This past month has been so much fun, and very very busy which is why I am just now posting... after a months absence. Sorry about that!
A few days after my last post I had a very interesting meeting about a program I'm hoping to volunteer with called
Hands-on-History. A group at the university is organizing a box of artifacts, from the university archives, to take into schools to help enhance their history curriculum. Very exciting, I've been really missing being around students. Hopefully it all pans out with my other obligations and commitments.
After that my mom, grandma and step-dad came for a visit and we had a whirl-wind tour of Southern England. I was very sad to see them go, our time together was felt so short
(yet full of British driving excitement!).
Highlights:
Bath
Cotswold's
The Woman in Black
(our seats weren't amazing, but the play was!)
After I had a very nice stay with Gary at a cool country hotel called the Petwood.
Him and I went skydiving on Christmas Eve before I left for Paris. I learned a valuable equation that day:
wind+student canopy = horrendous landing, and mud... lots and lots of mud
Gary surprised me with some VERY nice Christmas gifts, which was very unexpected since he was such a Scrooge about the holiday in general, then he dropped me off at the train station. I made it to the airport just barely in time, thanks to some mysteriously long stops on the underground. (Why are things so slow when you need them to be fast?!) Then my friend Elise and I were off.
We arrived at our very cute little hostel, Opps, and dropped our stuff off before heading to Norte Dame for a Midnight Mass. There were so many people there, including some very affectionate Eruo-trash, we had to wait ages to get in. Eventually we did, and kindly asked our Euro-trash friends to leave... Then we could enjoy the very crowded but beautiful interior and incense.
Christmas day we headed to the Eiffel Tower for some ice skating, and mulled wine at the near by Christmas market. Super fun!
Next we ventured to the Montmartre area for a walk through a beautiful and old cemetery (where Degas is buried), and mourned the great disappointment Moulin Rouge and their lying booking system (which fooled me into thinking I had tickets to the show later that night). Later we w
alked around the Champs-Élysées and got macaroons from the Laduree, they were AMAZING.
That night we had an underwhelming dinner at La Fregate (nice views, shit food) and I walked Elise back to a station to get her train. I stayed on an extra day and toured Sacre Coeur,
The Escape Dali Museum, Montmartre's artist square, and the Centre Pompidou on boxing day.
I learned some valuable lessons in Paris:
I know more Italian than French = unhelpful
The Parisian underground system is better than London's
Paris has a LOT of stairs
French names when pronounced phonetically in English are HIGHLARIOUS
Christmas is a bit sad when you're not with family
Boxing day evening I flew in and got to stay with my friend Lucie and her family (who are amazing, funny and super nice) near London! We had a very relaxing evening, played some games and went to bed excited for the Rugby game the next day. Elise and I were so lucky to be invited to go with Lucie and her family to the national rugby stadium Twickenham. We had amazing seats and had a great time cheering on the Harlequins Rugby team.
Note my superior cheering skills :)
The next few days were more relaxed and full of studying/hanging out with Gary. For New Years Eve we went to a party at Langar (the skydiving dropzone) and had a great time bringing in the New Year with drinks (a few too many drinks for me...) and friends.
This week has and will be full of studying and writing for me. I'm SUPER excited to move into my new apartment in Nottingham this Saturday. I will post pictures of my new pad once I'm in.
Happy New Year Everyone! Until next time!
