Packing

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this. Sorry everyone who may or may not read it. Anyways, my semester here in Scotland is over. Right now I'm sitting in my room, having just finished my last exam of the semester! It feels sooo good to be done! Most of my stuff is packed, and I'm working on the last little bit right now. My room is slowly dwindling down to nothing as all my clothes and stuff gets packed up. Packing was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be...things have gone well so far. Now I just hope my bags don't weigh more than 23 kilos (51 lbs), but I think I'll be safe here. So now I'm spending the rest of my day finishing up this packing, saying my goodbyes to the few people I haven't seen yet, then we're going out to dinner tonight before leaving. I'm gonna miss these people, that's for sure. Off to bed tonight, then up bright and early to head to the bus station for the airport bus. Glasgow to London to Philadelphia (nice 4 1/2 hour layover) to Charlotte! It's a little sad to leave this place, but I am so excited about going home to see everyone!
I'm so glad I had the opportunity last night to see a bunch of people and say goodbye. Hopefully I'll get to see everyone I wanted to tonight to finish off my goodbyes before I leave. Studying sure was hard yesterday...I had home, goodbyes, and packing all on my mind, so this history class was the last thing I was thinking about. But I think I did well on my exam this morning. I think I have passed all my classes here, but I guess there's no promises on that one haha...I'll find out soon.
Well tomorrow I say goodbye to the city I lived in for the past 4 months. Some people say they feel like they're leaving home. I know that I'm going home. Glasgow never felt like home to me...I lived here for a while but it was never home, never even felt close. I know where my home is, and I know where I want to be. I love my family, and I love my friends (especially that one...), and I can't wait to get back to them. I have had an incredible time over here, but it just isn't the same as home. Definitely worth the experience, definitely the opportunity of a lifetime, and I loved it! They say home is where the heart is, and if that's true then my home is in South Carolina. This felt more like an extended vacation than moving to a new city. My home has not changed, my heart never left, and I can't wait to get back to it. I'm going to miss this place and the friends I made, but my heart is aching to go back to where it belongs. I know where I belong, and I can't wait to get back there.
It's hard to believe this semester is already over. Freshman year studying abroad sounded like a pretty cool opportunity, then it started to become a reality. I got more information, thought about it, talked with my parents about it, and we decided to go for it. Things fell through with my original plans to study in Italy this time last year, but the reality never faded. Scotland became the better option as I got so excited. I was looking forward to this semester for so long. I got thrown a curve ball last semester, but decided to stick to my original plan. I was preparing all last semester for this time, and now it has come and gone. I've done everything I planned, enjoyed every second of this semester, and loved my time abroad. But now it's over, and it's time to go home. Time to find a job and start earning back all the money I spent this semester haha. But it has been an incredible time, and I'm so glad I came here. Now for these last little bits of packing!