Alright, here goes: travel is amazing, we are terribly spoiled, and i can't imagine another 3 plus weeks of these amazing experiences..... right now, i'm in an internet cafe in the middle of the Swiss/French alps, attempting to download a few precious pictures onto blogger, while paying over 1.30 US dollars (one Euro) per every ten minutes.... so i'll be brief...
It finally feels christmassy.... snow, tons of lights, mountains, real live christmas trees.... it feels so good to be away from the dreary, murky land of England and in a land where Christmas feels like it should......
So far our accomodations ahve been amazing... Aaron found us a great appartment (all to our own) for only 7 us dollars per person per night... we have a kitchen, two balconies, amazing views, a fridge, a dishwasher, and all the cheap wine we want for less than 3 dollars a bottle. I even managed to find a beer called Fischer, which i've been enjoying....
It's amazing what the langauge barrier can do- almost everone here is bilingual, but i still feel like an ignorant foreigner for having no idea what i'm trying to say in French....
This place is so amazing, i can't really imagine leaving... our free time here is so relaxed and so laid back, that the prospect of trying to tackle huge cities like Prague and Munich in two or three days seems almost businesslike and monotonous. I'm just trying ot soak up the chilled atmosphere and cheap wi ne for now, and maybe later i'll convince myself that moving on is a good idea....
Our view from the balcony...
Downtown Chemonix
At a Quasi-American Burger Place : Poco Loco
Aaron, basking in the glory that is his ability to book hostels.....
Yeah, that's how you spell it. Hurrah. Strange, i know....
So... here goes... last concievable post for 3 weeks...
Yesterday was a cluster-f of events- all of them celebratory/concluding- that have more or less ushered in a sense of holiday spirit, as well as ushered in a sense of mild chaos and urgency as i am hurtled into Winter Break and all of its uncertainties...
No class yesterday, combined with a laundry list of to-dos, provided for much procrastination. Speaking of laundry list... do you think we could maybe get a new dryer? I enjoy the post-hurricane look of my room post-dark load, but the musky, downy-rich scent of wet clothes combined with Brandon's Brut deo leaves room to be desired....
Our Flat Christmas party/gift exchange/ birthday celebration was combined/cut short by my Athletics Christmas Party (have i mentioned this £35 gala of excess?)...
The secret santa was a hit, I was able to procure 1 free batch of cookies and a mug from Mary, and a Miles Davis CD from Aaron, while Mary enjoyed my British Favorites Cookbook, Christmas CD, and Shot Glass mix set (thank you British bookstores?)
I was sad to leave the Pot Roast dinner (and 4 individualized Carol Cakes), but a promising night lay ahead. Hilary and I arrived at the Park Plaza to find an open wine bar, a mass of skinny be-tuxed athletes, and maybe 10 people we actually knew.... The place was amazing.... any location with Plaza and Hotel in it promises to be quite a production, and for the most part, they didn't dissapoint... I'll admit, for roughly 70 US $, it was a huge ripoff, but the food was gourmet, the speaker (Jo Pavey, above) was a former (current, i guess) Olympian who has placed 5th at the games (either 1500 or 5k, can't remember...)... She had some choice words about the Marion Jones controversy, and was a great conversationalist answering questions afterwards- making fun of some of her inquizitors and telling a lot of great personal stories...
It was tough finding anyone we knew to sit next to, but my freind from training Hong Kong Tom was there, as were the 'Liz and Jolene of UK Running', Aimee and Laurie.... These girls are hilarious... former runners who, after UNI turned them into lushes, decided against training, and now show up only for socials..... sound familiar?...
A late flurry of haircutting, scheduling, packing, freaking out about packing, and some late LOVE ACTUALLY and Friends watching on the girls' behalf, the night closed at about 3 or 4am.
Today will be a test of will- as in, Will anyone else fall asleep in class, and Will we make the train to London on time? Hilary and Kate are on a train to London as I type, and the rest of us (minus Ryan, who is enjoying a night to himself) are headed South to the Big (i can't think of the English equivalent of Big Apple... maybe big Chip Shop? Currant? Pub?..... well, to London) tonight at some point....
