lots of trees and hikes. We ate our packed lunch there, though mine was very insufficient due to the dietary limitations and I ordered myself some soup at the cafe, before heading back to Swanage. It was overall a very quiet day because due to the rain, I didn’t do much. Some people did a long four mile hike from Studland to Swanage, but I was tired and not in the mood, especially after the anti-nausea medications I borrowed from a girl to get through the ferry ride. I literally just took a nap in the afternoon, and then went out to a nearby restaurant with my friend for dinner. The food was good, but the service wasn’t great. They messed up my order at first and brought me chicken enchiladas instead of vegan ones, and then completely lost the food we had ordered to-go for our roommate, who had fallen sick, and made us wait like 30 mins to get it. We were lucky we had arrived early around 6, but even then we didn’t leave until 8, frustratingly. Once back in my room, I got ready for bed, and then binged the entirety of the newly released Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2! I quite enjoyed it, though I sacrificed some sleep and didn’t get to bed until after midnight in order to finish it.

Sunday, June 16, 2024:

It was our last day in Dorset, so we packed our bags and reloaded them in the bus before leaving Swanage after breakfast. The youth hostel had been quite accomodating, and made me fried eggs separately to go with hashbrowns since their regular scrambled eggs were made with dairy. We only had one place on the itinerary, about two hours away: Stourhead House and Gardens. It is a gorgeous natural garden area with a large lake you can leisurely walk around, surrounded by a Pantheon, a cove with a statue of Poseidon, neoclassical architecture, temples for Flora and Apollo, and more. As a huge fan of neoclassical architecture and the gods, it was my favorite stop of the whole trip, not to mention how beautiful the sunny, green, flowered gardens were. The famous rain love confession scene from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie was even filmed here! My lunch was again very small, so I grabbed some onion rings from a pub in Stourhead, and then wandered the shops, including a second-hand bookshop. I picked up a set of floral postcards there as well. After wandering for a bit with friends, we reboarded the bus, and an hour later around 3, we were back in Bath.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024:

After a few days of classes, we had another field trip for Jane Austen, which would occur weekly. We took a walking tour through Bath to look at all the sites mentioned in her books and places she would have visited, as well as learn the history. For example, our professor pointed out Cheap Street, which is specifically mentioned in Northanger Abbey, in a passage we had just analyzed. We walked all the way up to Royal Crescent and then back down, stopping on the way at the Circus, among other places. Number 1 Royal Crescent is the location of the Featherington’s house in Bridgerton, which was quite cool, and there are multiple shots filmed along the Circus and Crescent of the ton just walking around. In the evening, I went to the main house to watch a movie, Brick Lane, based on a book by Monica Ali by the same name, for London Calling. It is about a woman who moves to London after an arranged marriage and learns to speak for herself, build her identity, and in the process, has an affair and deals with being Muslim post 9/11. It is all about breaking cycles of trauma and was quite beautiful and well-made, though there was some controversy surrounding it back when it was released in the early 2010s. Our teacher had brought some popsicles, and I grabbed a copy of The Secret History from the item swap, which I had been wanting for a while after reading it on Kindle twice.

Thursday, June 20, 2024:

After classes, my friend and I had signed up for a historic walking tour of Bath with a nice old man. Unfortunately for us, it turned out to be super similar to our class trip from the day before, which was a bit of a let down. The one new place we visited was the Thermae Bath Spa, and we learned more about the history of mineral baths and the Roman Baths in the city. We had also checked out a restaurant called Indian Temptation for lunch, and I enjoyed their food a lot. Overall, a quiet but fun day.

Friday, June 21, 2024:

We took a daytrip to Oxford today, which I was quite excited for. It was about a two hour bus ride to Oxford, with a bathroom break along the way. The first thing we did was split up into three different walking tours. I took one called Uncomfortable Oxford, which focuses on untold, uncomfortable history of racism and sexism and classism in Oxford. I thought it was fascinating, since you don’t usually learn this kind of information when taking a tour, and it made me see the beautiful city in a new light. After the tour, some friends and I checked out two giant Harry Potter stores, where I got a pair of socks for my sister and not much else, though my friend did pick up a big Doctor Who merch box. We grabbed lunch at a big indoor market with lots of shops and restaurants, and then split up. Two friends went punting with the big group, but I was tired, so me and two others decided to do some more shopping. In the indoor market, we stopped at a bookstore called Gulp Fiction, which was pretty cool, and I picked up a collection of Sylvia Plath’s poetry called Colossus, which I was excited to read. Then we checked out a giant bookstore called Toppings, which I fell in love with; it had six floors split into different sections, and there were so many books I desired to get. I restrained myself, though I did the usual thing of pointing out every single book I had read, and got only one book that I had been looking for for some time: Our Wives Under the Sea, a sapphic deep sea horror novel about grief and love. We met up around 4 at St. Mary’s Church, and took the bus back to Bath, where I had some leftovers for dinner and went to bed.

