Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Let me give you the low down on my school week:

• Monday: No class
• Tuesday: Human Geography, followed by a seminar
• Wednesday: Educating the Human Brain, followed by Social Constructions of Britain
• Thursday: No class
• Friday: Biology (all morning)

The whole "having to sit in class for more than one hour" thing is really throwing me off, but I think I'll live.
Anyway, I was sitting in Tuesday afternoon geography listening to the lecturer talk about what makes a place. "Place" as a concept here - a "place" could be your seat at the dining room table just as much as your home town is a "place." He showed us pictures of some of his favorite places, and asked us to think about what some of our favorite places are. I thought about mine:

1. Duluth, Minnesota
2. My basement at home
3. The bike trails back home

All of sudden, it hit me. Harder than anything I had felt on this trip so far.
I was homesick.
I missed Netflix on the worn couches in my basement. I missed the exertion of biking up and down hills. And I missed waking up near the awe-inspiring majesty of Lake Superior.
The feeling soon passed, but I was left considering how "home" had changed over the last year and a half.
Last year, as myself and hundreds of other freshmen settled in to college life, I would occasionally hear someone refer to their dorm or floor as "home." And this was always weird to me. I mean, yeah, it kind of was - it's where we slept and kept our junk. But to me, it was never "home." My room here has a much stronger claim to the term - considering I have my own bathroom and kitchen, and I have to do my own shopping and everything - but it still isn't "home."
Home to me is still the place where I grew up, all the way back across the Atlantic. I know this will eventually change, and that it's starting to change already. But they don't call it "homesick" for nothing.

Arrival

On Sunday the 8th, I said goodbye to my family and friends in Minnesota and left home for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport.

For the entire week leading up to my departure, I focused a lot on how sad it would be - to leave everything and almost everyone I knew behind. And it was - but I was kind of disconnected from the fact that nothing's really ending permanently.

In fact, so much is only just beginning.

Pregame

My name is Mitchell.

In September I will be, in order:

1. Quitting my first ever summer job
2. Packing my backpack and a suitcase
3. Traveling by plane for the first time
4. Leaving the great state of Minnesota for the seventh time
5. Leaving the United States for the first time
6. Begin attending the University of Worcester, England, for nine months

As you can see, it will be a very busy time in my life.

This is me:

Last September, I packed my belongings for the first time and came to the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and this year, I've decided to take it even further.

So what do I expect to get from a year across the pond?

I don't know yet. I guess I'll find out.