England just got even better--my family is here!

I just cleaned the kitchen. I should mention that it's past midnight on a Saturday. Before the kitchen I was busy wiping down any and all hard surfaces in my room. I knew it was a mistake when I bought those wet wipes at the dollar store today. I had a feeling I'd spend my night scrubbing, alone, in the kitchen.
My room here, in Lancaster, is very cozy. I think I've done a pretty good job of making it feel like home. The other day I bought a flowering plant for 2 pounds. It brightens my windowsill. I have yet to name her, so I'm up for any suggestions. I've also tacked some photos on my bulletin board and placed some cards from home on the shelves above my desk, which are nearly filled now with books. The view from my bedroom window is beautiful, all rolling green hills dotted with sheep. In the morning I can see the sun rise. My bed is warm and inviting. The bedding pack I purchased before I got here has proved to be surprisingly comfortable. The hinge on one of my wardrobe doors is broken, my desk chair is hard plastic, and the overhead light in my room is filled with the dead bodies of unfortunate flies, but I’ve gotten used to these things. I read before bed, I’ve perfected my shower routine and I can successfully blow dry my hair without a mirror. Life here is really nice.
But tonight I’m anxious; in that excited, restless way that keeps you from sleep. This would explain the unnecessary cleaning. My mom and Marc will be here tomorrow. My mom and Marc will be here tomorrow?!*#$?@! I can scarcely believe it. I’ve been waiting for this for so long! And yet time has gone by so quickly! Tonight I’m going to think of all of the things we’ll do together in the coming week, but mostly I’ll be dreaming about the enormous hug I’ll give my mom when I see her at the train station. Come to think of it, they’re just about to board the plane at this very moment. They may already be in their seats. They have a seven hour flight ahead of them. I wonder what movies they’ll choose to watch. I hope the plane food isn’t too bad. I hope they get a chance to sleep on the plane. But if not, that’s just as well, because I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep tonight either. I wouldn’t care if we spent all day tomorrow hanging out in the hotel room. Just to have my family in the same room as me after almost two months apart is enough!
It’s been so long since I’ve written; you might have thought I had dropped off the face of the earth. Well, I haven’t! I’m just here in Lancaster, enjoying my time. I’ve been very busy, actually. In the first week I joined the ballroom dancing society and the hiking club. I’ve since rescinded my hiking club membership; who knew I’d need a pair of waterproof pants and a backpack and head torch for a university club? I’ve continued with the dancing though, and so far I’ve learned the basics of the cha-cha, the rumba, and jive. I’ve written an article for the school newspaper about my experience as an international student. I really hope they print it. I’ll post that here shortly. The website for the newspaper, called SCAN, is www.scan.lusu.co.uk. Check it out, it’s great! Unfortunately it puts The Gettysburgian to shame.
It also hit me in the past week or so that I have a 15-page research paper to write on government censorship of the British Press during the First World War for my seminar in London. My professor extended the due date until Nov. 24, but that just means it will be hanging over my head for the next month, so I vowed to get it done far before the due date. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve never written a research paper this long before. I’ve already spent 10 hours in two days researching in the library. However, I’m babysitting my professor’s daughter on Monday night, so perhaps she’ll go easy on me. J On top of that work, I have an extraordinary amount of reading to do for my classes, two of which are English, the other a European Studies film course. And I still want to travel, which I haven’t gotten to do at all since I arrived here. I want to go to the Netherlands to visit Kelly and to Cheltenham to see Will. I miss them so much! I hope I can do it all. I need to start planning soon.
I decided not to write an epic entry about Venice. I’ll tell whoever is interested all about Venice; it was my favorite of all the places we visited in Italy. By far.
I’ve been thinking a lot about coming home in December. Caroline and I daydream about it all the time. We had a long conversation today about Christmas and how wonderful it is. I know I’ll feel homesick come late November when everyone at home is preparing for Thanksgiving. I already miss grandmom’s apple pie, and mom’s homemade gravy, even if it is always watery (sorry, mom). The University holds a big Thanksgiving dinner and dance for the international students, though, which I’m really looking forward too. I’m also planning on cooking a traditional meal for the Brits on my flat. I introduced them to cinnamon sugar toast the other day—if they liked that, they’re going to love the combination of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Mmm… I’m not dying to leave here, but I’m missing the familiarity of home. That’s why I’m so anxious about seeing my mom and Marc tomorrow. I feel like I appreciate everything in my life more than I ever have before. And I feel that when I go home in December, 53 days from now, I’ll be seeing old things in a whole new way. For now, I cannot wait to show the people I love the new parts of my life, the new parts of me.