May

May was the best, and it genuinely felt like a dream.

A little light traveling

The month started off with a trip to Paris with another IJM intern named Annabeth. We met up with my cousin Cameron, and her friends Sarah and Ellen. A few days later we were then joined by four of my best friends from America (Meredith, Caroline, Shelby, and Morgan). Being reunited felt unreal to begin with... but even more unreal because we were in PARIS! We took a bike tour around the city (where we ran into some fellow Dawgs), went to the top of the Eiffel tower, visited loads of museums, and drank a lot of seriously overpriced coffee (not cool Paris). We spent a day at Versailles roaming around the gardens, and basically hit as many touristy monuments that we could. Paris was lovely, and we were enchanted by the limestone buildings, bakeries, and abundance of flower shops. One of the highs of this trip was easily the amount of macaroons that I consumed. I fully blame my mother for my growing appreciation of the “finer things in life.” However, I could only afford all the macaroons because I could get into most museums for free (right now I am technically residing in the EU, and am under 27. So that was a pretty neat plus!)

After Paris, we all took the Eurostar to London, where we stayed for the rest of the week. Having my friends in London was the best. The two most memorable moments of our London trip were attending Silent Disco at the top of The Shard, and a unique dinner experience in Fulham. I’ve been waiting almost 4 months to attend silent disco at The Shard, so getting to share that experience with my best friends was unforgettable. We didn’t have a single rainy day while in London, and that was pretty incredible. After having spent dozens of days exploring London alone over the last four months, I was a little sentimental and overly excited to show my friends my favorite city. A few were even able to make the journey out to Witham, and visit the IJM office. This was particularly cool for me, as Witham is my home for the year.

I was patting myself on the back a bit, because I had not moved to the UK for a year, we probably never would have taken that trip together. But mainly, I just felt so loved by friends. It was quite expensive for them to come visit, and for many of them, it was the only week of vacation time they had before returning to jobs and grad school. It meant the world to me that they came and visited.

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Oxford Stand for Freedom and some other epic things

The week following my friends’ departure, I traveled to Oxford twice

to do a training session with the Just Love club there, and again to represent IJM at their Stand for Freedom event. Stand for Freedom is an event where university students host a 24-hour event to raise awareness of human trafficking, and fundraise for IJM. Oxford’s Stand for Freedom was specifically on the topic of “Slavery in the Digital Age,” and I was absolutely blown away by their passion and creativity. Helping Just Love groups host Stand for Freedom’s is one of the core parts of my job, and I will hopefully get to assist with several more events throughout my internship. (I can now say that I have given a lecture at Oxford… so I’ll check that off my bucket list )

The day after Oxford’s Stand for Freedom I headed back to Hertford to help with MB’s Harry Potter birthday party. I was lucky enough to be able to help with the first Harry Potter party that the Hunter’s hosted for the girls four years ago, so I felt quite blessed to be able to help with this one as well. There was a sorting ceremony, HP trivia, charms lesson, potions class, quidditch match, and Dementor scavenger hunt. The party was HYPE! Someone please feel free to host one for me down the road.

Another big part of May was that I have started doing a few speaking engagements for IJM. Over the last few years, I’ve ended up doing more impromptu public speaking than I anticipated, so I decided now would be a good time to start practicing, and improving my skills. I’ve really enjoyed speaking to churches and groups about IJM. I love getting to share our client’s stories, and how we work. One huge take away I’ve had so far is just to speak slower. That’s a general rule in public speaking, but I have to be so much more intentional about it here, as I have an accent that makes me harder to understand, and also have spoken to a few elderly groups.

After four full months, I am feeling so settled. I have finally found a church where I feel at home, and feel like I’ve fallen into a steady rhythm. Additionally, I've just become a National Trust member, so I'm feeling quite British now :)

Thank you to everyone who has been supportive along the way!