Thanks for the world

6/5/09
12:34

So I have been home for four weeks now. I am well rested and well…restless. My summer job fell through and although I’ve applied to numerous locations, I have yet to be hired. Don’t they know that I am a world traveler and can handle anything they throw at me? Whether it be a tall skim latte with extra whip or cleaning the ellipticals at the gym? C’MON! I will do anything! I am desperate and broke.

So I am twenty years old and I have seen the world. Not many people can say that and I know that I am extremely fortunate. I would like to thank everyone who helped me to have the time of my life.

Thanks to Dad for being so supportive, for funding this adventure, for keeping up with all of the USD paperwork while I was away, and for keeping me posted on the goings on of 54th and Drew.

Thanks to my mom for being my rock when I needed her to be, for being my #1 blob supporter, and for making me smile from thousands of miles away.

Thanks to Katie for the little notes and pictures that I could hang on my wall to remind me of friends and family, for bringing tears to my eyes when she told me the latest Liv stories, and for encouraging my art.

Thanks to Nate for the e-mails. As he is not one to return an e-mail….well ever, I was very grateful for his many detailed and humorous e-mails.

Thanks to Marbo, Mally, Weiner, Mobecks, and Clareybear for being such avid readers of the blob, (such faithful readers that they actually quote the blob sometimes….embarrassing.) And thanks for listening to the privy details that were excluded from the blob. You guys are THE best friends.

Thanks to my AXO sisters in San Diego for staying in touch and keeping me posted on the USD saga. Especially Carson, Juls, and Jaclyn. I love you guys. A LOT. LITB

Thanks to Marlys for always reading my stories and for her sweet e-mails, reminding me of the good times in MN. Always in my prayers Mar.

Thanks to Sam. Pretty much my only guy friend who read, or even knew I was writing journals while I was abroad. You’re a good friend Sam.

Thanks to the entire Anderson, Peterson, and Richardson clan who read about my travels and who wrote to me. I felt extremely loved around the world and blessed to have such a supportive family to come home to.

And finally thank you to my new best friends. Semester at Sea Spring ’09 would not have been the same without Jill, Caroline, Alicia, Nancy, Lexi, Greg, Lia, Steve, Hussain, Disha, Keith, Riley, Doug, Win, and Braxton….and basically the entire ship. Thanks for the sunsets, the meals, the laughs, the memories, and the lifelong friendships.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve eaten my fair share of DQ (this wouldn’t be a Hannah blob if didn’t mention food, right?) and I’ve reconnected with good friends and family, I’ve re-acclimated to life in the US. Perhaps too well.

I don’t want to forget what I’ve learned. I don’t want to just go back to my old life. I want to remember to live each day like you only have four days in that country so you have to see as much as possible. I want to remember to ask for help when I need it. I want to remember that people are good. I want to remember patience. I want to remember confidence. I want to remember ultimate bliss. I want to remember to give back, because I have so much to give back and I have so much more than others. I want to remember to stay connected with the world. Read newspapers. Remember that. I want to keep doing art. I want to forget itineraries and schedules. I want to stay in touch with all my friends. I want to keep traveling…forever.

I want to and so I will. But it’s harder than I thought. So please help me. Help me do it. And thanks.

Love love,
H