Wednesday, 1-10-96
12:45 AM London
6:45 PM E-Town (1-9-96)
Just talked to Mom, Dad, & Meg! It was great to hear their voices… So comforting. ❤︎ ☺︎
Dad’s (knee replacement) surgery went well, all things considered… But he is now in a great deal of pain from the healing he must go through, to fix what hurt him so much in the first place… A lot of people have been reaching out to him, including Gramma Mite, who is almost “overdoing it” as Dad put it! Bless her heart…
Mom is back in the swing of things, but very busy.
Meg will return to Boston on Thurs., January 11th about 12:30 PM, weather permitting… There has been yet another huge East Coast storm!
Well, I ❤︎ my sweet family & miss them a lot! It was so great to talk to them & so hard to get off the phone…
This morning I took the tube to grocery shop at Sainsbury’s! Got lots of yummy food & found it funny that some apparently famous person was being video taped & interviewed while he was grocery shopping! I believe he even had body guards! (Go figure…)
At noon I met my International Business study group for our group project at Birkbeck. I had even packed a lunch! ☺︎
After our meeting I applied to use the school computers & especially e-mail! And I obtained a “swipe” card to enter CSO type sites.
Then Jill (the woman who has every class w/ me at Birkbeck) & I went to check out the Birkbeck Student Union! It looked better & more fun than we’d heard…
At 2 PM was “Modern British Society Since 1945,” it seems like it will be an interesting class. I will be doing a short presentation w/ Nick (who lives in Pembridge) about “Ethnicity & Race in Britain” for the class, as well as, 2 essays & a final. But, no group projects!
Speaking of group projects, I believe the one I worked on for Small Business Mgt. last semester at UIUC may not have gotten as high as a grade as we’d expected or felt we deserved… I figure this based on the grades Mom shared w/ me on the phone tonight: 4 B’s & a C (in LEIST 2018: Small Business Mgt.)! Not bad, but I don’t like C’s. My semester GPA was approx. “3.8” ish & my cum. went down to “4.0” ish. But that’s okay. ☺︎
After class I explored the ULU Union & then went back to Pembridge w/ Paul, Nick & Lori.
I had a long dinner during which I ate a lot (including: “Cresta” — lemonade drink, quesadillas, & “digestive” crackers — low far w/ Choc.) & chatted a lot w/ my housemates! ☺︎
Then a bunch of us (including my roommate: Lori) went to see a wonderful & spooky psychologically thrilling play called “The Lady in Black!” The tickets were free because the group supposed to come in for orientation from the states got stranded on the East Coast due to another big storm! Those students were suppose to see the play!
After Lori and I did some late night grocery shopping at “Europa.” We event stopped at BK (Burger King) so I could finally break down & give into my craving for a Choc. shake! (Yum-Yum tasty shake ☺︎)
Then we made our lunches while chatting w/ our dancing neighbors & others! They made fun of us for doing the sack lunch thing, but her, we’re saving £! ☺︎
Room 5 is infested by some bizarre little red-tick-like bug, which caused Pembridge residents to spaze a bit.
Which brings me to my awesome phone call to my dear Cherry, Junyer, & Ginnie Mae! ☺︎
After which Lori shared my homesickness, tears, & a hug.
Time for bed…
Later ☺︎
Wednesday, 1-10-96
9:25 PM London
3:25 PM E-Town
I am writing early tonight, as to be sure I get plenty of sleep!
I did not get enough sleep last night & as a result had a really hard day… I was tired & everything seemed to come at me!
2 classes is too much in one day, when each is 3 hrs. at a time, so ———— I will be switching to the Thurs. morning Classical Architecture section more than likely!
The Business group project saga plays on & Miranda bailed out on Jill & I, so now its just the 2 of us, unless we can find 2 more people who need a group.
By the time I got home this evening, at about 5:30 PM, I had been gone all day… I was ready to drain myself in a major way! The door had no more than closed when my tears began pouring out! ☹︎
I believe this is the phase they refer to as “the end of the honeymoon!” I guess I had a pretty short honeymoon then… Only 1 1/2 weeks! ☺︎ Well, at least I got really overwhelmed & homesick this evening & crying helped me to let it all out! When Lori got home from class that helped too, cause she felt similar. We decided to treat ourselves & go to “Deep Pan” for a buffet pizza dinner. We even ordered Cokes! ☺︎
After we came back here to Pembridge to relax & organize! Organizing always makes me feel better… I also worked on my budget! Mom & Dad would be proud.
I am realizing just how much I love & depend on them… I always knew it, but at college could always go home for the weekend!
Well, we have “Bed Bugs” here at Pembridge Gardens & now I have to put all mu clothes -n- stuff in bags cause the exterminator is coming tomorrow… We have to evacuate the house from 10 AM to 5 PM!
O-tay, time to pack the bags & wind down, hopefully for a good night’s sleep w/ out bed bugs! ☺︎ God bless me & everyone…
Later ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: I know that many people, including myself, don’t worry much about grammar and punctuation when journaling… That said, I still cringe at times with how I wrote things back then, including misspellings and overuse of exclamation points (which I still have a tendency towards).
I recall being more homesick than I expected while overseas and reading this certainly bring those feelings back. I also think that cliché “absence makes the heart grow fonder” can apply to family members, in addition to romantic interests.
I’ve enjoyed getting to read about the many live theater going experiences I had in London, as to this day going to plays, musicals and concerts, are among my favorite pastimes.
I also find it amusing that back then my idea of a good milkshake, to satisfy my craving, was from Burger King!
I know somewhere in our home I have saved the papers I wrote for my classes, while in England. Sometime soon I want to find and revisit them, as referenced some in my journals, such as the presentation I mentioned that (not his real name) Nick and I did on “Ethnicity & Race in Britain,” have me curious. 22.5 years later, I wonder what perspective Nick and I shared, on a topic that is still so important both in the UK and the US, more so than I likely understood back then. Being a presentation, I am not sure what I may’ve held on to, but I am hoping maybe some notes and/or an outline at least.
And reading how I talk about spending and saving money, as well as working on a budget, reminds me how frugal I was (and needed to be) back then, not having a lot to spend.
Also, its funny the things we have vivid memories of, that we know are so, because we didn’t write about them and/or take pictures at the time. I still can picture that pizza buffet, at the restaurant my roommate and I treated ourselves to that night. I think this is in part because they had some weird (to me) pizza topping combos there, maybe even corn kernels on one, if I recall correctly?
Finally, Cherry, Junyer, & Ginnie Mae are southern nicknames for my mom, dad and sister Meg, that our Axe family came up with many years ago, on our road trips to visit my maternal grandparents in South Carolina. As we’d drive further south and would start hearing southern accents at the restaurants and gas stations we’d stop at, we decided it would be fun to have alter egos there! My nickname is/was Cindy Sue. Sometimes we, my dad especially, will still refer to each other that way for fun and with affection.
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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