Yesterday, Emma was feeling really shitty. She's coming down with a cold or maybe even a repeat of strep, so she spent a lot of the day just chilling out. I decided to take the boys to a place called Mystery Hill in the next town over called Blowing Rock. The website says that it's built on a spot where a meteorite hit or something, so that there's a weird gravitational pull, it's also apparently Indian land. It started off as just a little museum bit of old farming tools, which little Adam was pretty interested in. There was also a platform which if you stood on one end you were taller than on the other, even though the platform was flat. There were lots of different optical illusions. The weird part though was Mystery House, where it was described as you go into a vortex, and the thing is freaky. The room is built on a slope, but you can easily stand up straight on a slope and in this room you couldn't easily. No joke, it felt as if you were being pulled to the bottom end of the room. The boys freaked out t first and didn't like it, but once we sat down for a minute they enjoyed seeing water run uphill, balls roll in the opposite direction and trying to climb stairs at a different angle. I'm pretty sure it must be some kind of trickery, but I can't think of any way to explain it. After that there was a bubble room which of course, the kids loved.
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| Enoch and Adam on the Mystery Platform |
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| Enoch in the Mystery Room |
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| Playing with (eating) the Bubbles |
Last night I was brave. I went out alone. Okay, so not totally alone but without Emma. Ledale was running karaoke at the Town Tavern so I went with him, chatted to some random people and overall had a good night, despite not being able to drink. But because I was with Ledale, I didn't get the X's on my hands! The guy who Emma and Adam bought back from the bar was there, and at first I got him confused with someone else I had met, and kind of wish I hadn't spoken to him now.... bit of a creeper. Oh well, live and learn. Some of the karaoke was good, some was hilarious and some was downright awful. For the second time in 2 days, McDonalds messed up the order (3 McDoubles, how hard is that!? Not a McChicken) and I slept from 3am until 12.30pm, lovely.
Today I hung out at the house. Spoke to Nikki which was lovely and also helped Maggie clean up the house.
I've also been looking at applying to the college here, Appalachian State University, because apparently they have a good political science department. Also, I like the idea of not having to declare a major until the second year. With tuition fees rising in the UK, financial aid being available for me here and having a place to live with Emma, studying here is a real option. My concerns would be whether a US degree is worth as much as a UK degree, but also if I could handle being away from home for so long. It's something to think about though.
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A Month On
Today I have been out of the UK for a month. How do I feel about it?
I feel that the month has both flown by but also seemed to go slowly. On the one hand, I can hardly believe that it was just a month ago that I left my Mum at Heathrow when we were both so upset. The pull from home makes time go slowly, not necessarily in a bad way though. It's not as if I'm counting down the time until I'm home, but it's hard to be away from those you love. Alternatively, I've done so much in just a month that I can't believe that it's been just four weeks, just 28 days (ish). From escaping crazy people's houses in New York, and also meeting lovely hospitable people, to experiencing my first Greyhound trip. I've met a lifelong friend in Emma, gained a new option for University and been asked on multiple occasions if I've met the Queen. I've driven on the wrong side of the road and eaten more fast food than I ever have in my life, and realised that Americans generally say exactly what they mean, which took me a while to grasp. General observations about America continue to be that all the money looks the same and that the people are friendly, if not very inquisitive. I am down my phone charger and my GHDs, but up about 10 business cards/phone numbers and am consistently annoyed at being underage again... although I'm working on that one. I do wish American auto-correct would stop trying to correct realise to realize and other such differences in spelling; I am British!
All in all, I like it. This month has been more scary, exciting, emotional and elated than any other in my whole life. I know I've handled it well, as egotistical as that sounds. It's a big country, let alone a big world, and when I was planning this trip I hadn't imagined that there would be lows as well as highs. Luckily, it's the highs that dramatically outweigh the lows, and I am very, very, unbelievably happy I am doing this.
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