bealer
Depending on when this is published, i.e. when all of you slackers turn in your updates, I'll either be savoring my last few weeks in England or beginning to unpack 15 months worth of memories. Too dramatic? Perhaps. Regardless, my adventures in Newcastle upon Tyne are slowly coming to a close and it's the strangest feeling in the world; I'm as equally ecstatic as I am heartbroken. Alas, I've had an incredible time and feel insanely lucky to have had this experience. So... now that my Debbie Downer moment is out of the way, here's my life in a nutshell (p.s. I could't turn off the italics, my b):
Cheers,
Bealer xx
ps. Ryan Elliott is living the dream out in San Diego. He's finishing up an internship with the U.S. Navy and from what I gathered, he's been researching/working with dolphins and sea lions to develop new technology for Amurrica.
- I officially have a masters degree in International Political Economy from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne! Woohoo! However, in order to achieve that little piece of paper, I had to spend the entire summer writing my dissertation: how austerity measures in Greece are affecting the creative class, i.e. those in knowledge-based industries. Good times.
- I now use i.e. and e.g. far too often in everyday writing and struggle between the American/English spellings of certain words (specialise/specialize, traveling/travelling, and a bunch of others that somehow snuck into my psyche- they don’t use Z, how strange is that?)
- I did some traveling: Paris, Amsterdam, went on holiday with the Wright family to a little village in Northern France called Trêve, Belfast, Dublin (with Aubrey, Steve, and Drew), London and other random places around the UK and France
- Tom and I hiked Hadrian’s Wall (84-mile Roman Wall that spans across the north of England) for charity and raised more than $800 for Depression Alliance UK. Thanks to those of you that donated! It was a struggle, especially because the weather was terrible.
- Speaking of Tom, we celebrated 2 years together in July. He’s now a full-time 5th grade teacher at a local school where only 3 out of 31 children are native English speakers. Also, we moved in together about 4 months ago and it’s been a lot of fun- he’s exposed me to rugby, Indian food, James Bond, and Lord of the Rings. Honestly people, how did you let me get away with living 24 years of life without those things?
- I’ve been doing work for a company that focuses on community conflict management. I spent a few months interviewing, researching, and analysing information that will be presented at a national conference. Fortunately, I can continue to do research and copywriting for them while back home. Hooray for technology.
- I’m moving home 20 November- damn, English immigration laws! Looking for a job, but we’ll see what happens. To be honest, I’m keen to keep traveling and would ideally like to use my Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification; but then again, it would be really nice to stay in the States for a bit. In other words, I have no idea. My life is a struggle, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Cheers,
Bealer xx
ps. Ryan Elliott is living the dream out in San Diego. He's finishing up an internship with the U.S. Navy and from what I gathered, he's been researching/working with dolphins and sea lions to develop new technology for Amurrica.