Saturday, June 22, 2024:

This was my first free time in Bath since the program started: I slept in, leisurely got up, and had brunch at a nearby restaurant called Bill’s, which had a good vegetarian menu and interestingly enough, CBD drinks, though I didn’t try one. I tried their avocado toast, and then after that, wandered Bath. I checked out an antique book store called Bath Old Books, as well as some other small places, before heading to Mokokko cafe to read with a croissant and hot chocolate. I finished Our Wives Under the Sea by the time I left the bookstore. I had dinner at Casa De Tapas, which was able to accomodate my allergies; about three tapas were enough for me, and while eating, I finished another book, House of Hollow, a gothic botanical mystery about three sisters, on Kindle. It was an incredible book. I really enjoyed my leisurely wandering day after so long waking up early and running around.

Sunday, June 23, 2024:

I wandered Bath again today; I grabbed brunch at Bill’s and tried a new dish, a full breakfast with poached eggs, toast, and beans, and then two book stores. I first stopped at Mr. B’s Book Emporium, which was really well organized and had a lot of signed books. My friend grabbed me the last signed edition of Leigh Bardugo’s recently released The Familiar from there, which was super nice of her. I also checked out some smaller shops in a new area of Bath I had not explored, and then another bookstore called Blackwells, which is more of a chain. From there I picked up two books: Mad Woman’s Ball, a fiction about psychiatry and women’s rights, and a Penguin Classic’s collection of Catullus’s poems. He was a Roman poet who wrote a lot of love poetry, including one so explicit it is hard to find an uncensored version, and this particular collection was about his obsession with a woman named Lesbia.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024:

I woke up and it was incredibly hot today, so I pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, both black, and after making myself my usual morning smoothie with Ancient Nutrition powder, pomegranate juice, orange juice, and frozen fruits, headed to a new cafe that had just opened across the street called Sukko. They were still getting established and were pretty disorganized, but everyone was friendly and I had time to spare. I ordered a cucumber green juice and an avocado toast with boiled egg. The juice was good, but the avocado toast was meh, in my opinion. I have already tried out a few cafe’s, like Green Rocket, which was much better avocado toast, or even Bill’s, which also had good avocado toast. The past couple of days had been pretty uneventful: on Monday, my friend and I checked out Noodle Bath for lunch, and on Tuesday, I went to a vintage thrift shop called The Yellow Shop after class, but they were rather expensive and I didn’t end up buying anything. Noodle Bath was delicious, however, with amazing Chinese food and a lot of options. I went from breakfast to my first class, Jane Austen in Bath, where after some lecture, we got to practice writing with an actual feather quill and Indian Ink. After some practice, I took a nice paper our teacher had teabagged for us to give it an older look and wrote a slightly rambly letter in inked cursive to my sister, which I even got to seal in wax and fold up like Austen would. It was a really cool experience, and I love that the teachers gave us something hands on in class apart from all of our discussions and walks. I grabbed lunch at Bagel! which as sandwich bagels: mine was an everything guacamole bagel, and then met my afternoon teacher for lunch to ask her about her path to teaching, what an MFA is like, publishing, and more to figure out if it was the path for me. I learned a lot and it was very helpful, but I’m still undecided; I have time. Class was super interesting since we were starting presentations of Girl, Woman, Other; every person in the class picked a character and had to present for half an hour. After class I checked out the TK Max with my flatmate and friend (it’s not T.J. Max like in the US) and bought a cute top from a clearance rack. Once back at the apartment, my day was over; I went through the usual routine of settling in, taking a bath, washing my hair, making pasta for dinner, boxing up leftovers for the next day, and getting homework done.

Thursday, June 27, 2024:

We had a field trip that morning with the Jane Austen class to Nelson Park. We were originally going to take the buses, but they were unfortunately not running until noon, so the program ordered us all taxis last minute instead. Nelson Park itself was beautiful. There were multiple old stone buildings, a lake, lilypads, wild birds, and a lot of history. We walked around the lake and through some of the buildings as our teacher, who did her doctorate on the history of Bath, told us all about it. We finished around noon and took the bus back, though it was still delayed. By the end of it all, I was very tired and hungry, and I hadn’t slept well the night before either. I stopped by the apartment to grab all my books and then headed to a small vegan shop Cascara, where I had grabbed coffee with my teacher the day before. All the allergies were really clearly posted and I enjoyed their food quite a bit: beans and toast, and a carrot ginger juice. After my afternoon class, where I presented on my character from Girl, Woman, Other, we rushed to the Nelson House for the afternoon swordplay activity I signed up for with my friend. It was about a twenty minute walk to the location, Burdall’s Yard, which had a nice indoor, theater space and our instructor Rob was waiting with lots of swords. It was a really fun 1.5 hr lesson: Rob practices HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) and taught us some basic cuts and sword moves before giving us the opportunity to practice. He’s been running the program with ASE for like 5 years, and it reminded me of the historical swordplay in BBC’s Merlin, one of my favorite shows ever. From there we walked back to the common house for a screening of the recent 2023 BBC Romcom Rye Lane for our afternoon London Calling Class. Our teacher even ordered pizza for us all. Unfortunately, since we ordered from a US phone number, they couldn’t contact us and ended up just cancelling the order. We called like an hour later to the realization that they cancelled, even though on the phone the person had said that it was totally okay to order from a US number, and then when they finally made the pizza and delivered it, the delivery guy said it was our fault for using a US number! It was very frustrating, but at least the movie was funny. After the movie I packed for our two day trip to London; light, since I would be carrying my stuff on my bag most of the time.

