Monday, December 2
Well, middle of finals week. My Religion class is now completely out of the way, and I only have 2 more tests and 1 paper to go. Thursday we have to be out of the house, and everybody is getting all sad cuz some people are leaving and not coming back next semester. It feels like our house is being broken up and it feels really unfair. I'm actually surprised myself at how much it's bothering me that the house is gonna be different next semester. I guess even the people I barely ever talk to I've just gotten used to, and now they'll be gone. Oh well. I have Christmas break to look forward to so this week isn't too bad.
On Thursday, me and Tina and Bree leave for Geneva and after 2 days there, we take a train to this condo in the Swiss Alps and we're there for a week. Bree is gonna leave us there and we're gonna get Adam joining us from Buenos Aires, which is very cool. Then me and Tina and Adam go to Rome for 5 nights, then to the French countryside where Tina's host family from when she was a foreign exchange student in high school lives. We'll be at their house for Christmas, which will be nice to have a family to be with. Then we're going with Tina's older host sister to Paris for a few days and staying with her friends or something [a shame this never happened]. Then we go to Barcelona for New Year's Eve, there almost a week, and then to Amsterdam for the last 6 nights of break before me and Tina have to take the ferry back to London so we can be back the day before classes start again. 5 weeks of traveling, freaks me out a little bit. But it's really exciting too. And it's also been really cool to have to plan the whole thing. Makes me feel strangely independent. Happy Christmas and a merry New Year, or whatever it is they say.
Monday, January 20
Well, it's been forever. Christmas break was really fun and pretty amazing a lot of the time. Me, Tina, and Adam spent our first week in Switzerland, where we sat on our asses and watched TV all week [because frankly, we were too strapped for cash in a country as expensive as Switzerland... we literally ate nothing but fried potatoes and cheese fondue all week]. It was the perfect way to unwind after the semester. Me and Adam did at least ski one day, and the Swiss Alps were fucking cool, in case you couldn't guess. We went to Rome the next week and that was probably my favorite. Rome is great. St. Peter's, the Vatican in general, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain. We saw all of it and more, including this awesome pub crawl that we went on with Bryceson and DJ, who live with us in London and just happened to run into us on some random street in Rome. That night was one of the most fun all vacation. We also rented scooters one day, and there is no better way to get to know Rome than that. [I failed to mention that I also crashed my scooter into the back of some old man's car and left his bumper dragging on the street... I got screamed at in Italian for a couple minutes before he realized I was a lost cause. I still feel bad about that.]
After that, we spent a week in France with Tina's French family and were there during Christmas. 3 full meals a day, every day, home-cooked and delicious! The French completely have the right attitude about food, let me tell you. Tina's family was wonderful and tried to show us as much of their region of France as they could. [Seriously?! I completely left out the part where the oysters at Christmas dinner left me with 48 hours of horrible food poisoning?! What was wrong with me? I really skimmed over this vacation.] We took a train to Barcelona on New Year's Eve and met Bryceson and DJ there less than 4 hours before midnight. We immediately hooked up with these American kids in our hostel and partied with them all night at this strip of free clubs right on the beach [Porto Olimpico!]. That night was soooo fun. Barcelona went downhill after that first night, cuz Tina had her purse stolen, which had her passport in it, and so I had to go on to Amsterdam by myself while she and Adam tried to get her a new passport from the Chilean consulate. Thank god Barcelona HAD a Chilean consulate! The Picasso Museum and Parc Guell were awesome, but otherwise, I was not a fan of Barcelona in any way. [Did I even SEE the Sagrada Familia on this trip? Again I ask, what was wrong with me?] Amsterdam was of course Amsterdam... DJ came and hung out with the 3 of us there as well. Tina and I took a bus home from Amsterdam to London last Sunday, and I was just like, "How could I have had so much fun all week!!!"
NOTHING compared to returning home though. Traveling around Europe was great (except for the whole living out of a suitcase part) and it was great to hang out with Adam, who I hadn't seen for months, but the whole time I knew that I would eventually have to come back to London and I was definitely looking forward to it. The moment I got back, I had this insane energy and I was so hyper for like 4 straight days. I LOVE LONDON. I am so damn happy to be back here, it's unbelievable. This really does feel like my home now, and the past week has been so nice. Started new classes, met new people, went to Southside almost every damn night. I really think I went 6 for 8. Does that make me an alcoholic? :) 8 of us went to Leicester Square on Wednesday night and went to some really cheesy club, then a bunch of us saw "8 Mile" on Friday night and then me, Bree, and Christine went to the Fridge on Saturday night and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Not counting the shitty one in Leicester, I hadn't been to a club in a month and a half, and I was so happy to hear good music. The music was AMAZING. I just danced for 6 straight hours, mostly by myself, and had a blast. The 3 of us didn't get to sleep till 8 AM and I was just thinking, "Damn, this is one of the reasons I love London." Excellent music (if you hit the right place), fun atmosphere, endless possibilities of stuff to do.
It's interesting this semester, having a different group in the house. Out of 40 of us, 14 are new, and the dynamic of the house is a lot different than last semester. I think this group has gelled faster, but that also has something to do with the fact that last semester, 40 people had to get to know each other, and this time, 26 already have a history together, so it's been fairly easy for the new kids to pick up. There are some really cool new kids here though, like Lauren, Jami, Liz, and Reid. Anyway, so far this semester has been good! Ryan has a meeting today with Dean Phillips (who is in London for one day) to try to get Claudette removed as Program Director... It'll be interesting to see how that all turns out...
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