Even with all the free time I had in Leeds because I didn’t have a job, I still managed to let a month go by without writing a blog on here. Whoops! Here’s what you missed in Hannah’s Life:
I ran my first 10k…and then my second
I decided to start running back in March to give myself something to do and to combat all the calories from my daily chausson aux pommes (didn’t work on that front), and I knew the only way I would stick with it was if I spent money on a race and then had to train for it. So I signed up for the Leeds 10k, and in early July I actually had to get my act together and run it! The atmosphere was amazing. I love Leeds, and I love the city’s vibe, and people were out in full force on race day. There were thousands of runners and so many spectators cheering, singing, and even playing steel drums. The scenery wasn’t that nice because you basically run through the lovely city center for half a mile and then spend the next five miles running up an industrial road, but I managed to finish the race without needing medical attention (woohoo!!), I got a cool t-shirt, and then I laid in bed the rest of the day eating pizza and guac. The race was so fun, in fact, that I decided to do another 10k, three weeks later in York! The course was much more scenic, though there were less people and it was more hilly, and Gabriel was there to cheer me on—even though it was his birthday.

The nicest birthday boy ever
I visited Wales for the first time
It was beautiful and we had one beautiful sunny day with no rain at all—which is quite a feat, apparently! We went down to Cowbridge with Gabriel’s parents (yes, that is the name of the town) and I got to see a quick little tour of the area. We got to see the castle where Gabriel’s brother is getting married, we went to a Welsh beach (which was very windy so everyone was wearing jackets, except for the two sunbathers stretched out between the cars in the middle of the parking lot), and I got to see the commons of Llantrisant, which Gabriel has some connection to which I believe involves being allowed to graze his sheep there—I am not making this up. I didn’t get to hear a full Welsh accent, so I guess I’ll have to go back again.

This is pretty much sums up a beach in Wales–windy
I celebrated my 25th birthday in London
Gabriel went to university in London, and so we spent a lot of time there during his senior year when I was so obsessed with him that I literally flew over to visit every two and a half months. We wanted to take one more trip there before we both left the UK, and so we went for my birthday weekend. I’d never been to London in the summer, so I wasn’t prepared for how absolutely mobbed it was. But even the massive tour groups that somehow all managed to stop directly in front of us everywhere, London was still incredibly wonderful. We went to see the clocks at the British museum (and then quickly left, as it was a rainy Sunday afternoon and so it was more crowded than Disney World during April vacation) and we bought a ton of books at the big Waterstone’s and we got to wander around Gabriel’s old campus—he even bought a sweatshirt from the school store so he would fit in with all the Americans constantly wearing college sweatshirts when he moves over here. I was a little stressed out on my birthday because I turned twenty-five and I felt like that was such an alarming number, but we went to Chipotle which obviously made everything better, and then we went to the South Bank, found a bench completely untouched by tourist madness, and spent the afternoon hanging out and enjoying the beautiful view of the Houses of Parliament. London is still one of my favorite cities in the world. I was sad to say goodbye, but it was great to have a last visit there.

We went to Liverpool
I’m not sure why we chose Liverpool, but Gabriel and I wanted to do a day trip with our friends Danny and Emma, and that’s where we ended up; two years ago we went to Blackpool, so we’re sticking with the Pool theme. Danny and Emma said Liverpool was fun at night, so we decided to stay overnight, and it was a choice well made. We spent most of our time wandering around, popping into museums, and desperately trying to eavesdrop on an authentic Scouse accent (we did manage to find a parking attendant who spoke very sternly to us in a very Scouse accent—mission accomplished). Liverpool is obviously the home of The Beatles and so we had to go to The Cavern Club—the place where The Beatles got their start. It was so fun. I expected it to be another tourist trap, but it was great. It was waaay underground (okay, maybe not so underground but I feel like there were a lot of stairs), and since we went on a Wednesday night it was crowded enough but there was room to breathe. I usually hate going to bars because I feel like everyone is trying too hard, or trying to compete with each other, but The Cavern Club was great—it was a bunch of middle aged Beatles fans with some young people like us mixed in, and everyone just wanted to have fun. There was live music but it was all Beatles and oldies covers, so I actually knew the words to everything, and we stayed until closing dancing and screaming the words to every song; it was the first time I’ve ever actually lost my voice a little from a night out. We didn’t get to spend as much time with Danny and Emma this summer because they are real adults and actually bought a house this year so Danny and Gabriel are no longer roommates, so it was so much fun to go away to Liverpool together. Next time we’ll all be together is in America, so I guess we’ll have to find some –pool place to go here…

