Well, my time in Edinburgh has come to an end. In 12 hours I am going to board a plane home for Jersey. It is extremely bittersweet, I miss my family and friends terribly and I can't wait to get back to America, but I'm definitely not ready for this to be over for good. I've truly had an amazing four months here. I'm so happy I picked to study abroad in Scotland, even though some may say it was an unconventional choice (based on people's facial expressions when I said I was studying abroad in Edinburgh... where?).
I think the hardest part is that although this seemed like a vacation at times, I really lived here. I had a daily routine, I got to know the city very well to the point where I was able to successfully give people directions. I have what I can refer to as my grocery store, my coffee shop, my favorite restaurants, my hangout spot and most importantly, my friends. Edinburgh has been my home for the past 4 months, so for me this experience hasn't just been a vacation that I can easily walk away from. I'm going to really miss this city, this country, the people and the Scottish culture. I'm going to miss hearing the bagpipes play on the Royal Mile, going down to Princes Street with all it's trendy shops but then looking up and seeing a gorgeous, century old castle. I'm going to miss the accents, which I can now actually understand, and I'm going to miss the drunks who sing the 'Harry Coo' chant outside my window at 4am (believe it or not).
Now that I've started I can think of a million things that I'm going to miss, and even though I'm writing this post for me (whereas the others have been 50% for me to remember and 50% for you to know) I'm not going to list them all here, I'll write them in my journal tonight, tomorrow on the plane, when I think of silly things in a week, month, year. And I will keep thinking of things, because this experience is something that is going to be with me for a while to come. As cliche or corny as it sounds, I have changed and grown in Scotland. The most obvious changes will be when I come home and start using British words like 'flat' and 'brilliant', which yes actually have made their way into my vocabulary (it shocks me when I use them, but it happens). There will be other, more subtle changes too though, some that I may not even pick up on. Edinburgh has truly been home, and as hard as it is normally to leave home, it's harder knowing that I'm not guaranteed to come back here. I do believe I'll be back though, because I have truly fallen in love with this city and would love to explore more of Scotland (however this trip will be taking place in the summer when its not 30 degrees and the sun doesn't set at 3:30 - which are just two of a few things I will not miss about Scotland ;).
So overall, I am really grateful for this experience which exceeded my expectations in every way. I am SO excited to get back to Caldwell, and Georgetown next semester which I missed dearly. I guess all I have left to say is Cheers, Edinburgh, until we meet again :).
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