(This post was delayed due to my laptop breaking, thus it cuts off a bit abruptly. The following is what I had written before it's tragic time of death)
This week I’ve been thinking quite a lot about what it means to be out of your comfort zone. In certain ways, I’ve had a very easy time adjusting to living in the UK. The primary language is English, the food is recognizable, and I’m in an area tailor-made for foreigners, designed for ease and comfort. But in other ways, the adjustment has been uncomfortable. I’m feeling, for what is likely the first real time in my life, like a bit of the clueless outsider.
It has been overwhelming adjusting to the volume of people around me, to the interaction of so many different cultures, and to a very open schedule that leaves me vulnerable to frequent naps and bouts of laziness. I want so badly to get out there and learn from what is around me, and in a lot of ways I have, but I find myself shifting into the gear of comfort more often than not.
This weeks Museum Monday featured the Science Museum (but I also hit the Natural History Museum so double points). As I parted through the neon green sea of kids wearing safety vests, I was treated to exhibits on Space travel, scientific and technological inventions, a medical gallery, a mathematic gallery, a gallery on personal identity and the brain, and a gallery on the atmosphere.
Holy crap, did the nerd in me burst with joy. Though the entire place was built to accommodate children, I found myself immersed in the wonder of exploring. From the first vials of insulin, to a piece of Watson and Cricks original model of DNA, to the interaction with the human identity exhibit, I was enthralled.
There is something so pure about allowing yourself the freedom to explore your surroundings, and though I feel myself growing more and more into adult hood each day, I find such comfort in the moments that I can just be the kid still within me. I think I need a bit more of that. I’ll attach pictures below of some of my favorite pieces.
As mentioned last week, I likely wouldn't have made it out of my bed and into my typical museum excursion had the Chiefs lost the Superbowl. Since you're reading this, good news, the Chiefs won! I am beyond thrilled for our team and for our city, though a bit bitter that it happened in my absence. I was robbed of my greatest pleasure in life, wearing my Chiefs memorabilia around Syracuse's campus and smiling at the normally smug throngs of Patriot's fans.
Days left: 88
Places visited: Camden Market, Apple Market, Natural History Museum, Prairie fire, “a Kansas City Bar”, The Science Museum
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