What's a Honky Tonk?

My trip back to the States was now one month ago, but I think it was important enough that I should write about it.  Woke up bright and early at 5am to get myself on the bus and the train to the airport- felt kind of like a zombie the whole trip--boarded the plane and it was actually quite an enjoyable flight.  I had an aisle seat but the two seats next to me were empty, so I was able to use the seat next to me to put my legs up and nap a bit.  There were also the individual screens where you could pick your movies, so I watched "Lincoln"...fell asleep during some of it, but from what I did see, Daniel Day Lewis absolutely deserved best actor for his role.  The hardest part of the entire journey was getting through customs and immigration.  I've always been annoyed how America does this-- our flight got in during international rush hour, so there were hundreds of people waiting to get into the country.  For those of you who have done immigration at Dulles, you know that they divide it between American citizens and permanent residents, and everyone else.  Well, America has over 300 million citizens and even more residents, so that line usually ends up being longer than the other one, and then they have about the same number of checkers for each line- it never makes sense.  And then for permanent residents, they still have to give their fingerprints and a lot of them don't speak very good English, so our line ends up taking longer as well.  I know these are just little issues, but after sitting on a plane for nine hours, it's kind of a pain to deal with.  Grabbed my bags, and then it was another forty minutes to get through customs, despite having nothing to declare.  So all in all, it took two hours for me to get into my own country, whereas when I landed back in Germany a week later, it took me seven minutes to get in...lol.

Anyways, mom came in and greeted me with flowers, which was a welcome surprise!  Whenever I have flights landing after a long time, we always argue about whether or not she'll pay for parking to come in and greet me, and I was so emotionally drained after the past week that I didn't even ask her to come in this time, because I didn't have the strength to argue about it- so it really was an unexpected and welcome surprise to have her standing there.

Was welcomed to Virginia with cold temperatures but a beautiful blue sky!  Drove home, talked and talked and talked and talked and talked, ate and ate and ate, and then couldn't stay awake past 8:30 because of the jet lag.  I won't drag on about the details of my few days in Virginia, because it's all pretty irrelevant now- but got a temporary pass at the gym so was able to go there which was good, bought all my favorite foods I've missed in Germany, was able to get a quick coffee with Jennie, had  nice dinner and drinks with Will and Dan and we reminisced about the good ol' AJY days, stopped by the theatre and saw Danny after his birthday, stopped by Kelsey's and got to see her and her family, and was able to do simple things like watch HIMYM and The Bachelor on my TV with the DVR- it's the little things!  Remember that my mom moved about forty miles south of McLean over the summer when I was living in Boston, so we have a new house which I had only been in for five days in September before I left for Germany, so I came home to boxes upon boxes upon boxes, and this made it hard to see everyone whom I wanted to see because it was a forty-five minute drive to get back up to McLean, but I did what I could!

American noms that I've missed

Then came Thursday- set out on my 600+ mile drive to Nashville bright and early.  This was a longer drive than the 500 mile drive to Boston, but actually a lot easier, because it's literally on a two-lane highway for the entire trip, except right outside Nashville.  Also, the trip drove down through Southwestern Virginia and Northeastern Tennessee, aka right through the Appalachian Mountains, and the drive was absolutely breathtaking.  So much nicer than the boring highway drive up the East Coast to Boston.  I kept trying to snap pictures during the drive but none of them did the scenery justice.

Driving through the mountains

GORGEOUS sunset driving back from Tennessee

 
Forgot about the time change of one hour, so I was able to take a little longer at the rest stops to rest my legs.  Arrived in Nashville just before 5pm to pouring rain, but I was happy just to be there.  I was able to stay with my friend Katie, who went to BC with me.  She got a nursing position at Vandy Hospital and moved to Nashville just in January so it was so clutch to be able to stay with her for the two nights.  We grabbed dinner at a super hipster cafe next to her apartment, then we drove around the campus a bit, but since it was dark and raining, it was hard to see anything.  Katie had a night shift, so I went back to her apartment and just passed out around 10 because I was so tired.

Peabody quad

Up on Friday morning, and dressed in my preppy best-- skinny jeans, Sperrys, and a tucked in button-down shirt.  I walked the twenty minutes to Peabody Campus--it was an absolutely beautiful day in the mid-60s.  Well, arrived at the Visitation Day, and did not get the memo about business casual.  So, I was the only person of about 100 in jeans.  For those of you who know me well, you know how much I freak out about being under or overdressed for anything, so I was having a mild panic attack.  I had gotten a new iPhone on Monday, so I was incessantly iMessaging my mom freaking out about this debacle, and what do I do in awkward and uncomfortable situations?  Drink lotttttts of coffee.

I haven't been to one of these awkward social events in a long time (although I worked all of them over the summer hahaha), so I found one guy to ally myself with, and he ended up being in the same department as me, so I basically hung out with him all day.  Went in for the first big session to hear about Peabody in general, which was a little over an hour....well, the seats were quite tight and I was trapped.  Remember all the coffee I drank?  My bladder almost exploded, I thought I was literally going to pee my pants, it was terrible.  I kept glancing at my watch waiting for the session to end so I could dash to the bathroom.  I probably missed half of what was said in that session, I'm sure!

Finally- reprieve!  So, not the best start to this visitation day- but things started to look up.  We broke out into department sessions, and I met a girl who's a senior at BC this year and we started freaking out about BC, and then we took small group tours around Vandy, and low and behold, our tour guide graduated from BC in 2011!  Again, major freak out about BC.  During the lunch break, I was able to chat with her about what it was like coming from BC and Boston to Vandy and Nashville and got some good insider information.  The lunch break was nice--all sitting outside on the quad enjoying the beautiful weather.  More breakout sessions about everything we could possibly have questions on, and the day was finally ended with a wine and cheese social with current students, faculty, and professors.  Needless to say, got a little tipsy (free wine!  Grad school! Hahaha) but that little buzz helped me think clearly about the whole day.

