Conclusion

Yesterday, I finally made it home!! The flights were as smooth as anything and all of my luggage made it through. My luggage actually made it to Austin sooner than I did! There was a flight leaving about an hour and a half before mine and it managed to get onto that flight.

Seeing my mom was wondrous. I have missed her so much this whole trip! When I got home, Duncan and Brandlyn came over so I got to spend the evening with them. I lasted until 9pm (3am English time), at which point I kicked them out and zonked. At that point, I realized that I had been up for nearly 24 hours... no wonder I was so tired!

This morning I woke up at 5:45. I went downstairs and made myself a cup of tea and sat down and watched the Olympics.

I wanted to post two lists that I created a few days ago. I think you'll enjoy them. :)

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Things I will (try to) never do again...

Because I'd like to thing I learned something this summer.

1) Complain about 'long' journeys on trains or planes. Traveling for 22 hours from Krakow to Copenhagen, and 18 hours from Frankfurt to Goteborg has taught me better than to complain about 8 or so hours on a plane.
2) Moan about early flights to my mother. I have been crazy enough to consider booking a 6:30am flight, so she is (mostly) forgiven for that one time we had to leave the house at 4.
3) Spend extortionate amounts on foreign chocolate.
4) Forget to use my student card. This can save me a lot of money. (I saved around $400 this summer by using my student card.)
5) Be bored in conversations in languages I can actually understand.
6) Forget to thank people an extra five times, because you can never be too gracious.
7) Ignore my little brother. I feel like I take advantage of his presence sometimes.
8) Talk about myself too much. Nobody really wants to hear every minute detail of my life. Except, perhaps, my mother.
9) Enjoy gas prices in the States compared to Europe.
10) Wish for more rain or colder weather.

Things I will (try to) take with me

1) Memories of signs like "Do not alight here" in England. (That is so English.)
2) Good traditions... like actually eating breakfast and drinking tea.
3) Chocolate! Lots of chocolate.
4) New friends from old acquaintances.
5) The differences of cultures and countries I previously knew nothing about.
6) Openness to doing something that I don't necessarily want to do. Because usually it's something that is worth it in the end.
7) The strength to travel and do things that some can't imagine.
8) The knowledge that Yes, I Can.
9) Realizing that 90 miles away from home is much better than 9000.
10) It's not hard to be alone. It's just better to be with someone else.