Friday, June 28, 2024:

It was my birthday today! I was officially 20, and we were headed to London. We met at the Bath Spa station around 8:50, grabbed our tickets from our chaperone, and headed into the station for coffee and to wait for our 9:30 train. The train ride itself was quiet; I just listened to music and my podcast, The Bright Sessions, for the 1.5 hour ride. We arrived at the Paddington station and from there, we took the Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus, and changed for the Victoria Line to Brixton. At Brixton, we walked to the Black Cultural Archives and spent about an hour there. It was a really nice museum and exhibit that explored the Windrush generation and the impact of British deportation and immigration law on people of color, mirroring our studies on the Windrush generation in the first weeks of class. However, it is the only museum in London dedicated to Black cultural studies, which was a bit surprising considering how large and diverse London is. From there, we walked to Brixton Village for lunch: a large market with plenty of shops and restaurants. My friend and I ate at Three Uncles, a Cantonese restaurant with delicious bao and friend broccoli. We also had time to wander around and check out the shops; I picked up a small pair of gorgeous golden chain earrings, and my friend got a signed book of poetry. After lunch, we took a 1.5 hour walking tour of Brixton, which was very interesting. We learned a lot about race riots in the 80s and 90s in London, which I did not know much about, having only studied race riots in America, and the way they mirrored one another was fascinating. After the tour, we took the tube to our accomodations at the London School of Economics. I was lucky enough to not have a roomate, so I was able to use the extra beds for my bags. If this is really room for two during the school year it sounds terrible for the students; there was only one desk, dresser, and closet to go with the two beds. We had some extra time before dinner, so my friend and I grabbed some hot chocolate and wandered the South Bank, checking out the Globe and looking at the downtown area just across the river, as well as the Millenium Bridge (the bridge that is destroyed in the 6th Harry Potter movie). We regrouped with the rest of our class and walked along the Thames to the Beer Garden in South Bank, where we all grabbed drinks and dinner. My teacher bought me a birthday drink, which was very sweet of her, and I enjoyed my non-alcoholic beer, though it was not the best I have had. There was a little truck that had amazing vegan jackfruit tacos, and I got some fries to go at the end. We split up after that; three of our group headed back to LSE, while the rest of us went with our chaperones back to Brixton to a bar called the Ritzy for a blues dancing lesson. I have never done any dancing like that before; it was an odd but enjoyable experience. Most of the class was much older than us and were switching partners every five minutes, but us students didn’t switch and stuck to ourselves; it would have been awkward to dance with a 60 year old man I had never met, in my opinion. We grabbed more drinks after that. I tried a ginger beer from Fever Tree, but it was incredibly strong and not great. We split further after that, and some people went to check out gay clubs in Soho while the chaperones, me, and another student headed back to LSE. I was exhausted by then and it was 10 at night. Once we made it back I quickly showered and went to bed, having had a wonderful birthday.

Saturday, June 29, 2024:

We woke up today and packed up, meeting after breakfast and ready for our day. There were train cancellations all over London due to train repairs and Pride happening that day. Our first move was to take the Tube to the Dockyards, where we spent an hour or so at the Dockyards museums studying the development of commerce, and the history of slavery and the British navy. It was educational, albeit very obviously whitewashed in some places, like a plaque that seemed to glorify the East India Company. It was built in an old shipping warehouse, and had a lot of artifacts from back then that were used. It was also really dusty though, so it made me itchy and I didn’t have the best time. After the Dockyards we took the Underground and walked to Canopy Market, this beautiful large market with restaurants and shops again. I had vegan tacos (again) that were delicious, grabbed an iced latte, and then did some shopping. I got this beautiful vintage broach for my mom from this woman who collects, cleans, and sells them, a pair handmade porcelain pomegranate earrings that reminded me of Persephone, and some prints of typewriter paper with a heart, brain, and typewriter on them. We met up as a group and spent an hour at the queer museum after that; it is again the only dedicated space for queer history in London, and only had two rooms and a giftshop, but it was really interesting to look at British queer history. I took a class on the cultural history of the AIDS crisis and on gender and sexuality in America in my senior year of high school, and it was interesting to look at the British perspective. I picked up a book on the queer history of DND and a small pin that said “Pride not Prejudice” at the gift shop, since I had just read Pride and Prejudice! We regrouped and then split; most people were heading back to Paddington with the chaperones to go back to Bath, but my friend and I were staying to see Hadestown that evening. We spent more time at the Canopy Market, and then at the Stablestreet Market as well, which had more shops with handmade items and vendors. We took the tube from there to Camden, where we spent a couple hours wandering the Camden markets and doing more shopping. I just love these unofficial setups with lots of handmade stuff from vendors because you get the best things, in my opinion. Our feet were aching by the evening, but it was worth it. We took the tube yet again to Tottenham Court Road, and then walked from there to the Lyric Theater. It was in Soho, so it was filled with Pride events and very busy and loud. We stopped along the way at an Indonesian restaurant for dinner, and then walked around SoHo for a bit before finally entering the theater for our show. I grabbed a mocktail called the Persephone, and we picked up some programs and a tote bag as a souvenir, before taking our seats. I had listened to Hadestown once before a few years ago, but that was it, and it was electrifying to see it in person. The acting, the music, the emotion, all of it. I was on the edge of my seat, and it was beautiful. I already have an obsession with Greek mythology, and seeing the show in person? Literally the perfect birthday gift. It was like 10 by the time the show ended, and even though we rushed to the nearest Underground station, it was closed, so we had to go elsewhere, and by the time we made it to Paddington, we had missed the 10:30 to Bath. Luckily there was another, the very last train, at 11:30, so we waited and took that one, half asleep on the train. It was incredibly crowded due to all the train cancellations and people going home from Pride, not to mention that for a bit, the train disappeared from the announcements board and everyone freaked out, worried it was cancelled, but we made it. We stumbled home by 1 am, and by the time I showered and got to bed, it was easily 2 am. Totally worth it.