As I've mentioned, Vandy is the #1 school for education in the country, and I had no idea what to expect at this visitation day, but I was so pleasantly surprised.  I learned so much about Nashville and Tennessee and how the city and state are really the frontrunners in education, and the federal government looks to them to try new things and research.  Also, I was so impressed with the students there- no one was stuck up or arrogant at all, and this was such a welcome surprise!  Everyone was so knowledgeable and had so much to offer because of so many various backgrounds, and it was so interesting to hear cross-department conversations about things I had never even heard of!  All of the faculty were also so welcoming--I know that this was a visitation day and so it's kind of all show, but it just really felt a lot more genuine than I was expecting.

Walked back to Katie's, reflecting on my day.  This is the thing about BC- I got so spoiled because now besides a great education, I expect a complete experience from a university, and that's what I'm ultimately looking for in my grad school selection.

(Update-- since I've gotten back to Germany, I have been accepted at BU and UVA, and I just found out two days ago that I was awarded the Dean's Scholarship at Vandy which will cover 1/3 of my tuition for up to three years, which is a big deal.  I think that was the sign I needed- when I got back to Virginia, I had already decided Vandy was absolutely my top choice, but it's so expensive that I couldn't justify going there over UVA where I get in-state tuition without a significant amount of aid, and considering I just won this award, I think my mind is basically made up.)

BTW- blue dot is where Nashville is, for my geographically challenged friends :)

Now, Friday night in a big city calls for a night out!  Katie and I made some dinner and got dressed up (I dearly miss this- getting ready to go out with my girlfriends-- just such a dearth of glamor in Germany) and Katie's friends from work came by and we all pregamed and then got some cabs to go down to Broadway, the main bar street in Nashville.

Broadway Street, downtown Nashville

Let's just say, it was a completely different world.  There were live bands on every floor of every bar, people were wearing cowboy hats and cowboy boots, the bands were playing country songs, and people actually asked me to dance rather than just attacking me from behind.  When one guy asked me to dance I actually had to tell him I had no idea how to dance because I was from Boston and we didn't do that up there....lol.  Also, "Vanderbilt" is basically the equivalent of saying Harvard down in the South and everyone was just instantly impressed- so I definitely was loving the attention for a bit.  But yes, our group hung out in two different bars, and just had a blast!  I've also really missed going out in America and dancing with my girlfriends and drinking Bud Light (believe it or not) because going out in Germany is just so much more laid back.

Katie and me at the Honky Tonk Central

Cabs back to Katie's after a long night, passed out on her air mattress, and woke up bright and early to make my way back to Virginia.  Had a lot of time on my drive to reflect about my day and the decision I had to make (and still have to make)!  Made a quick dinner stop in Blackburg to visit an old friend at Tech- when Becca and I went to Interlaken two years ago, we met a group of guys in our hostel and one of them was from Leesburg and was a year behind us at Tech.  He had no definitive plans for his European travels, so a week later he came up to hang out with us in Heidelberg and crashed at my place for a couple nights.  He ended up leaving one of his tshirts behind and I've had it for the last two years--I found it when I was unpacking boxes when I got home and texted him about it and told him I had to drive through Blackburg to get home and he said that if I dropped it off, he'd buy me dinner.  So there you go!  I got delicious Qudoba and he got his shirt back!

Left Blacksburg and made my way to Lexington where I was staying with Rachele for the night.  She goes to Law School and W&L and they were having their big law school gala/prom/dance thing that night so she bought me a ticket so I could join her.  Got dresses wicked fast, we went to her friend's to pregame, and then got to the dance around 9pm.  I wore my commencement ball dress and luckily, no one else was wearing it this time!  Open bar, so we drank a little too much wine, and there was also delicious food platters.  Had a great time with Rachele and got to know her new friends.  The morning was a little slow, but it was a gorgeous day in Lexington so I got to see some of the town and the law school.  Said bye to Rachele and made my way back home where I had one more night.

Me and Rachele before the dance

Mom made a big steak dinner, I told her all about my trip, and we watched the Oscars.  Monday morning was rush rush rush to pack up all my stuff and get to the airport.  Not gonna lie, I was dreading going back to Germany and was actually crying at the gate while waiting for boarding to start.  It's been a month since I was home so those feelings have subsided, but looking back on it, that week really was one of the best of my life.  That hiatus and respite was exactly what I needed.  I had been feeling so down about everything in Germany, even down on myself and my social skills and my ability to fit in with people, but the second I got back to the States, I was the Sabrina that everyone knows again (and hopefully most people love! haha)  I felt self-worth again, and at the Visitation Day, realized that I really do have a lot to offer, and in meeting new people like Katie's friends and Rachele's friends, and even meeting up with old friends like Will and Dan whom I haven't seen for ages, I realized that I shouldn't be so hard on myself, and that's why I say that my week at home was so necessary and beneficial.

Sunset as my flight left Washington

So there it is- a quick recap of America, Munich, and Paris.  Tomorrow morning I'm off to Berlin for the Fulbright mid-year conference until Thursday, and then I'll be in Montepellier with Mollie for a week, and then I'll be spending Easter weekend with Katherine in Mainz, and then another week off and I haven't planned what I'm going to do yet- needless to say though, lots more traveling coming up and hopefully by the time I get back to Münster, Spring will have hit!