Next to Normal

I've officially been living in England for about a month now! As the title of this post implies, it's finally beginning to feel normal. The first few weeks I was here, I was extremely conscious of my accent, but I think I've gotten used to sticking out. A lot of people are usually just interested in knowing where I'm from. It's still difficult adjusting to the different words, but I'm trying my best. A part of me just feels like I'm making fun of the way British people talk if I try to incorporate the words into my own speech. My lab partner recently assured me that most people don't even notice, so it's probably okay.

Other things that have begun to feel normal include the money (even though having coins for one and two pounds still makes my wallet feel way too heavy and still seem unnecessary), walking everywhere (as well as biking everywhere), and driving on the wrong side of the road (well, not me personally driving). Granted, I still would never, ever want to drive here. There's so many one-way streets and twisty roads that I'm pretty sure I would cause an accident within five minutes. They should've adapted the block system.

One thing I haven't gotten used to is the disconnect I now feel with events that happen in America, especially in regards to the election. Even after watching the presidential debate, it's been difficult focusing on what's been happening (Fun fact though, I voted and you should too!). Especially now that I'm concentrating on school work, I feel like I don't have time to keep up with current US events. Every once in a while my tablet "pings" and lets me know when a new gun-related terror occurs, which is mostly just sad. And I don't think I'll get used to seeing all of the pictures on Facebook of my friends going to football games, or enjoying a night out at my favorite bar in Mt. Pleasant any time soon. Some aspects of living here are harder than others, but moving on is a just a fact of life.

But I'm liking this new normal. I'm still getting used to living on my own, but that's changing too. I have new friends to get to know better and have adventures with. I'm digging into the tough (but fun!) work of getting my master's. While this isn't my normal yet, I definitely feel like I'm getting there.