Sunday, June 30, 2024:

I woke up at like 11:30 after my long night, and after unpacking all my stuff, walked to a nearby cafe, Green Rocket, for some lunch. They had good vegan tacos yet again, which I’ve been having a lot recently, and then I spent time at Mokokko with a hot chocolate and finished up my Jane Austen essay. I showered, did laundry. and overall, took time to myself after such a hectic weekend. It was a much needed reset before I went back into the last couple weeks of my study abroad.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024:

Yesterday was a normal day of classes, but today we had a field trip for our Jane Austen class to Number 1 Royal Crescent. I grabbed a nice relaxed breakfast of avocado toast and green tea at Green Rocket cafe in the morning, and then walked to Royal Crescent with my friend. We got there a bit early, so we spent some time looking around the gift shop, and then joined the group. Number 1 is set up like a museum: you go through different rooms, all set up exactly like a house from the late 1700s, and follow the story of a wealth family with three sons and two daughters as they move through life. It’s based on a real life family and references real figures, which was very interesting, and you even follow the servants near the end. For example, the oldest son, Richard, had a gambling problem, and the youngest daughter, Alice, was a big reader, in the story. After the house I headed back to grab my laptop from the flat, and then went to Cascara for lunch and to finish and submit my Jane Austen essay. I realized after I finished the essay that I was doing a takeover for my university’s study abroad program that I had completely forgotten about, so I quickly logged on and mass uploaded some stories. After my afternoon class, I took a shower and made myself pasta for dinner. At 7:15, I headed out to the nearby Ustinov Theater, where I was watching an interpretive play called Echo and Narcissus with a friend of mine. It was really cool, in three parts. The first was a film of an interpretive dance about Leda and the Swan. The second was a woman playing a wind instrument, six pieces, each representing different myths from Metamorphoses like Pan, Niobe, and Narcissus. The final was the main part, interpretive dance with mirrors and smoke and cool lighting about Echo and Narcissus. It took an hour overall and I really enjoyed it. I had never seen anything like it and even though my friend and I were mostly surrounded by retirees, it was an enjoyable experience. After the show, I headed back to my apartment, relaxed, and went to bed.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024:

We did not have classes today, because it was the 25th anniversary of the ASE Summer School program. Instead, while the main faculty and teachers attended an alumni reunion and celebration, which we later learned was costume themed (we saw photos of the the teachers dressed up like Rocky Horror Picture Show and it was iconic) we took a trip to the nearby Blenheim Palace. It was absolutely gorgeous: manicured gardens, indoor museums, and a hedge maze. The entire place was full of gilded ceilings, crown molds, and neoclassical inspirations, like a statue of Hermes in the middle of the hedge maze (which I got a little lost in) and French gardens. The inside of the house, apart from being plastered with paintings and tapestries, had an exhibit in honor of Winston Churchill, who was born in the giant aristocratic palace. They had the bed he was birthed on, and more about him. The gift shop was also huge and to die for, and I picked up a nice Christmas ornament as a gift for my family. It was in multiple parts: the main palace, and then the Walled Gardens, which were either a walk or a small, 1 pound train ride away. My friends and I took the train since it was a bit rainy, and since we also didn’t have a lot of time at the palaces, and explored the hedge maze and gardens there as well. We were back in Bath by 6, and it was overall an amazing day. I really enjoyed the break from classes to visit a new location.

Thursday, July 4, 2024:

It had been a normal day of classes, but after class, my friend and I checked out a chocolate shop near the Abbey. It had a delicious vegan fudge brownie which I absolutely devoured while I got my homework done, but other than that, the day was normal.

