The Emotional Complexities of Laundry

Well it's been a bit but I'm finally back to give an update. There are a lot of things that have gone on and I apologize for not keeping you up to date. We went to London, Norwich, and Great Yarmouth (the beach) and classes started this week so things are getting a bit nutsy. For the whole story on my travels you can check out the facebook albums because I basically go through everything we did in those. I'll add the links soon.

I feel it appropriate to give a glimpse into my emotional psyche at this time (hence the title). Sunday I needed to do laundry pretty seriously so I planned to go to the school laundromat on campus and do it then, but it was blocked off from all directions by locked gates and impossible to get to (don't ask me why). So then Monday we tried again and it was of course open (classes having started). I was really really unimpressed by the facility and not at all siked about it, but it's a lot cheaper than the laundromat near the house. I washed my stuff (£2) and went on the computer and talked to mom, then switched the stuff over to the dryers when it finished. The first dryer I picked I put the money in and nothing happened, so I lost 40p (pence) which was a bit of a bummer. Then I had to get change from the Student Union store and go back and try again. After it finished its cycle I reached in to take the stuff out and it was still soaked. So I was like oookayyyy I'll put in more money. Another cycle later it didnt feel any more dry. It was very frustrating obviously. So I put all that stuff in my rolling duffle bag damp and hung it up on basically every flat surface in my room.

Ok. Ordinarily, this isn't a big deal. So the laundry room sucks. Big woop. And now I'm not making excuses or whining, but basically this whole laundry thing kinda messed me up because it's another reminder that I am definitely far from home. Laundry is so simple. Even at LVC. Why should something so simple have to be made so much more complicated?? I was pretty ticked off and upset which is totally stupid but that's just what it was. Jill (the study abroad advisor at LVC) said that culture shock gets you that way. With her she was in a grocery store in Scotland I believe and just had like a tantrum about wanting sugar cereal haha. I guess those things just sneak up on you. The sugar cereal thing sounded so ridiculous to me and here I am whining about my stupid laundry haha.

So yea, things have calmed down a bit now I guess. Ok not really. Yesterday was NUTS with my classes. I have class from 10:00 to 5:00 straight w/o a break. From now on though it'll be 9-5 because my clarinet lessons have been scheduled for 9:00 on Tuesdays. Yay? Every other day I only have one or 2 classes though which is nice. I just have to figure out this "self study" thing. Apparently we're supposed to do most of the learning on our own... not really sure what to do about that...

I kind of feel like I'm starting over again now that classes have begun. It's a little frustrating. I mean, I least I already know the town and the school pretty well by now, but I can't decide whether I would've rather just shown up and made a routine from the get-go instead of having a vacation kind of routine at first then switching into school mode. It's just a little rough, the transition. Plus Chris and I haven't figured out a time when we can talk. I'm finding that I'm most definitely a person who needs at least some semblance of regularity to her life. I'm hoping and assuming that next week will be easier because I'll have more of an idea of what the heck I'm doing. 

So that's the deal for now. I'm kind of in a weird place but with the help of my family, friends from home, my Bible, and my Scrubs DVDs I think I'll make it through til the weekend at least.