Transatlanticism
A big update, I think. There has been big events.
The last few weeks have been curious. Lots of not much is the best way to describe it, I suppose - hanging out around the house, catching up with a backlog of 360 games (I forgot how good Tomb Raider can actually be!), reading huge amounts of stuff for school, and generally trying to concentrate on making myself - for want of a much better word - 'better'.
Still taking the tablets, which is going OK. Still the odd day of horribleness, but nothing that can't be dealt with. I've also had my first therapist session which was... interesting. I have issues with talking about stuff with people I don't know - hell, I find it hard enough talking to people I know about how I feel - but she made me feel very comfortable, and we just... talked. I've another appointment after I return to the UK, so I'll go into it a bit further then, but it's certainly a different experience. The short version of Appointment #1 was 'michael needs to think about michael more', which leads me to where I'm sitting now...
Yup - here I am in the USA. Never been to the States before, but... well... I wanted a break before I start on the Teaching course, and couldn't think of anywhere I'd sooner be (and anyone I'd sooner be with). I'm staying in Dallas with The American (and her cat!) for just under two weeks of silliness, relaxing and meeting lovely new people. I've been planning on coming out to visit for quite a while, but it's only been over the last few weeks that everything has come together to make the trip possible. A few clicks on a mouse, making sure that flights were available, and boom - tickets are organised, insurance sorted, bus journey to the airport dealt with. All of a sudden, it's yesterday morning and I'm standing in Gatwick Airport with my suitcase and passport, ready to fly across the planet.
The journey was alright. Cattle class on Delta isn't the most comfortable, but the ticket wasn't too expensive, so I didn't mind. My travel buddies were fun, two girls on their way to Ecuador for four months (!), which we celebrated with Bloody Mary's for breakfast. The movies sucked (aside from 'Sneakers' oddly - the oldest film on offer was the best, though it's all about hacking and codes, so of course I'd like it). We were about an hour late leaving Gatwick though, so I missed my connecting flight in Altanta, Georgia. Mercifully my panic was allayed by the strange accented people at the airport -who all seemed to call me 'mayne' which made me grin - and they rebooked me onto one an hour or so afterwards. The second flight (Atlanta to Dallas Fort Worth) was much more comfortable, even though it was little more than a flying bus for businessmen. I got a window seat this time (aisle on the 777, fyi) and spent the flight gazing out the window at the clouds listening to my MP3 player. Stuff like Sigur Ros, Camera Obscura, Death Cab for Cutie and the like - nice and dreamy, perfect for 36000 feet. We were diverted around a huge thunderstorm which was incredible to watch from above, the clouds swirling about, the lightning strkes... amazing. It was then I realised that I'd never actually been on a journey like this before. Sure, I've flown to Ireland and stuff, but never off to another continent.
New adventure, new start. And most of all, new michael.
The last few weeks have been curious. Lots of not much is the best way to describe it, I suppose - hanging out around the house, catching up with a backlog of 360 games (I forgot how good Tomb Raider can actually be!), reading huge amounts of stuff for school, and generally trying to concentrate on making myself - for want of a much better word - 'better'.
Still taking the tablets, which is going OK. Still the odd day of horribleness, but nothing that can't be dealt with. I've also had my first therapist session which was... interesting. I have issues with talking about stuff with people I don't know - hell, I find it hard enough talking to people I know about how I feel - but she made me feel very comfortable, and we just... talked. I've another appointment after I return to the UK, so I'll go into it a bit further then, but it's certainly a different experience. The short version of Appointment #1 was 'michael needs to think about michael more', which leads me to where I'm sitting now...
Yup - here I am in the USA. Never been to the States before, but... well... I wanted a break before I start on the Teaching course, and couldn't think of anywhere I'd sooner be (and anyone I'd sooner be with). I'm staying in Dallas with The American (and her cat!) for just under two weeks of silliness, relaxing and meeting lovely new people. I've been planning on coming out to visit for quite a while, but it's only been over the last few weeks that everything has come together to make the trip possible. A few clicks on a mouse, making sure that flights were available, and boom - tickets are organised, insurance sorted, bus journey to the airport dealt with. All of a sudden, it's yesterday morning and I'm standing in Gatwick Airport with my suitcase and passport, ready to fly across the planet.
The journey was alright. Cattle class on Delta isn't the most comfortable, but the ticket wasn't too expensive, so I didn't mind. My travel buddies were fun, two girls on their way to Ecuador for four months (!), which we celebrated with Bloody Mary's for breakfast. The movies sucked (aside from 'Sneakers' oddly - the oldest film on offer was the best, though it's all about hacking and codes, so of course I'd like it). We were about an hour late leaving Gatwick though, so I missed my connecting flight in Altanta, Georgia. Mercifully my panic was allayed by the strange accented people at the airport -who all seemed to call me 'mayne' which made me grin - and they rebooked me onto one an hour or so afterwards. The second flight (Atlanta to Dallas Fort Worth) was much more comfortable, even though it was little more than a flying bus for businessmen. I got a window seat this time (aisle on the 777, fyi) and spent the flight gazing out the window at the clouds listening to my MP3 player. Stuff like Sigur Ros, Camera Obscura, Death Cab for Cutie and the like - nice and dreamy, perfect for 36000 feet. We were diverted around a huge thunderstorm which was incredible to watch from above, the clouds swirling about, the lightning strkes... amazing. It was then I realised that I'd never actually been on a journey like this before. Sure, I've flown to Ireland and stuff, but never off to another continent.
New adventure, new start. And most of all, new michael.
posted by michael at
2:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home