HEY!

I have made it. Break is close upon us! I turned in my final two projects on Monday and have been trying my absolute best to do nothing at all this past week. I have been aiming to stay in bed and play Xbox for as long as possible.

I have had to get out of bed a few times for dance. On Monday, the dance team hosted and performed in a Christmas Showcase of all the routines that we have been working on for the open classes and competitive teams.

Last night, the ballet team went to see the Nutcracker performed by the Royal Ballet. The Royal Ballet did a live cinema screening in the Odeon, the movie theatre (or cinema), in town and in over 800 movie theatres around the world! We dressed up, bought snacks, and watched the beautiful dancers.

Tonight I will be going out with the rest of the dance team. We will be going to Five&Lime, a bar that sponsors us, out to a Christmas dinner with the American Football team, and to Popworld, one of the clubs in town to dance the night away!

Finally, on Friday is the Christmas Show at Rubix. It is one of the three biggest nights at Rubix each year. The others are Freshers week and the End of Year show. Last week Stormzy a rather famous grime rapper performed at Rubix! The tickets for all of these events sell out in minutes because of how good the events are.

This weekend I get to go back to my favourite place in England: Brighton. My boyfriend lives there so I get to go every so often. We are going to spend some time exploring the area in my car and down by the water. I leave on Tuesday for two weeks, so we have to make the most of our time together. It is getting much harder to leave England. I have so many friends here and so much invested in my time here already. There is also so much to explore still! I am having an amazing time here and each passing day it feels more like home. I still miss home a lot and am very excited to go back, but I do not get the longing feeling as much as I first did when I moved here. I do think I will still move back home after my masters though… I want the free accommodation 😉

I think back over the past year and a half and see how far I have come. On my applications for placements, they ask “What is your greatest accomplishment?” and I can honestly say that moving to England, adapting to a whole new environment, experiencing a new culture, getting involved, finding a new “family”, and doing well in my school work all at once is my greatest accomplishment. It takes a lot of courage to stick yourself in a foreign place, but it is so worth it. The rewards and experience is immeasurably valuable. I love it here and I encourage all to move here!

Next time I write to you I will be in the hippie tech state of Washington,

Holly