Megan Goes to Leeds: Last call.

July 4^th

No longer a cub

but a tigress, fearless, she

turns and says good-bye.

Happy Independence Day all you Americans out there!

First off, today was my last full day in Leeds. I am approaching my last night which will most likely not be spent sleeping but in preparing for my departure. This is partly due to a miscalculation on my end (6 hour differences can get messy sometimes...), but I think I should have things taken care of by about 1:30AM when I head off to campus to find a 24-hour computer cluster that hasn't closed for summer vacation so that I can check-in to one of my flights and print off my boarding pass. Now that it's midnight, I have exactly an hour and 20 minutes before I'm allowed to check in!

My day was as follows: get up early-ish, get ready, take everything from my flat that can be donated and bring it to the main office. Hang around St Mark's, wander around campus for an hour in attempts to scope out a computer cluster (honestly, it took me forever. I even asked for help 3 times and as they say, the third time was the charm!), talk to friends via facebook chat, watch Terminator 3 and Sucker Punch on my laptop, and now you find me here, wasting time until I can check into my flight. It's been a lovely last day! In all honesty though, it really has been. I had the chance to take one last walk around (nearly the entire) campus and talk with a few people. Everyone I talked to today was very nice. I'm definitely going to miss England.

Before I continue on my "I'll miss..." rant, I should catch you up on what happened yesterday.

It all began while I was calling my family over skype to get my grandpa’s address last night. Part way through the call, the call is dropped and the electricity goes out. This is 11:00PM. I wander around my now nearly pitch black apartment checking all the light switches. There is but one light working in my flat: a generator light in the hall. I have my computer, phone, and camera turned on to provide me with the only other light. I notice a flashing blue light outside and discover that it’s a police car. There are a couple sitting out there a little ways beyond the parking lot. Still not understanding, I am stunned to see a black sky: hard black smoke is pouring out of the building across from St Mark’s A block. I see shooting flames and every once in a while the sky alights with its shocking scene. The building is roaring with flames so much so that I can see it over the roof of block A. The flames are high and I hope they are not out of control. They battle with the fire fighters. Now and then it dies, now and then it shoots up in red hot spurts. People are gathering outside in herds, not because they have to, but because they want to see what’s going on. My seat remains within my room as I have a decent view already.

By a little before midnight, a get a knock on my door. The building warden has come to tell me that all windows and doors must be shut as the heavy smoke is toxic. I ask about the electricity and he says he doesn’t know when it’ll be turned on, but we might all have to move to Charles Morris for the night. He’ll return and let me know if this turns out to be the case. Now I sit on my bed, my computer clings to the small bit of battery it has left. It remains the only light on in my room. I pray I won’t have to move. Luckily I’m nearly completely packed up and my big luggage has already been shipped off to America.

1:11AM. I am awoken by the blasting sound of the fire alarm in my room going off. Well, awoken as much as a person longing for sleeping but not exactly finding it can be. Either way, the sound of the piercing alarm in the otherwise silent room sent shocks down my spine and caused my heart to race for the next ten minutes. I check my phone and see the time. I use the light of the phone to guide me as to where my glasses lie. I put them on and sit up in bed and wait. Nothing happens, but I give it a few minutes. More waiting and no more voices. The alarm was shut off after less than five minutes, so I assume everything is all right, that the fire across the way is out and hasn’t spread over here. I do not hear the sound of anyone (warden or otherwise) rushing to wake everyone, so I take my glasses back off and attempt to plunge myself into sleep. It comes.

At 7:14AM I awake again, this time finding my bedroom light on. This is good news, this means that the electricity is back on. This also means that my phone alarm will go off in 16 minutes, and I’m not feeling too prepared to get up just about now, so I reset it for 8:00AM, promising to myself that I will get up then. When the time comes, I accidentally hit the snooze button and give myself another 5 minutes to sleep in. Finally, I get up.

After I’ve showered and gotten ready, it’s time to start taking my prepacked kitchen supplies to the main office where it will be given to the “Free Store” for the kids coming back next semester. As I leave tomorrow, this hauling needs to be done now. The office is only open certain times during the day and I don’t think they’d appreciate me leaving a bunch of stuff outside their door. You never know when it’ll rain in England. I am downstairs on the first level. I stop when I see a notice posted on the bulletin board. “Due to last night’s fire and electrical outage, we will be meeting at the Refectory at 7:30AM where breakfast will be provided for you…” CRAP. It’s 9:30AM and that means my free breakfast is over. DANG. I hadn’t eaten at the Refectory in the Student Union one single time and today it would have been free. Shake it off, shake it off. My breakfast of vanilla porridge was delightful enough… Another sign posted on the door reads “The Electricity is now on in this building. If you encounter further problems, please inform staff at the main office…” I think back to this morning. No, everything seems to be working fine. I think I’m all set. The only problem I encountered was with the internet. It simply refused to let me in to the system. I’ve had this happen a few times already during the semester where I’ll type in my username and password correctly, but it won’t let me in. I tried the same old tricks today as I’ve done in the past, restarting the computer, typing in my username and password a gazillion times, shutting the top of my computer and opening it after 10 seconds, taking out the Ethernet cord and re-plugging it back in, trying to use the shotty wifi, etc. Nothing. This being my last full day and panic about checking-in online for one of my flights sinking in to my mind, I decided to just re-register. I’m given a new username and password. I’ve tried this before too, but the last time it didn’t work. This time it does. I wonder if it’s because I’m supposed to leave tomorrow that it stopped working or if it was because of the power outage. Neither of those seem to be perfect answers, but they’re all I have. I ignore the signs and head outside where I discover this last day feel wonderful. The air is warm with a light breeze. I couldn't ask for better weather. Thank you Jesus!

Ok. Now for the expected bit. I've really enjoyed my time in England. I am SO thankful for the opportunity I've had to come and live overseas for 6 months. I would certainly say these 6 months have been life-changing. I've learned so much about the world, about other cultures, and even about myself. I've put myself to tests I would never have been brave enough to do in the past. I've made so many new friends and even become closer to God in the process. I'm simply stunned with my life when I look back on it all. I've placed in a short story competition; I've journeyed deep into Eastern Europe; I've travelled by myself; I've even learned how to read a map and give great directions! That last one's a shocker! I never would have thought that I'd be able to give directions to strangers in Edinburgh, but I can!

But, now the fairytale has come to an end. Reality still has not set in. I'll let that happen when I'm on my 10-hour flight (the first of 3 flights) tomorrow!

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. The next time I write, I'll be back in the U.S., back where people drive on the correct side of the street and where people understand what I mean when I say "Can I have a spotted cow?" =) No, I don't mean an actual cow!

Good-bye England. I've had the time of my life.

Megan