Friday, July 5, 2024:

Thursday had been a normal day of classes, but today we had another day trip that I signed up for to Stonehenge and Glastonbury. After waking up early, making eggs for everyone in the apartment, and boarding the bus, we headed off the Stonehenge. There would not be enough time there to walk, so we all took the free shuttle from the main exhibition centre to the stones and back. I had been once when I was younger but didn’t really remember it, and it was really cool to see it, just for the historic value. We took lots of photos, and then back at the exhibit, after checking out the gift shop and getting a magnet, I learned more about the history. Apparently archaeologists have found evidence that it was used as a burial ground in the past, and that it is ancient: older than Macchu Picchu, and dating all the way back to neolithic civilizations. It had been altered after, but it truly is old. After Stonehenge, which was gorgeous, and where I had picked up a nice chocolate croissant to snack upon, we headed to Glastonbury for lunch. Glastonbury wasn’t great for someone with all my restrictions, but I finally found a restaurant with a decent vegan beet and cheese sandwich. The vegan cheese was kind of terrible though, just a block of coconut oils, so I took it out. After lunch we checked out the ruins of the Glastonbury Abbey, including one of the potential gravesites where King Arthur was buried. It was really rainy, but still beautiful, with lots of arches. Afterwards, some people took the hike to the Tor, but it was way too rainy for me so I looked around the town with my friends. It’s a very witchy town—most of the shops have something to do with witches, paganism, incense, etc. I got this cute tarot card pin, but nothing else. It was a really nice area to wander, especially if you’re into witchy stuff. Afterwards, we met back up, boarded the bus, and headed back to Bath, where I packed my stuff for the weekend.

Saturday, July 6, 2024:

I woke up in the morning and took the early 9:13 train from Bath to London after grabbing an iced latte at the train station. I was planning on spending the weekend in London since my cousin who is my age from the US had just finished his own study abroad program with DIS Copenhagen, and was in London for a couple days. The train ride, and then the subsequent ride on the Underground through the Elizabeth and Central Lines was quiet, and I got to their house around 11:30, having finished the second half of Holly Black’s The Wicked King and the entirety of Queen of Nothing. I was obsessed with the Folk of the Air trilogy after that, being a huge fan of enemies to lovers and political intrigue novels. We had a delicious lunch at my aunt’s house, and then my cousin and I headed out to the Royal Victoria Palace Theater, where we had tickets to the Hamilton matinee. It was amazing; I’ve listened to the soundtrack, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. The actor for Lafayette/Jefferson was our favorite because of how energetic and lively he was throughout it all. In the same area was our restaurant for dinner, which we went to after wandering the area for like half an hour. Our aunt had gotten us a reservation at a Michelin Star Restaurant, Kahani, which was Indian fine dining. She got us the vegetarian tasting menu, and they were able to accomodate all of my allergies as well. The food was absolutely amazing, and we had an amazing time. My cousin had also gotten the wine tasting menu with the food, which had him tipsy, but I still wasn’t drinking, and I only had a mocktail, which was delicious. Dinner took us around two hours, and even though we went at 6:30, we left around 9, and were back by around 10. It was still light outside, and we grabbed our little cousins, who were playing on the greens in their area, and headed back. One of my cousin’s friends, a middle school girl, asked if my cousin and I were dating, which was horrifying and weird to hear. I still hadn’t showered, so I did that and went to bed, exhausted.

Sunday, July 7, 2024:

I slept in until noon, which I had not done in a long time. I woke up and when I looked out the window, my cousin was in the grass in the backyard, on his back like a corpse, napping and taking in the sun. I got ready and went down for lunch—rice, daal, and okra—and then played with my little cousin a bit. I also finished up my essay on my laptop while my uncle and cousin watched Transformers, which was truly terrible. It was the new one, with the animals. My older cousin, who is twelve, came back from a fair she went to with her friends and we talked for a while until I fell asleep and napped for a bit longer. When I got up it was properly evening. I had dinner, idli and coconut chutney, which I loved, and then making sure I had everything, walked to the train station and headed to Paddington. I arrived around 7:35 right after the 7:30 train had left, unfortunately, so I waited an hour until the 8:30 train and then boarded that one after grabbing a large hot chocolate from a Caffe Nero. It was overall just a really good time, and I used the train ride to finish the first book in the Shatter Me Series, as well as the novella right after. It was an excellent weekend for me, and a good way to relax and spend time with family.

Monday, July 8, 2024:

I made myself a smoothie with the last of the frozen fruits for breakfast, but we are out of a lot of breakfast items, so I grabbed an English Breakfast (eggs, toast, avocado, baked beans, mushrooms) at the Pultney Kitchen nearby. I had some Earl Gray tea as well, and sipped on it while I worked on my Pride and Prejudice presentation. It was raining pretty hard when I left to use the bathroom and go to class, and after class, my friend and I went back to the same area. The first restaurant we checked out was French and couldn’t accommodate me, so we went to Antica, a higher end Italian restaurant, instead. The food there was delicious, and I finished all of my vegan mushroom risotto and the garlic bread that my friend and I split. After our afternoon class we went to the Bath Abbey, which has a student discount, and looked inside. It was absolutely gorgeous inside, with lots of stone memorials, candles, and stained glass windows. I was pretty tired by the time I got back, and it was a quiet evening of work, facetiming my parents, making myself some vegan quesadillas and beans for dinner, and getting sleep.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024:

I checked out a new cafe for breakfast after getting ready since we are mostly out of breakfast stuff in the house, and we don’t want to do new groceries in the very last week of the program. I ate at Pultney Bridge Coffee, which also had a good English breakfast and some tea, and used their wifi to get some work done. After my first class my friend and I went quick through the heavy rain to Tortilla for lunch—I wasn’t that hungry, so I just had some chips and guacamole—and then to Cascara for some hot drinks and wifi to work. After class, we headed back and took a nice, easy evening in. I ended up reading for six hours straight and finishing the entirety of Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing, which I really enjoyed!