Brandon put it in perspective as I packed last night- We've been in the UK for 3 months almost ot the day, and we're about to spend 3.5 weeks in Europe. Accounting for the several weekends and long trips we've spent away from the flat, we're about to spend more than 1/4 of the total time we've been here away.... That's Crazy! I feel like i've been here forever... even now, i'm attending the last lectures in my classes, and yet i'm (to steal a phrase i used in dinner on Monday) staring down the barrel of a month-long European Vacation.... crazy.
*this delicious watermellon represents a pie chart of sorts.... one fourth of my Britsperience is about to be spent on The Continent.....
So, adieu, farwell, auf wietersen, wish me luck in spelling German words, learning how to speak Austrian, German, Italian, French, and whatever the hell they speak in Prague, and blowing through the remaining assortment of crumpled bills and spare change that is my bank account....
First Trimester, Mary's Bday, and DDay at hand....
This is it. 3 month anniversary, Mary's Bday, XCXMas, and my Last Night in the flat until January 6/7th.... so bittersweet.... I still can't hear after last night, and my headache was not made any better by an hour interview/presentation with Mark and Carol that finally ended about 20 minutes ago.....However....
Last night was amazing. Aside from the labor-intensive ironing of 6 dress shirts, getting ready to go out listening to the Scissor Sisters made my week (granted, it was Monday, but life is a little bit easier here...) The gang was dressed to the 9s for Fancy Dress at Oceana (you'll remember Oceana from my first Rave-esque video of blogging past)... and after phone tag, a long tram ride, and a now-forgotten walk from Royale Centre to the Club, we met up with a jubilant Mary, who had been socializing with her buddies on the Bball team as part of their christmas formal earlier in the night... The scene in Oceana was out of control- as part of Christmas celebrations, they had fog machines, mist, huge singalongs to British Christmas Number Ones of yore (yeah, Love Actually eat your heart out), and some of the coolest confetti/streamers/flying santa hat episodes that i've ever been a part of.... why don't we do this more often? Monday = Oceana night from now on....
Tonight I have my Crosscountry Formal to look forward to. I feel kinda shady about going, as i haven't really been the most religious runner in the last three weeks. Truth be told, it's been a strange relationship of late (my running and me).... With running, it's a touch and go feeling- if i don't do it, i feel disgusting, dirty, guilty, but at the same time, personally it feels freeing to not run- this is the longest i've gone since 7th grade not running, and i feel more relaxed, lazy, and at peace with my lax attitude. Make no mistake, i will be ready to go this next fall, but for now, I'll have to live with being 'The American that only shows up for Socials' until January rolls around....
Beyond the formal, our flat secret santa party is tonight, as is the last time i'll see M and C for three weeks. After this meeting about 30 min ago, i really like them. Basically because i was showered with praise for an hour, but that's beside the point. We were given a painfully vague assigment - come up with a paper topic (due in Feb), and present it to them. That was it. No specifics. So, everyone who presented yesterday was reamed. Fortunately for me, my topic was easy to develop, and my last oral presentations have bombed so badly that they thought i was "taking great strides in my confidence and presentation ability"..... ha, set the bar low and ye will succeed....
My favorite line of Carols was great- both in its truth and also in its bluntness..... she said something to the effect of "You are embarassed of sounding smart.... you can't get yourself to sound intelligent... it's like you're embarassed.... i blame public schools these days... a feeling of AntiIntellectualism...." i found it truthful in the sense that i find writing so much easier, so much more fluid and accepting of using bloated language than i do saying big words or using metaphors, but i also found it strikingly honest and hard to swallow. Hopefully i can 'get over it' by the time i start teaching.....
I need to sleep. Pack. Clean (holy God the flat looks like shit), update my ipod. give Aaron his money for our Hostel in Chamonix (we might not have snow, on a sidenote.... meaning i may not ski in the alps...), and do laundry.
Busy Busy Me. It could be worse.... I could be taking finals.
*QUICK SHOUTOUT TO MY BOYS- ZACH AND JOHNNY ARE BACK IN THE STATES AFTER FOUR (OR MORE) MONTHS ABROAD, IN TANZANIA AND SWITZERLAND RESPECTIVELY..... BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THEIR LIFE-CHANGING BLOGS (IGNORE ZACH'S INABILITY TO INDENT OR CHANGE PARAGRAPHS, ENJOY JOHN'S AMAZING PHOTOS)... I HAVE LINKS TO THE RIGHT....
