Why Life Can't Always Be Glamorous.

Another Sunday and I got to say, today is not turning out to be very good. That's not to say that it can't get better, it's just not right now. But we all have bad days right? Days where we wonder what in the world we are doing and why we have made the choices that we have.

Where to start.

Lets start with my grocery fiasco this week. I usually order my groceries online and have them delivered so I don't have to go get them and carry them all the way home and it has proven effective in the past. Not this time. I usually order from ASDA the British Walmart, but this week they only delivered half of what I ordered. So I called to complain and tell them I was missing half my order, so they apologised and said they would bring the rest, and they did, except they only brought half of what was missing. So two delivery trips and 75% of my order. Not impressed. I called AGAIN to complain and they just refunded what was missing. Needless to say I won't be ordering from them again.

This semester my plan was (and still is) to travel as much as possible to lots of exciting places with people and expand my horizons and postcard/bottle opener collection. So far, I have been here for two weeks with one plan having already fallen through. I do have some plans, the last weekend of February (in another 2 weeks) I will be in Finland with a few Canadians visiting our Finnish friends from first semester and two weeks after that will be heading to Switzerland & Germany for the weekend to visit some family friends, and sometime after that Taylor is coming to visit and more trips are to take place.
Now I know what you're thinking, 'that sounds incredible...' and I am sure it will be, it's just getting to that point that proves to be difficult, pretty much just sitting around for a month attending a whopping 10 hours of class each week with no class on Wednesdays or Fridays. Did you know the only thing to do here is shop? Other than that there's not a whole lot to do that I haven't already done that doesn't cost a pretty penny.
So here's what I've realised today why everything seems to be not as glamorous on this exchange as it sounds; I have learned that I am very much a homebody which inevitably sounds weird since I moved away from home for a year, but what I mean is I like to stay in and hangout with people in a home-like setting, watching a movie, playing a game, rather than going out pre-drinking, then bar hopping and clubs, I don't mind it once in a while but not multiple times a week every week. That being said, our residences aren't particularly 'homey' and cramming 7 people into one of our rooms would probably be dangerous unless everyone sat still and didn't move. So I spend a lot of time in my room, doing what you might ask? Not much. That leaves time for a lot of thinking about home and missing everyone. So if you're reading this and want to come visit... feel free ! :)

And then there's my next 'issue' of the day; I am not overly thrilled with my classes this semester, nor am I very motivated. Believe it or not, the less amount of class you have without another major time consumer like a job, the less motivated you are to get things done. Not to say that I don't, or I won't... but I am not motivated at all. So somehow I need to jump back on that bandwagon and find a way to delve into the studies.
Classes this semester include:
Research Methods for the Cultural Sector
Film Theory Goes to the Movies
Soap Operas and Society
I really would like to be motivated to be super into school and whatnot I just have to get there, but prehaps it comes with just doing it and forcing myself to the library for an hour or two everyday. We will see I guess,
I've also learned that online classes/learning is not very easy and don't think it is for me. You really need the motivation to sit down and do it and actually learn rather than just reading the words. The course load for it is also RIDICULOUS. I'm not even sure how people with jobs and children and a real university course load are doing it because it is crazy.
Another notch in the bad-day-belt, is money. Now, I am a firm believer that money isn't everything, its definitely something - a rather large something, just not everything. I think at some points you need to put experiences first and go for it. That being said I am not condoning going out and buying yourself a yacht just for the experience UNLESS you are financially stable and have a plan on how you are going to pay it off and not live in piles of debt. Anywho, money, it goes just as fast as it comes and it's easy to find yourself spending money on things you think will benefit you in the long run and then realising it is a mistake and quite literally have to pay for it. Now I am not talking about the exchange, don't worry, I would fully encourage anyone to go on an exchange but when it comes to universities of any kind they are a business and are VERY good at extracting money from people and that is VERY frustrating.

I had to get out of that tiny room of gloom. So here I am, at Starbucks, drinking a coffee that will probably keep me up all night because it's like drinking caffeine straight (and I get a free re-fill), on my macbook, window-seat, like a Starbucks hipster blogging about my crappy day and dreading a presentation I have tomorrow afternoon which I need to finish preparing for.
Grrr, school.

Don't worry, I am fully aware I have the coolest background ever.

I feel a little better by ranting about everything that seemed to all piling up today so that's a little better I guess. I am sure I will add to it as it comes.

Maybe I'll see if I can go somewhere this weekend, a day trip or whatnot. We'll see. I am also going to renew my gym membership so that I have something to do than just sit around.