Wednesday, July 10, 2024:

I went to Green Rocket for breakfast, and after our presentations in class, during which the internet would not cooperate at all, my friend and I went to a nearby restaurant, Square, for lunch. They had good vegan options and accommodated my allergies well. We started lunch a bit late since I had dashed back to the apartment to start my laundry, but we still had time afterwards for me to grab a vanilla protein frappe from Cascara before our afternoon class. Afterwards, I put my laundry in the dryer, and then spent an hour wandering downtown Bath on my own, checking out different thrift shops and boutiques but ultimately not buying anything. Once back in the apartment, I made dinner, then showered, did my laundry, and retired for the night.

Thursday, July 11, 2024:

Today was our last day of classes for the study abroad program. It was honestly crazy to me that it was already over because the time had absolutely flown by and vanished. I suppose because of how busy I kept it makes sense, but still. I felt so comfortable in Bath already, and now I was going home. I did miss my family though, and I looked forward to seeing my friends as well. I grabbed one more breakfast from Green Rocket in the morning, avocado toast and tea, and then headed to my morning class to discuss Jane Austen adaptations. Lunch was at Noodle Bath again, and then we had a small potluck in our afternoon class. It was wild to me that at the end of all of it, it was over. No more class. Grades in. Five weeks had absolutely disappeared. I spent some time at the apartment after that, and then walked over to the Chapel Arts Centre about five minutes from our apartment for Write Night. It was a big performance night, and I had signed up to perform some of my poetry out loud—something I had never done before, which was pretty scary. I had, however, finished a dosage of my eczema medicines and was off of them for a couple of weeks, so I was able to drink again, and had a glass of rose for courage. Unfortunately, I had not eaten anything since noon and had not drank in almost a year, on top of being a small person, so one glass of wine went directly to my head and I was kind of dizzy and stumbly until dinner arrived. We had dinner (pizza) after the one hour performance from the theater school, which was their final. I really loved seeing my friends perform up there. They performed a scenes from Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, an original interpretive piece, and from the beginning and end of a book/play about oil. They were amazing, and I was super proud of my flatmate in the theater school especially. The program had ordered a pizza I could eat after, and after a solid amount of pizza and water, I had sobered up quite a bit, but still had a small buzz for courage. I was fourth to perform, after some reading and singing, and it honestly turned out fine. I was quite proud of myself: I read three poems, all inter-related and about heritage and family. There were more performances after, including two of my friends from a class performing pieces they wrote in the class about identity, and both of them quoting Babel by R.F. Kuang, funnily enough. After the evening, which was wonderful, we headed back, the program about over.

Friday, July 12, 2024:

It was our last day of the program. I slept in, and then after getting ready for the day in a pink sundress, went for breakfast at the Good Day Cafe. My flatmate had recommended it, and funnily enough, she was just finishing up her breakfast there when I arrived. I ordered the hashbrowns with avocado and mushrooms, which was absolutely delicious, and they were really vegan and allergy friendly. After the breakfast and as I was leaving, I saw my other flatmate and friend sitting down at the cafe, having just been served the same thing I ordered. I found it pretty funny that we were all sharing a brain cell that morning. After I got back to the flat (the cafe was in downtown near my afternoon class) I spent an hour packing up my wardrobe, and laying out my clothes for tomorrow. I pretty much finished packing and relaxed in bed to finish reading Iron Flame, the sequel to Fourth Wing, and it was amazing. It left on this crazy cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the third book now. At around 1:15, my friends and I walked to the Widcombe Social Club across the river for the Final Tea. It was an English high tea with pastries, sandwiches, and time to chat. At the end there was a small speech and an emotional slideshow with pictures and videos that wrapped up our five week study abroad, and had people crying. It really hit me then that the program was over, and that I would not see most of the people I had spent the last five weeks around ever again, which was kind of scary. We took lots of photos and got some goodbye gifts like headshots and photos of the whole program, but by 4, we were back at the flat. I napped for a bit, before dragging myself out of bed to eat dinner, shower, and finish up my packing of toiletries and other clothes. Finally, I went to bed for my last night in Nunes House, and my last night in Bath.

Saturday, July 13, 2024:

I got up early in the morning to get ready and completely pack up the room—throw away trash, place my keys on the dining table, etc. Once I was done with everything I went out for one last avocado toast breakfast at Green Rocket with my friend, and then said goodbye to everyone in the flat. One of my friends had left at 6 AM, so we had said goodbye the day before, but the others were still packing, and we chatted a bit while finishing up. Eventually though, I lugged my giant suitcase and backpack down to the Bath Spa train station and took the elevator up to the platform to wait for the train with my friend. When the 10:43 train arrived and we boarded, the luggage racks were almost completely full, so it took a bit for me to find pace for my suitcase, and I had to really shove it in. I got it though, and took a seat for the rest of the train, beginning to read the second book in the Caraval series, Legendary. It’s by Stephanie Garber and I enjoyed the first book quite a bit when I read it last semester. Once at Paddington station, we waited in the absurdly long line for the bathroom, and then made our way down to the Elizabeth Line. My friend and I said a proper good bye, though we are both from the Bay Area and hope to see each other again, and then I boarded the Elizabeth Line to Ilford, where my uncle and mom—she had flown in and arrived that morning—picked me up. I relaxed after that, eating lunch and working on my laptop. We stayed in the house the rest of the day, and it was a nice break for me to just work on my writing a bit, watch some TV, and catch up with my little cousins and mom. Eventually, after dinner, I washed my hair, and retired for the night.

