2 months and 25 days. March 30, 2009

i have finally reached the point where i can comfortably admit that i am bored. i basically haven’t worked for the last 7 months (and the last 3 before that were working as a nanny, which, while it is awesome, is not really “work”) and i’m starting to go a little crazy on the inside. i don’t really function very well when i don’t have structured things to keep me focused because my internal clock wants to stay up all night and sleep all day, and if i don’t have things i have to do, my body just slowly tries to creep up my bedtime…i just spend all my time lost in my own brain. i’ve been better about hanging out with friends the past few weeks, since i’m finally not sick anymore and i won’t see (most) of them again after april 15th. that’s helped a little.

i feel spoiled saying “i’m bored” in europe, but lille has been home for a long time now. i have places i like to eat and drink and walk and run, but those things can only fill up so much time. having lille 3000 going on helps a little since there’s always new things to see, but i’m very ready to have a month of amazing travels and then come home to start the next chapter. and speaking of that, i should find out this week or next week which graduate assistantship i got…hurray for funded MAs.

what could you possibly say to this? March 27, 2009

female science professor is one of my favorite blogs. i love hearing about the inside workings of academia. her most recent post is just too good not to share. she writes,
“At a recent Open House event at my daughter’s school, one of her teachers said the following to my husband and me:

Your daughter is doing really well. She got an A on her last report, though I wish she’d just do what I ask her to do — I do provide the students with a checklist — and not go off on tangents and provide extra information about stuff that apparently interests her. But that’s not what you really need to worry about. I gotta tell you, if your daughter ever marries — and I’m not sure she’s ever gonna get married — her husband will not be the one wearing the pants in that family.“

juuuust amazing what some people think is appropriate to say out loud! “i’m not sure she’s ever gonna get married” – really, dude?!
in the comments, it says she will be taking her daughter to a new school next year. if it was my daughter, i don’t know if i could wait that long!

i love my life. March 22, 2009

april 15th: lille –> paris –> karlsruhe, germany to hop on comeback kid, misery signals & BANE tour!
april 16th: munster, germany
april 17th: leipzig, germany
april 18th: meerhout, belgium
april 19th: haarlem, holland
april 20th: amsterdam –> lille –> paris until the 23rd
april 23rd – 27th: barcelona!
april 27th – 29th: milan!
april 29th – may 1st: ROME!
may 8th – 10th: oslo, norway.
may 11th: riga, latvia.

in bruges… March 9, 2009

is it boring that i just post pictures of my trips? i sensor myself on here a lot since i don’t have a clue who actually reads it. maybe that’s the point?

anyway, today my new friend emma and i went to bruges, the venice of, well, not venice. i “woke up” at 7:30am to shower, and discovered, comme d’habitude, it was pouring rain. in my heart i had faith it would be a nice day, and even only wore my windbreaker to prove it….an hour and a half later, we arrived in bruges to sun. for a couple of hours, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. that does NOT happen in this part of the world. i even got a little sunburnt on my face…

emma and i mostly just walked around, without any set itinerary. we of course ate belgian waffles, had belgian beer (pineapple for me, fruits of the forest for her), ate some porn chocolate, and took a sweet canal tour. this little city really stole my heart. i can’t wait to go back in may or june when everything’s green and warm and it somehow becomes even more beautiful.

like, seriously. March 4, 2009

justin timberlake.
amazing music. hilarious. gorgeous.
i wish HE was the new host of late night…not that other dude.

the homeland/failed governments. March 1, 2009

i forgot to mention that i bought my tickets to go to norway and latvia in may. latvia’s government has failed and i just read this morning that a bailout plan for eastern europe was rejected by germany. wonder what eastern europe will feel like in 2 months…

another month…another country. March 1, 2009

on friday (i think? on vacation all these days blur into one long one) i went to tournai, belgium to chill for the day. it’s the oldest city in belgium and a whooping 18 minutes from me. i just walked around a lot, checking out some churches/cathedrals, some museums, had some beers (and got asked on a date by one of the bartenders, haha), had a proper belgian waffle, and wandered some more.

i am really going to miss life as a euro. 3 months and 23 days left.