a realization and a cold...

so busy and now sick.
*stops typing to sip cold-tea-that-tastes-gross and blow her nose.*
breathe.
it's strange that i've been here almost three weeks. strange that i live here and walk to school and take the bus home. strange that i'm surrounded by hundreds of people from all backgrounds constantly. it's strange how fast you get use to it. how fast i've grown accustomed to the pace of london, the grey of london. i didn't realize how normal this city had become until yesterday when i went with a few girls here to oxford for the day. it was so great to get out of london and bus into the country side and visit that historic place. the city of oxford is so very different from london. the streets are cleaner, the buildings are lighter colored, the people are less diverse. it was a beautiful place to visit. standing in the quad of a college that has been teaching young minds since the 1300s was so humbling. i felt small and yet inspired at the same time. tolkien studied there. carrol and lewis lived there. so much history so many stories of young people questing for knowledge. it was amazing.
when we were almost back into london later that night i felt...happy to be back. i loved visiting oxford and found it breathtaking but it was nice to roll into victoria station and take the tube to our little stop in camden town. i felt at home and very content to be here right now.
yes i miss home. yes i miss caleb. yes i want to speed up time until i am back in his arms in sunny california... but i can't. for right now i am here and am determined to live and learn as much as i can during this brief stay in this grey brick city that is becoming my own.
it was a good day.
plus i got an oxford t-shirt. hehe. can't help but be a tourist sometimes.
and now to finish this awful tea and take a nap and pray that i feel better by tomorrow.