I LOVE YOU, SAY HI TO AMERICA FOR ME... I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN THIS SPRING (SUMMER, JOHN)...
......tomorrow will be my last post in what may be weeks. so soak this up. enjoy it. because when i get back, i'll have the biggest post in blogger history. we're talking three hours just to read.... so save up your strength, you'll need it......
The pressure is on- twoish days to go, and way too many things on my plate.... My nights are booked (Mary's Bday, Athletics Christmas Formal) and my days are lazy.... Something's gotta give....
Today Brandon and I recived the results of our Field Notebooks in Geology.... and, surprise surprise, our grads appear terrible. Appear because, in the UK system, a 60 is average, a 70 is outstanding, and we got 50s.... so, below average for Geology students counts as above average in my book for English majors....
My favorite comments were : "A bit too chatty, too prose-driven.... try to be more objective.... " So, from my understanding, my English professors back at Luther (Mark and Carol included) would be quite proud.
Otherwise, my formal presentation (15 minutes on a subject to be hashed out in a 8 page paper due in February) is tomorrow, along with the final details of the trip, and much money transfering and packing as well....
For all Parents/Relatives/Those Interested, My Winter Break Itinerary/Contact Info :
_______________________________ Beyond that, lovely parents of mine, my cell phone will be charged and always available for talk/text..... the Continent is 7 hrs ahead instead of 6, so right about the time that you're getting ready to go out on New Year's, I'll be hanging out with about 5 million of my best friends at the Eiffel Tower watching some French ball drop....
Hey Mom! I hope you have a wondeful birthday.... I will call, but in the event that A) you are out and about, celebrating your XXth birthday, or B) I am dumb enough to call entirely too early, This is my HAPPY BIRTHDAY MESSAGE, visable to the entire world....
Thanks for all of your support while i'm away, the notes, letters, money, pictures, comics, emails... it all means a lot, and i can't wait until you come over so i can show you how i've been living over here....
Have a great birthday, go out to eat, see a movie, (please god, not The Holiday), and enjoy some chocolate covered cherries....
Hmmm.... so last night, in an effort to catapult the group into a feeling of holiday jubilation and christmassy love, we made a collective decision to attend the sappy formulaic holiday movie of the year, aptly titled The Holiday. The title should have been a warning as to the complete incapablitiy of writers to come up with a better title, as should the awkard combination of Jack Black and Kate Winslet in a romantic setting (it's like Arsenal playing the Urbandale Rec U9 Ponies in a friendly, it just doesn't quite match up)...
To try my hand at what i consider a possible career choice if teaching doesn't quite pay the bills, the following is a scathing review of The Holiday, complete with one night's rest in order for it to ruminate and stew in my head.....
This is what HAPPENED when 9 students from the middle of nowhere WERE picked to live in a flat in the middle of Nottingham, England.
This is what HAPPENED when people stopped being polite, and start being REAL.
This WAS Luther- Nottingham Campus, 2006-2007
...And now I'm back.
Alright, here goes: travel is amazing, we are terribly spoiled, and i can't imagine another 3 plus weeks of these amazing experiences..... right now, i'm in an internet cafe in the middle of the Swiss/French alps, attempting to download a few precious pictures onto blogger, while paying over 1.30 US dollars (one Euro) per every ten minutes.... so i'll be brief...
Aaron, basking in the glory that is his ability to book hostels.....
I was sad to leave the Pot Roast dinner (and 4 individualized Carol Cakes), but a promising night lay ahead. Hilary and I arrived at the Park Plaza to find an open wine bar, a mass of skinny be-tuxed athletes, and maybe 10 people we actually knew....
The place was amazing.... any location with Plaza and Hotel in it promises to be quite a production, and for the most part, they didn't dissapoint... I'll admit, for roughly 70 US $, it was a huge ripoff, but the food was gourmet, the speaker (Jo Pavey, above) was a former (current, i guess) Olympian who has placed 5th at the games (either 1500 or 5k, can't remember...)... She had some choice words about the Marion Jones controversy, and was a great conversationalist answering questions afterwards- making fun of some of her inquizitors and telling a lot of great personal stories...
