Fall break already? Get out of here.

As much as I’d love to greet you all with a jolly ‘ELLO GUVNA, I’d be an imposter in doing so. To my dismay (and probably many, many people’s delight) I have not acquired a British accent. So allow me to instead say: Hey there, my name is Erin, and I'm currently spending a semester in the amazingly vibrant city of London, England.

Even if I attempted to acquire an accent today, it would probably be a huge failure. It's because there are few legitimate “Londoners“ who actually live here. On any given day, I probably hear upwards of 20 different languages, with probably triple the number of dialects for each. Living in such a diverse city truly makes one feel small. But being the small fish in a large pond is certainly humbling, and makes a person truly appreciate the many individuals that define the world we live in.

But then again, traveling can make the world feel very small, too. I just got back from a whirlwind trip around Europe, and amidst all of the craziness, there were also odd glimpses of home. This was one of them: Upon arriving in Brussels, we used a good 10 or 15 minutes figuring out how to work the Geldautomat (cash machine). This quickly escalated into an equally sad attempt at the Zugverbindung (train ticket) machine, which also proved to be difficult for obvious lost-in-translation (or lack thereof) reasons. So, we decided to as the girl behind us what on earth we were purchasing. In a bitingly recognizable accent, she said: "Yeeeeah. I don't speak any German, either." Turns out she was from New York, was on our flight, was planning on staying in the same hostel, and probably knew my cousin's wife's sister's mother, too. The three of us ended up exploring the city together, walking and laughing amidst other perhaps not-so-distant individuals.

Living on my own has been an awesome endeavor, and has helped me redefine my vision of independence. My flatmates are great, and we’re living right on Oxford Street. It’s sort of like the “5th Avenue” of London, and I’m amazed that I have restrained myself from a random outburst of high-end boutique shopping. (Mom, aren’t you proud?!) But I must say, as liberating and exciting as city life is, I definitely miss the convenience of dining hall buffets and dormitory bathrooms that are magically cleaned for me.

In exploring this newfound independence, I have become a master chef if I may say so myself. Rachel Ray, break out the claws, because Erin has some pretty sick skills. My favorite thing to make is fish, which one of my flatmates and I try to make on a weekly basis. After cleaning the fillets and adding some old bay seasoning, the oven does the rest of the work. Salsa chicken and pasta is another one of my quick favorites, which is prepared exactly as it sounds. I just saute the chicken in some salsa and olive oil, boil some pasta, and mix it up. And I suppose you could add in some vegetables... but I’m going to stick to my carnivorous tendencies, thank you very much.

But for now, I'm going to curl up with a book and a nice cup of tea. Yes, the culture is intoxicating. Feel free to drop by every now and then to keep me company and check out more of my adventures. Cheers!