Sunday, July 14, 2024:

I slept in, which was really nice and a good reset. My mom and uncle left around noon to see The Cursed Child, since they hadn’t but the rest of us had seen it last summer, and we relaxed at home. After lunch, my cousins, aunt and I played some games like Cluedo and Sequence. We got takeout from Dominos for dinner, including a plant based pizza for me, and then I went to bed for the day. My mom had loved the Cursed Child, and even gotten me a cute Slytherin backpack as a gift. I used to have another one, but it broke about a year ago, so I really appreciated this one.

Monday, July 15, 2024:

Today was a relaxation and packing day. I packed up my backpack for our short trip to Germany after my morning breakfast of avocado toast, and made sure to include a concert outfit. I had standing tickets with my mom to The Eras Tour in Gelsenkirchen! I was beyond excited, and had already planned out my full reputation era outfit. Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought my snake themed jewelry from home, so it wasn’t complete, but I had other parts down. I went in the evening to pick my youngest cousin up from school, and then we all played some Mario Kart before dinner. After that, I took the shower and wound down for the night. I also started reading ACOTAR today, and I really enjoyed it.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024:

Today was our flight to Germany. We got up around 9 to get ready and finish packing our stuff into our backpacks, and double checked we had our passports and printed boarding passes. My mom left around 9:30 to see my youngest cousin’s sports day at school, while I had some breakfast and then relaxed on the couch with my laptop. Once she was back, my uncle drove us to the London Stansted airport. It wasn’t the nicest airport, I much prefer Heathrow, but we made it through the security pretty quickly after getting our boarding passes from the Ryanair desk. My passport expires in less than six months so the app could not auto-scan it and give me a virtual boarding pass, unfortunately. We only had our backpacks with us since it was a short trip, and on the flight, since we were in exit rows, we got to use the overhead for free for all of our stuff instead of paying for it, since Ryanair is a budget airline. The flight was pretty short, only about 1.5 hours, and afterwards, we were at the tiny Dortmund International Airport. Dortmund was small, and we made our way through passport checks and into the airport. I originally called an Uber since the taxis were almost double the price of the Uber, but it wouldn’t load, so I ended up cancelling it and we shared and Uber with these two nice gay Canadian men who were here as tourists. They were friendly, and my mom and I were happy to go with them since their hotel was like a five minute walk from ours. We stayed at the Leonardo Hotel Dortmund, which was quite nice, and once we dropped our bags off, we walked to a nearby pizza parlor for dinner. They had a really good vegan pizza made with avocado of all things, which I had never had before, and this thick, delicious crust. The downtown area was like a five minute walk from where we were, and was quite nice. Dortmund is known for its football (soccer) mainly and there were lots of advertisements about it. After dinner I showered and went to bed, tired from the long day.

Wednesday, July 17, 2024:

