song playing on the computer: sunny came home by shawn colvin
i know it's not time yet but i've started looking back at the past (almost) year since i moved abroad. a lot of firsts, a whole bunch of lasts, and i've yet to find the middle ground. memories i will cherish for eternity, and some less-than-ideal moments i want to forget. i've had my share of being a fish-out-of-water (tilapia, s'il vous plait), and i'd like to pat myself on the back for what is, so far, a job bloody well done.
it's not just the british weather that's getting to me. it's not the song, either. and it's also not because i've seen my course marks to-date. was never really worried about that, seriously. i knew what i was getting into in terms of academics. see, i've sent the email i've been waiting to send ever since i got here. still believe i hit the Send button too soon.
yes. i am coming home. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't excited about it. i get the giggles working whenever i think of sleeping in my old bed and hearing the PNR outside the kitchen window at 7 AM.
ticket's due in the mail in two weeks. will have to start sending back the bulk of my stuff next week, though. first draft for my research is due in three. off to london again (for work) by next month's end. manila's due the month after. self, don't let me down now.
i'm having a blast. and i've done a lot of growing up these past few months. guess that's what happens to you when you're literally outside your comfort zone. i'm still the cuckoo spitfire and overachiever i was before i left. even better, i hope.
i highly recommend living out of the country when the resources are available. it does get a little sad, at times. but knowing you can live with and answer to nobody but yourself while you're in a foreign land is very...liberating. thank goodness i have such a wonderful family and a close circle of friends that not once did i feel totally alone. lonely, yes. alone, never. the lord has been extremely good to me and my faith has never wavered. if anything, my grip on Him has tightened even more. i would go through it again in a heartbeat. yes, throw in all the depressing episodes i've had. without them, i wouldn't have earned my PermaGrin.
plans for when i do go home are still up in the air. but i will be taking a break. i'll run myself into the ground if i don't. suggestions, anybody?
enough babble for now. time to get back to work.
and i've done a lot of growing up these past few months. guess that's what happens to you when you're literally outside your comfort zone. 
