#lbat

let’s be alone together

It's that awkward, inevitable moment, that, frankly, follows a whole lot of awkward, inevitable moments that have been happening from the moment they got up this morning. First it was packing their bags, then checking out of the hostel, then returning the car and dealing with money and being asked about any further holiday plans. Now it's here. On the street in Amsterdam, outside the car rental that Liam wanted to storm out of just a week ago, where right now he wants nothing more than to stay, keep Zayn from leaving too.

“So,” he says, but then doesn't know what to say. He's afraid his voice will crack, and Zayn .. Zayn glances away and lights a cigarette, echoes his 'so' with a quiet one of his own. Liam scrapes his throat and tries again, takes a breath and lets it out in a whoosh of air.

He isn't this guy. He doesn't take risks. Minus coming to the Netherlands, but that wasn't as much a risk as it was being a coward, running away. For a guy who wanted to be a superhero or a fire fighter, Liam isn't big on actually getting in the middle of it, on putting himself out there, knowing that he could get hurt.

“It's been fun,” he says instead, and Zayn looks up at him, smiles humorlessly.

“It has been,” he agrees easily, reaches out as though he's going to prod Liam's side, then drops his hand and just gestures between them. “Surprisingly so.”

Liam makes a face, thinks back of how he'd been just last week, on how much he'd wanted to hate Zayn on sight. He's glad he gave him a chance, now. “I'm glad I got to know you,” he says, voice soft, and Zayn gives him another of those smiles, but it's gentler now.

“Me too,” he nods, takes a drag from his cigarette and smiles again. “I'm glad you lived a little, Li.” His smile falters and he looks serious all of a sudden, meets his gaze and doesn't look away right the next second for what feels like the first time today. “Keep that up, okay? Keep .. just don't lose that spark, yeah? You're .. you're a great guy, Liam, and I don't know what happened, I don't know who hurt you or why you left, or even who you were, before all of this, but if there's anything you take back –- you're a great guy. And you deserve to live, and to make mistakes, and .. God, don't listen to me, I don't even know what I'm saying. I just ..” He shakes his head, but Liam gets it.

So this is the other fic that I couldn’t leave out of my self appreciation post. I started this fic in July 2013 and didn’t finish it until April 2017. In those four years a lot happened, both in the boys’ lives and in my personal life. I lost the motivation to write for a while, and because I was posting as I wrote and the Ziam readers were quickly dwindling (and I’m very reliant on comments for my muse) I often felt like this was a story that wouldn’t get finished.

But then I started talking to the lovely @almostdarkobject on Tumblr and she encouraged me to write, and with her help and cheerleading I finally finished the story (in one go, before posting it, because I wasn’t falling down that trap twice!). That led me to finally getting the courage to start the beast that was TNFIF, and we all know how that ended up! 

That’s “Hello” in Korea! And this is me in Korea!

Hi, I’m Samuel Ellis! I’m a second-year International Affairs student studying in Seoul from June to July 26, taking all Korean classes! Figured the best textbook is the country itself so here I am. We have a pretty intensive program both in regards to classes but also some fantastic culture immersions and trips planned by our coordinator Professor Lee (we call him 이선생님, which sounds like Eee Sahn Sang Nim). I’ll be writing mostly about our excursions which range from making kimchi from scratch to a four day trip to Jeju Island, the Hawaii of Korea. 

I’m studying at Yonsei University, one of Seoul’s top colleges which features a gorgeous campus in the heart of the capital of South Korea. I’m taking a year of intermediate Korean and a Creative Korean course where we work with Yonsei students to market Korean foods, clothes, and music to western audiences. 

Привет GT IAC fans, followers, and George P. Burdell!

My name is Sean Fahey (Меня зовут Шон Фэйхи for all you Russian speakers), and I am a graduate student at GT IAC School of Public Policy where I am currently earning my M.S. in Cybersecurity with a policy concentration. Before coming to Georgia Tech last August and becoming a Jacket, I was a Bobcat at Georgia College & State University down in Milledgeville, Georgia. At GCSU I graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and a concentration in international affairs. While this isn’t my first adventure (in 2017 I traveled to D.C. as a Congressional intern) it is my first adventure outside of the United States. Concurrent with my M.S., I am taking intensive Russian language classes with the rest of the GT Russian LBAT and Spring track students in Riga, Latvia. Riga is a beautiful city and the Latvian countryside is seriously scenic. (Check out the pictures!) Riga won’t be the only city I’ll be visiting however. This summer we also have trips planned for Vilnius, Lithuania and Krakow, Poland!