Today was the day of the concert, and I was so pumped. After sleeping in a bit, we got up around 9 and got ready in our concert clothes. I was dressing for reputation, in this black corset top from Windsor, and my mom was Fearless in this golden blazer she got from Express. Once we were ready, I put on a hoodie since it was still a bit cold, and since we were not that hungry for breakfast, we headed downtown to the tourist center. It took us a bit of wandering, but we finally found it. Unfortunately, it was not at all helpful in telling us about getting to Veltins Arena, so we went to the big train station, Dortmund HBF, nearby, and the woman over there was much more helpful, printing out directions and everything for us. I got a croissant as a snack, and then we bought tickets at a nearby machine and headed down to the platform. Our 1:13 train only had two stops to Gelsenkirchan HBF, which is like the main station, and we took the local tram from there about twelve stops directly to Veltins Arena, which was one of the stops. The train was packed with Swifties also headed to Veltins Arena, and it only got more crowded as time went on. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and the sheer amount of glitter and friendship bracelets made me feel a bit underdressed, though that was clearly not the case. There was also an amusing number of men wearing shirts proclaiming them to be Swifties by marriage or that their girlfriend had brought them. Once at Veltins, we disembarked and immediately got in line for merch, since it was very long. While my mom waited, I walked about five minutes to the closest restaurant, a bistro connected to a hospital, and got a salad and some french fries to go for our lunch/dinner. It was around 3:30 at this point. The restaurant unfortunately did not do to go at all, so I had to a pay a deposit to take to-go boxes that I would return, or lose the deposit. Still in line when I returned, my mom and I ate the fries and salad, and then bought two shirts: white and black. One for me and one for my sister. We asked her to pick between white and cream but she was asleep due to time zone differences and not responding, so we made our best guess. It turned out to be wrong, unfortunately, as she wanted the cream, so after taking photos at a big display board for the Eras Tour, my mom snuck back to the front of the line and got a new cream shirt, since they would not let her exchange the white. She was insistent that since my sister could not make the concert due to summer camps, that she would get exactly the merch she wanted, and I agreed. From there, we went back to the restaurant, which was still quiet and empty, to return the food boxes and use the bathroom, which was much cleaner than the porta potties at the stadium, and grab my mom a coffee and me some water. There are a lot of green regulations I guess because they did not even have to go water bottles, only a glass one we could have in the restaurant, so I used it to fill my water bottle up from my bag and drank the rest. We rested in there for a bit, and then around 5:30, an hour after the lines would have opened, we headed in. The first line we entered was pretty short, and we met another mom and daughter from the US, specifically Ohio, here because the prices were much cheaper. We were all in the wrong line however, since there was a different entrance for floor tickets, and we headed to the Tunnel 1 line. Unfortunately, it had not opened yet, since a different tunnel for standing room next to the stage would enter first, and once they were done, we could finally enter. My mom and I did not want to wait in line, so we just cut through subtly and then scanned our tickets. We had really good standing room: there was standing next to the stage, and then standing in front of it behind a wall, and we were right there behind the wall, almost entirely in the front. It took a long bit of waiting before anyone came on, so we sat down and scrolled for a bit. The stadium was large, seating 60,000 people, and crowded as well, with some food trucks and bathrooms down on the floor. I was insistent I would not lose my position, so I tried not to drink too much water. We stood when Paramore came on to open for them, and to my surprise, even though I do not listen to a lot of Paramore, I had heard most of the songs. I still didn’t know a lot of the lyrics, but it was fun. I maintain that the Taylor Swift opener I wanted to see the most was Sabrina Carpenter, which I didn’t have a chance to. Once Taylor came on though, the stadium was jam-packed, and I was literally vibrating with excitement. I had the time of my life. I knew every song, sang and danced and screamed my heart out, and generally just had an unforgettable, completely worth-it experience. Once of the surprise songs was even “invisible string”, which is my favorite from folklore. After the concert, for which we stayed through it all, we joined the jam packed crowds headed out of the stadium and to the train station, where we only got standing room on the train back to the Gelsenkirchen HBF, and then the next train back to Dortmund. It was 1 AM by the time we got back to our hotel, and I still had to shower. By the time I went to bed it was 2, and I was dead on my feet after three hours of standing, which had exhausted me. Still worth it.

Thursday, July 18, 2024:

Our flight was early in the morning, and we had wanted to take public transport. We headed downtown to the DB 21 bus station that Rome2Rio said would work, but the lady over there said it was only private buses going out and that there was nothing they could do. We ended up ordering an Uber and took some photos in the downtown area, before grabbing a chocolate croissant from a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. The Uber was fine, the guy was friendly, but some taxi driver started harassing him before our ride could start saying that Uber drivers were stealing taxi business! Made worse by the fact that our Uber driver was a person of color and the taxi guy was white and much older. It was pretty rude and nasty overall, but the ride itself went fine and we got to the airport by 9 for our 9:50 flight back with Ryanair. The flight was a bit delayed, but we boarded, and we smoothly arrived at London Stansted. We ended up taking an Uber, but my uncle had to order it for us because my Uber app was not working and my mother’s showed a price of $100, which was way too expensive, even though it showed as cheaper for the rest of us, and the Uber took us to my uncle’s house. He was feeling a bit sick, so he was not able to pick us up. From there, it was a relaxing day. I picked my cousin up from school, played Mario Kart with them, packed my stuff, and showered. After dinner, it was time for bed.

Friday, July 19, 2024:

The last day of my trip. We woke up early in the morning and after breakfast, my uncle dropped us at the Ilford Station, and we took the Elizabeth Line to Terminal 2 of Heathrow Airport. I was feeling rather melancholy, having gotten very used to my travel schedule over the last month. I was also excited to get home and see my family, however. Once at the airport, we got into line and checked our bags. Unfortunately for us, it was the day of the big Cloudstrike Microsoft outage, which was a total disaster, so our flight was delayed. We got through all the security and check in quickly because my mom as Gold status with United, which is really convenient for me. I really do love traveling with her, and the benefits are a nice plus! We spent some time in line for the United Lounge, and then once we were in, we relaxed and grabbed some food. I got some writing done on my laptop using the free wifi, and we waited for our flight. Luckily for us, our flight was only delayed about an hour or two. Other flights being called out while we were in the lounge were meant to board four to five hours before, and there was cheering everytime a new flight was able to board, as things slowly got up and running again. The flight was quiet; my mom had booked us seats in Economy Premium, using her status to get me a free upgrade. We were in the four seats in the middle, each of us on the aisle, with the middle two empty, so that when the lights shut off, I was able to recline across three seats spread out and get some proper shuteye, as though it was a bed. I slept for maybe half of the ten hour flight, and then ate and watched Godzilla vs Kong for the rest. Not a great movie overall, but I also finished reading A Court of Silver Flames and officially finished SJM’s ACOTAR series. I really loved it, and will probably start Throne of Glass soon. We left around noon London time, and arrived around 4 California time, where my dad picked us up from the airport. I had an amazing trip overall. Study abroad truly was life-changing and wonderful as so many people say, and I could not recommend the ASE Bath program enough.