8/9 - Today was my final full day in England.
It was spent visiting with some remaining friends and completing errands a person does right before they move, such as close down bank accounts and return library books. I walked through Bournemouth square, along the beach and onto the pier, something I had never done before, knowing this would be my final time seeing this place, in the sunlight and in the foreseeable future.
I met my dissertation advisor on campus, and I realised again that would be my final time stepping onto Talbot campus. Of course, there's a sense of awe there, the knowledge you should cherish this moment on a university campus that was so embarrassingly subpar. My advisor told me two things: (1 This past year was the second cohort ever for sport management at BU; this means it's a very young program, and the four of us in that program this year were guinea pigs. I asked why we were charged so much for a program that had such obvious flaws. And (2, as far as he is concerned, my dissertation earned a passing grade. It just needs to go through a second marker.
This meeting was great because I was able to apologise for being a complete dickhead to him throughout the summer while I struggled to understand how to write a thesis. There were no worries with him, so my time with him as my advisor ended on a high note. There's nothing to feel bad about.
I also spent a bit of time with Coach Charlie. The Bobcats begin practice for this upcoming season on Sunday, so I just missed out on it. It would have been great to get a few practices in, but I'm satisfied. I can now say (truthfully) I played college football!
I had lunch at 7Bone with Viral and Sammy as a last hurrah. I can't think of another place in Bournemouth I'd rather go for a last meal. Those burgers are fat, juicy and absolutely messy, and they're perfect in every way possible. They're the complete opposite of typical British food, which is unseasoned, bland and badly cooked.
This year at Bournemouth University in England turned out so different from what I expected. It turned out to be much better than anything I would have ever planned for 18 months ago. I thought this program would be like a full-time job, allowing for nothing but studying and writing papers; just the thought of living in England made me excited back then.
Fast forward 18 months, and what I got was a program that was not only incredibly soft, but it allowed me to do what I truly love to do: travel. It allowed me to visit 14 countries. Because of this program, I lived in Spain for a month. By participating in this program, I had the opportunity to see Lionel Messi score a hat trick in person in Barcelona, ride a horse on the beach in France, take a motorcycle 721 miles through Wales and into Snowdonia, go on two road trips to the Highlands of Scotland and down to Genoa in Italy, host Japanese High School students for a week in London, learn new sports, meet new people from all over the world and learn bits and pieces from several new languages. I got much more than I bargained for, and to think about how lucky I am that this happened to me is a little bit overwhelming.
I can't help but think about what I'm going back to in California and wonder whether I'm making the right choice, whether I'm taking a step back and going to the exact same situation I was in before. But I'm also at peace with that choice because I know things will be very different. I accomplished everything I wanted to during this year, and a little bit more. Porterville will be different. I'll travel more, and I still have Kenya to look forward to during Christmas. After that, my future is foggy, one that figures to split into many different directions representing what my next life choice will be. It obviously got much more complicated with all of the places and people I want to visit, and it's very difficult to decide what I want to do next.
This was the most incredible year of my life, and credit has to be made to my many friends to who made that possible. I hope to do something else big and challenging with my life very soon. I also have to thank Dave, a former member of the Recorder. If he hadn't royally pissed me off during my first stint there, I wouldn't have decided "fuck it, I'm going to England!" So, thank you, sir.
For those of you who have followed this blog over the year, I want to thank you for reading. I hope it has inspired you to do whatever the hell it is you want to do. This won't be the final entry in this blog (of course not!) but it's the end of Europe for me. It's the curtain call for American in Bournemouth. The name will obviously have to be changed once I get back to California (American in America doesn't seem very catchy to me).
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