...Fall on your knees...
Okay, so the official countdown until I return home to the States is: t-minus 25 days and counting.
It's so weird because part of me wants to return home and see my family; I hate this seven-hour time difference between us and not being able to call except once a week (twice if I am EXTREMELY lucky and we keep the first call pretty short). Luckily, we have email so we can communicate through that every day, but it isn't the same, is it? And on Mondays, we use AIM and so I can talk to my mama then (my daddy is already at work by this point) and I have not been able to talk to my brother really since I have arrived. And I miss my poops... (my dogs)...
However, I love it here. They have decorated for Christmas and I think that the lights are turned on for good now (I cannot be positive because they were on last night, but I was returning from a week-end in Bruxelles and so I don't know if they are still testing them or if they are actually on). I'm still buying presents for people and each day, I remember someone else that I had forgotten previously. I don't know if they have the same type of sales like the do in the States, which might hurt the bank account if they don't, but what can I do? I need to get gifts for people. Luckily, I can wait a week or two more before I give in and buy the gifts (which means that the next day, they will go on sale).
Speaking of the week-end, I was in Bruxelles, and it was amazing. I was with Jamie, Lena, and Sarah, and it was so much fun! It started snowing Friday night and continued throughout the entire week-end. It sucked because I had to buy boots since my sneakers soaked right through the soles and up to the knee of my jeans so my toes were starting to stop hurting (really bad sign) and my feet still felt like knives were in them, but I still got to eat waffles (they have carts where people sell waffles on the streets!), moules frites (mussels and fries...a speciality of Belgique), see a parade that lasted two hours for the celebration of the 175th year of being independent, hear a choir of six-hundred children sing to the king (we didn't get to see him, though), saw a fireworks show in the middle of Bruxelles, ate AMAZING chocolate, stayed in a nice hotel that normally cost 45 euros per night but we got it for 25 per night instead, did some cool shopping (though I bought nothing except gifts), saw the Fabreget egg exhibit, saw the Palais du Justice which was amazing, and so many other things! It was so cool and we had an awesome time. I definitely recommend that city to anyone and everyone! The city was decorated for Christmas, so as it snowed, the lights were on and it was so beautiful; it looked picture-esque. I wish that we had had at least one more day there, but what can you do? Another reason to return to Europe!
Today was a lazy day, but at least I was able to talk to my mama for a good hour on IM, which is always fun. My dad (before he left) helped my nana work IM so I talked to her on my daddy's screen name and she told me that she was going to fix a turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, and a pumpkin pie for me over Christmas break! I am extremely excited about that. I was also able to talk to my spouse (aka the roommie) on AIM for about forty-five minutes, which was also nice. Tomorrow night are elections and I am rather nervous because I really want the position that I am running for and I believe that I am qualified, but that does not mean that I will win the position. So I hope that all of that works out well and that when I check my email Wednesday morning after le cours de grammaire, I will have a good email from the spouse telling me that I won the position that I wanted. We'll see.
Last Thursday, while everyone in the States was having a normal (or at least a semi-normal) Thanksgiving, I had classes which I couldn't concentrate in at all, and then that night, the Program took us out to dinner at a semi-nice restaurant (aka no jeans allowed) to celebrate the holiday. It was nice because all of our professors came and some of the families (not mine as it was too expensive for them and it lasted three hours!) and we were all dressed up, which is always exciting. I saw with some friends and while the restaurant tried to give us a normal dinner, it didn't work out. We had salad first, then turkey (which was actually good and not dry) with something that was supposed to be stuffing/gravy, but wasn't the consistency of either and was mixed with bits of potato poured all over the turkey. It also came with a green bean casserole/quiche. Then, for dessert, we had pumpkin pie (but tasted very similar to an egg casserole) and an apple pie (which was actually apple tart...two very different things in America). However, it was nice of them to try to make it as normal for us as possible, and while the meal wasn't the best, it was still a great atmosphere because of the attempt made to make this a special holiday for us. I mean, the French don't celebrate Thanksgiving at all, but they know that in the States, it's very important, so it was nice of them to try, even if it didn't work out. It made me smile and will be something that I definitely will remember. And then, the next morning, I left for Bruxelles, so it just made it even better.
So I should be going to buy my ticket to Charles de Gaulle for the twenty-third because I need to leave at 06h00 that morning to make it in time for my flight back to the States, and I want to buy the rest of the HP books in French (they're too expensive in the States and my mama wants to give them to me) and maybe stop by Galerie Lafayette to buy a scarf as a gift from my mama. But I think the last stop will have to wait until the week-end because I am staying here and have a couple of things that I want to do (like visit the famous gardens, the Musee de Beaux-Arts which are really close to my house, Saint Clement church, and go to buy the rest of my father's Christmas present) so I think that I will wait until this week-end for that. I also need to continue to work on my paper for La Construction de l'Union Europeenne which is due a week from tomorrow and is not double-spaced, but luckily only on OTAN (NATO in English) and I already have two of the four pages typed, which is good and not too difficult to finish in seven days. I also should proof-read my page-paper for L'Echange Internationale et Globalisation that is due Thursday...and probably try to type up more than just the intro for my business internship paper that is due the twentieth and is supposed to be near fifteen pages (double-spaced). Sigh. School work.
So much to do, but at the same time, so much less than I would be doing in the States. I have so much less stress here, which in an odd way, bothers me even more because at least in the States, I know what I need to do with my time while here, I have much more spare time which is odd. And you would think that I would enjoy not being stressed rather than missing it. Ha-ha. I am so messed up.
Toutes les personnes aux EUA, elles me manquent, mais je vous verrai encore! Mon amour avec beaucoup de bisous.