It hasn't even been a week since I left London and now that I'm home, it somehow feels as though I never left. It's a strange feeling. When I was in London, I felt as though life at home was more than just physically far removed, but almost completely separate from what I was experiencing in London. When you're in a foreign place without any semblance of home, I guess it's easy to forget that the experiences you're having in that moment and the life you have at home are all one and the same.

It's Wednesday night and I only have a few days until I return to the States. Like always, it's hard to believe I'm already at this point in the summer. I mean, it was already a shock when I realized it was August, but to think that in a few days I'll be back on US soil and back in suburbia -- it truly is surreal.

As I write this blog post, I still have not really accepted the fact that I only have a week and a half left here in London. Between working every day and trying to cram in new London experiences every weekend, as cliche as it is, I feel like this summer has flown by. I sort of realized that my summer here was drawing to a close when I looked at the schedule here at work and realized that our next issue is going to print next week, meaning that I've already worked on one issue and am finishing up work on another.

In my last post, I reflected on some of the philosophical things I've learned while in London, so I thought, for this post, I'd discuss some of the actual, more teachable sort of things that I've learned in the past five or so weeks that I've been here.

If you can believe it (because I certainly can't), I have already been here in London for a month. And even though some people may argue as to whether that is a long time or a really short time, I think everyone can probably agree that four weeks in a foreign country definitely lends itself to so many new learning experiences. Some days can be challenging -- those times when I'm stuck on the tube and wish I could just drive or when I'm lost and it's raining outside -- but most days, I find myself feeling inspired and accomplished.

After a weekend in the famously dubbed "City of Love," it was back to the daily grind, although it was a week of firsts for me. I came up with my first headline, I listened in on my first phone interview, I edited one of the features, and I went to my first photo shoot! I have definitely been getting a great feel for everything that is involved to get a magazine ready from start to finish. My editor makes sure to try to include me on various processes, and this week, that included attending the photo shoots of four different people we interviewed for our upcoming issue.

Even though I have been posting regularly every week, it feels like ages between each post. I'm not sure exactly why that is, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that I am trying to fit so much into what free time I have around my internship. Of course, I realize that might make it sound as though my internship is this unbearable entity -- the anchor to my ship that prevents me from being able to set sail whenever I please -- but I'm actually finding it to feel less like work and more like an adventure at times. There certainly are good days and bad days.

It has certainly been a busy week since my last post. I am slowly being acclimated to my new work environment, trying to figure out all of its quirks and nuances. Luckily, my co-workers are all very nice, fun and entertaining. They're always willing to suggest a place for me to try out or to see, and I mostly enjoy their banter with each other which makes for some great amusement throughout a long day. I find myself chiming in and trying to figure out exactly what my place is within our small staff, but I'm sure that's just something that will come with time.

These past several days since my arrival have truly been a blur, not just because I feel as though the city itself can sometimes feel as though it is moving a mile a minute (or a kilometer a minute?) but because I have already seen and done so much that each experience is already started to interweave itself with another. That, combined with the jet lag of course, has definitely been exhausting but also confusing! Sometimes I can't seem to remember which experience belonged to which day.

In just about two days, I will be taking off from Logan International Airport and then touching down at London Heathrow Airport the following morning. What was only a whim in December -- deciding to apply for an internship abroad -- is now a quickly approaching reality as I prepare myself for the next eight weeks ahead of me as an intern in London at Cedar Communications.