A Time for Thanks...

Hello again! Hope everything is going great for all of you, wherever you may be. This past week was one of the most unusual for me, definitely had its highs and lows.

It started with back to work at PRI, an internship that I love a lot. I am meeting a lot of great people and doing some very interesting work. The other day, I was typing up notes that a manager took at a conference in Paris. The speaker was discussing prisons in America, and as I was typing, I came across her reference of the Supermax prison in Boscobel, WI. For those of you who don't know my little neck of the woods in WI, Boscobel is literally a town of about 1,000 people about 20 minutes away from my house. It was soooo weird that a speaker in Paris spoke of that prison, and to one of my supervisors from London, and then I read about it! So weird! Anyway, it discussed the positives of that prison, such as removing all mentally ill prisoners from there and putting them in hospitals where they can be helped, instead of adding to their mental illness. However, this speaker warned of the mental health of the prison guards, which I could name several people who work there. So family and friends at home, talk to these guards that we know and warn them of mental health issues! :) It proved for a very interesting conversation with my supervisor for most of the afternoon, needless to say.

This past weekend, I was visited by more of my friends. Dave came to visit from Germany, while Jenn and Autumn came to visit from Spain. It was such a great weekend, as I definitely missed all three of them! I had a blast, and I think they all had a great time. As most of you know, I have played tour guide countless times this semester, but this time we got out of the normal routine and went and saw Wimbledon as Dave is, um, obsessed?, with tennis. It was really cool to see though. We didn't get to see Centre Court as it was under renovation, but the museum was really fascinating. All too soon, however, they departed back to Germany and Spain respectively.

Before they came to visit, however, I had booked a trip to Barcelona with my roommates. I held out for awhile, as I would have rather gone to see Germany, as I am predominately German. But I finally gave in and booked a trip to Barcelona, sacrificing my chance to see Germany. I felt neutral about Barcelona, figuring it would be a cool place to see. Well after Dave came to visit, and talking about Germany, I decided that this experience abroad should be about what I want to do and it may be my only chance to see Germany. So I booked a trip to Germany, even though it was quite pricey, and decided to cancel my trip to Barcelona, basically eating over $100 for a plane ticket. But I think it is going to be totally worth it. Already, I am more excited about Germany than I ever was about Barcelona. It kinda stinks though that I can't have one last travel experience with my roommates here, but it will still be worth it!

I had a real rough time this Sunday. After my friends had left, I got extremely homesick (and physically sick as well). It hit me like a bus that I wanted to be home and back at school to have all of us back together again. I felt that my 3 months here was enough and I was ready to go home. That didn't mean that I am not happy here in London at all, I just felt it was time to get back to "normal" life in WI I suppose. But, I soon realized that this once in a lifetime experience that I am so fortunate to have must be lived out to the fullest. I mustn't go around being saddened about something that will happen soon enough. It's literally less than one month that I will be home. How weird. But through that little homesick period, it made me value the importance of my family and my great group of friends. I miss all of you and think of you all often! I am very thankful for all of you!

Finally, Thanksgiving is this Thursday. While it is obviously not celebrated outside of the US, my roommates and I are having our own Thanksgiving dinner that I am preparing after work on Thursday. I am really excited about it, and I can officially kick off Christmas celebrations. I'll let you know how it goes, cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner. Cross your fingers! :)

Have a great holiday! Eat lots of turkey for me!
Cheers!

Justin