I had my first Chambéry reunion
Luckily, one of my closest friends this year is British, so I was able to go visit her this summer! Unluckily, she is from Swindon, so that’s where I had to go to visit her…just kidding. But Julia did spend all year telling us just how underwhelming Swindon was, and so I was so excited to see it in person. I took a taxi from the train station to her house, and I told the driver it was my first time in Swindon and I asked what there was to do in town. He replied, “Well, this is where the trains are from, so they have the old workshops which they turned into a shopping center…the ladies usually like that one!……do you like swimming? There’s a heated pool with waves!” And then the conversation was over. Alas, I did not get to visit those two stunning attractions, nor did I get to see the magic roundabout, but the Swindon weekend was still wonderful. As far as Swindon goes, Julia lives in a lovely area, there is a beautiful park nearby, and we went to an amazing tapas restaurant. And Julia and her family showed me all around the area too, which was so fun. Julia and I went to Bath for the day, and Julia’s family took us for a drive around the Wiltshire countryside. We saw some ruins thing, and the biggest manmade ancient mound in Europe, and some chalk horses painted on a hillside—I’m not doing it justice. We also went to Marlborough, which is nothing like Marlborough, Massachusetts. And we hung out at the house, I witnessed the drama of the family redoing their backyard, and I got in some good cuddle time with Julia’s dog. I have so many good friends from all the times I’ve lived in France, but they come from all over and so I rarely get to see where they actually come from; I’m glad I got the chance to see Julia on her home turf in the Swine Dun.

We didn’t have Anne to complete our Plastics trifecta so we took a picture with this pig in her honor
I became a regular at a burrito place
This seems like no big deal, but I was still pretty excited about this. In the throes of my Chipotle withdrawal, I decided to try out all of the burrito places in Leeds and I found one, The Wraps, that was fantastic. I only went there a few times, but the owners were so friendly that by my second visit we were yukking it up with old pals.

Okay to be fair these are Chipotle burritos but I didn’t have a picture from the other place
Gabriel got his visa
As opposed to the last entry on the list, this was a huge deal. Ten months after starting the application process, Gabriel finally got his America visa!! The whole process was long and complicated, and I’m still not totally sure about all the details. What I do know was that on July 16th, Gabriel and I went down to the American embassy in London so he could have his incredibly anticlimactic visa interview. There’s no men in sunglasses that take you into a room and interrogate you like I pictured—they just ask you some questions at a window that kind of looks like where you place your bets at a racecourse. And then, a week later, he had his US visa in hand and he bought his one-way plane ticket to the United States. This was one of the happiest moments of the whole entire year—probably the second happiest, because nothing could beat that surprise proposal on the mountain, but still, a close second. It made the whole goodbye thing a lot easier, and at the time of this writing, there’s just a little over a month and a half until Gabriel moves over to the United States…for good. I don’t think that when we first met four and a half years ago, either of us would have imagined that he would eventually be immigrating to the USA to marry me, but I’m pretty glad we got here.

A future American in front of his future embassy!
I came home
The strangest thing about living abroad is that after all the fun and excitement and life-changing experiences, there’s the day when you go back home, and it’s like nothing every happened. This was my third time living abroad, and I was still shocked by how anticlimactic it was to come home—I feel like I’ve changed so much, but somehow there’s still this Hannah-shaped hole back in my USA life that I can slip right back into, despite how profoundly different I feel. If you ever want to truly understand that saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” live abroad for a few months and then move back home. Unlike the last time I came home when I got stuck in Iceland for twenty-four hours, this journey was pretty uneventful—besides the amazing moment when the ticket guy let me on the plane with a 55-pound suitcase and a 74-pound suitcase without charging me any overage fees (true travel magic), and my mom meeting me at the airport in Boston with balloons—one “Welcome home,” one tie-dye, and one American flag. And now I’m back home. I’ve spent hours and hours cleaning out the upstairs of the house and turning the second bedroom into a living room so that it’s all ready for me and Gabriel when he arrives, and I’ve been preparing for my new job as a fifth grade teacher (which is totally exciting, but completely nerve-wracking). I’ve somehow managed to pick up my Chipotle schedule, though I’ve also recommitted to dieting, because I have to wear a wedding dress in less than a year (and those pictures are for life) and I’ve been taking tons of pictures of my dog. And, when I got back to the US, I think I finally retired from my position of the last three years as a TAPIF girl.
This last year was a life-changing experience. Yes, it sounds cliché, but it’s true—I would even go so far to say that it was the best year of my life. I left for France eleven months ago, completely unsure if I was doing the right thing, because it seemed a little over the top to still not have a real job, and have to move back to my parents house the next summer at twenty-five, and say, “Who cares about anything else, I just want another year in France!” I made amazing, life-long friends, and I fell in love with the French Alps all over again. I got to travel to new cities and countries, and I had the most hysterical students, and I don’t think I will ever live in an apartment as lovingly bizarre as Place Porte Reine. I got engaged to the love of my life in the most beautiful spot in the world, and we got to spend a perfect English summer together, Pimm’s and all, and we are finally going to be able to live together. And, to top things all off, I got hired at my dream job. I’d say things worked out pretty well.