Bringing in the New Year in Birmingham (and more)

At home I am known for many things. I am known for having exceptional Wobble-ing and Wop-ing skills, my laughing snorts, my sass, yelling inappropriate phrases, and more. However, I am also known for not getting enough sleep and being sleep deprived. Unfortunately, I must sadly report that this trait of mine was not left behind when I flew away to the UK. At first I thought that it was because of jet lag and my body struggling to adjust its internal clock. Now, almost four weeks in, I'm still having nights where I just lie awake until 3 a.m. and wait to fall asleep. I'm not entirely sure why I've been sleeping so poorly (too much on my mind? too many late nights? too many late mornings thanks to canceled or evening classes? We can't know...), and I can only hope that it gets better soon. Because of it I was only able to get two hours of sleep before my trip to Birmingham last Sunday for the Chinese new year.

Life was rough

The morning of said trip started out pretty well despite my sleep deprivation! The sun was shining (although it did somehow rain at the same time... English weather at its finest!) and I was looking super cute and I was excited for a day exploring the Birmingham Museum of Art, eating Chinese food, and exploring England's second largest city. I know it may be a shock for some of you to learn this, but I really, really, REALLY love art museums (I know, shocking). Like, a lot. And being able to wander around the Birmingham museum was so lovely. While it was nice to visit the Tate in Loverpool, modern art is not really my thing and it was hard for me to really enjoy the pieces. On the other hand, the Birmingham museum was filled to the brim with classic pieces from the Itallian Baroque, 18th century England, and (much to my friend Rebecca's delight) the Pre-Raphalite period.

It was so great to be around all of the artwork that I love. However, there were some piece that (as usual) made me want to burn the world with their extreme artistic-ness. 

LIKE THE LARGEST WATERCOLOR PAINTING IN THE WORLD

Soon enough our stomachs began to growl with hunger and we made our way to the Chinese New Year celebrations for some delicious (and authentic) Chinese food (ps. I got Duck Chow Mein. It was delicious.) Due to the cold wind we didn't really stay outside for long and retreated to the warmth of the local shopping centre for some comforting American sights (Forever 21) and Starbucks. At that point of the day it was hard to keep my normally bubbly and positive spirits up due to my lack of sleep and general lack of excitement after the high of artwork and chow mein wore of. Caffeine was a necessity before the firework display to ring in the New Year.

Which ended up being pretty fantastic (despite the lackluster view)

As we sat and people-watched with our coffee, our conversation somehow turned, again, to stories of what we had done in the previous semesters at school. Most of the time I'm able to keep it together when I talk about my friends at home, but it was a little harder that day (thanks to sleep deprivation and a cranky mood, maybe?). The net thing I knew I was tearing up and my friend was asking me if I was homesick. 

Now, I don't necessarily see myself as homesick. I'm so, so, so happy and excited to be here, and to be taking classes in things that I love again, and finally experiencing city life, and meeting new people, and being able to travel and see so much in the time that I'll be here. But at the same time there are some hard moments when I see the pictures of my friends that I have on my wall, or I talk about the wonderful memories that I have from this past semester, or I see pictures/updates on Facebook that show that life is going on for my friends without me and I can't be included because I am here. I guess I'm more friend-sick. But at the same time I'm making wonderful friendships with my flatmates and the other BCA students and (maybe?) my British classmates and making great memories here while my friends at home keep me as included as possible. So, yeah. The sorta-sad part of my blog is over!

The rest of my week was filled with trips to the post, a British Life and Culture lecture over the meaning of Stonehenge, (unfortunately) my first migraine in England, literature lectures, mug brownies,

tiara sharing,

Ke$ha dance parties in the kitchen, extreme amounts of snapchats to friends from home from my flatmates,

They were providing facial hair advice. 

Skype calls home,

SUCH PRESH

doing homework, and a night out with the flat.

The next few weeks are going to be filled with events so prepare yourselves for updates on my time exploring Stonehenge and Portsmouth, our flat's Valentine's Day party, and a trip to London. We have not planned any further than next weekend but I'm sure that life will be fun and exciting (so long as I get my essays done...).

Much love,
Emily