and it starts again

today is my last day in hamburg- and i'm watching the seven year itch. i still need to get rid of more things from my suit case. i am expecting to pay over weight fees, but i genuinely think that i've surpassed the allowed weight limit. crap. i need to really get rid of the pants that don't fit me. i need to clean too. this place is soooo dirty, not because i don't clean, but because there is so much mold down here.
but i am leaving. i was so excited to come, but i'm ready to get out of this situation. the family seems to think i'm not human, and i haven't been able to cultivate proper friendships here.
so my new start is in new york. my job starts in a couple weeks, but before that i have to board my ship and get back. i finally get to go to spain, barcelona, portugal and AFRICA!!. i'm going to go to africa. thats awesome. this movie is far too distracting, and i've got too much to clean.

the twilight zone hits lund

let me just say- this weekend was strange. thursday night was valentines- so the masses of single students in lund overtook the various nations to desperately seek out others in the same pathetic situation. the night turned out quite well though! i think most everyone walked that night being a pretty happy camper.... no pun intended. Friday night was a bit quiet for me though, went to see nils play, finally. i had had an exhausting night before, so i decided to stay in and watch big trouble with ales..maybe get up early on saturday and really work on getting some stuff done for class. so i did. then saturday, sara and i were joining a swedish party...swedish-man wine tasting party, sommelier sheets and everything. (note: i found out some very interesting facts before this). after the wine- off to OGs. OGs was as i expected...crowded- mediocre music and a lot of getting knocked around. but the flip side was the company was fantastic. when sara and i got home ales and michael came up, and they were wasted. completely drunk. really weird. so bagels sunday and that about sums up my weekend.
a couple weekends ago i went to gothenburg..that was really nice! we went to the art museum, a super cute cafe, and the universeum- a really gigantic and interactive science museum. there we saw some blue tits, some great tits, and a shark feeding. i'm sure some really dumb pictures will come out of that though.
other than that its been work work work work work. i'll be really happy to be done with this quarter.

an aside: why american football is the devil.

hey guys- i know that american football is a fun and exciting sport. that is why i'm out here watching it with you, now. though, i do know some people in this hall are trying to sleep for various reasons...for example: its night. its sunday night. so, lets keep it down in order to avoid bodily harm. thanks guys.

125 km north of the arctic cirlce

i saw kiruna! i saw the ice hotel and i rode (and 'steered') a dog sled. it was really really neat- definitely something i want to do again, especially with the insight that i gained by being there once. perhaps not for another couple years. school is back, and i'm not so enthused to say the least. from the start i was behind on everything, and the trip north didn't especially help me. i did manage to fight off a cold before it got hold of me, and i went out last night for the first time in a couple weeks.
i do have to say its been a little lonely since everyone went back to the states. i sort of miss having people here with a similar type of humor and personality- it makes it really hard when there isn't anyone that you can be wholeheatedly genuine with or share everything. oh well.
so i've started the job hunt. my goal is 2-3 applications a week until i get back form munich-- then i'll have to step it up to 4-5 a week. by the way- i'm going to munich. i'm super excited- i got train tickets that didn't break me, i'm staying with a friend, and i get to visit with fred for a bit while i'm there! plus i've always wanted to see the city, and i can- i can also spend my euros and bring back booze.

back with a vengence..

so i've made it back to town. the past month was pretty insane. we had a farewell party for our class that was fun, but i think everyone got a little more completely drunk than expected..me included. a promise for a rousing game of phase 10 came from it, though!
Christmas was nice- i first flew to austin where i spent about 10 days with my parents and my grandmother (who managed to call me fat, say i had big feet, and inform me that i was a bad cook all in about 2 hours). The flight home was nice too! the seat i had was at the beginning of a section and there was sooo much leg room. dare i say infinite leg room- fantastic. while in austin i spent some quality time with my parents- i got pretty sick- i think that being in the states makes me sick- because as soon as i got back i felt fine. in austin i bought practically a whole new wardrobe. i needed it- i've picked up enough weight to make my old clothes unconfortable, and i would like to say that all that will change this semester (but something makes me doubt it- but i can lose the fat, just not the mass.)..i am super excited to get back to the gym!
after austin- i flew to atlanta to hang out there! it was really nice- being with allison automatically lifts my spirits- which is also awesome- because her, fredo, and devin will be here in 10 days. in atlanta- i shopped a bit more- got a lot of things to cure me and my brokeness. i got my hair redone, so now, hopefully, i appear blond again. most importantly- i got to hang out with good company- allison, devin, fredo, dr. medina, erich and travis.
my brain is really sluggish- i had too many nightmares about bedbugs last night, and it kept waking me up. i had to take another melatonin and then make my bed for real. (around 7) i ended up sleeping until 1:30- not good. i need to go to the grocery store and the gym, AND at some point finish writing this paper for CCT.
ok- das ist alles for now... note: i don't check for grammar or correctness- sorry if none of these make sense.

luckily only minimal casualties were suffered..

So I finally got the chance to go to Budapest!! i love that city- its so beautiful and relaxing (except when struck with food poisoning, but it could have been worse) We went to the baths -of course- heaven on earth. i could have stood for it to be a bit chillier though. then we did the touristy thing and went up to castle hill and all around buda..and the next day was for pest, but unforunately my stomach wasn't so willing to follow along that day. Budapest teased me with over 60 TV channels (which, when lying around sick is fantastic!) The bastards dub everything though, and not just normal dub, dub where you can just barely hear the english spoken underneath. they had discovery channel and food network! i just about shit a brick- it was sort of like last time when i was in sweden and all i wanted to watch was the christmas story, and they played it on the plane back home!...for 15 minutes before the channel went out and didn't come on again. luckily- i've already watched it so far this year. yay for torrent. anyway, budapest was absolutely lovely.
as soon as we got back, martin (bless his soul), sara and I jumped a bus for willy's to make our thanksgiving shopping. (woot. make, faire, machen..i'm no longer a native english speaker). On the way back i was stupid and the bus driver was crazy and that resulted in us getting off at the wrong stop. oops. so we have 850kr worth of groceries...which is a lot- especially when you have to carry them all the way to spoletorp from the domkyrcka. sara and i cooked that evening until 3am and then all day the next day. but thanksgiving was a hit, everyone seemed to really enjoy it..possibly except sara and i's right index knuckles. both of which suffered injuries inflicted either by an oven or potato peeler.
so today is my birthday. its been really really nice so far. a group of us went to brunch this morning at Lunds Nation, and then we went off to the christmas market put on by the ID students. I got some cute gifts and fantastic ideas for a couple presents. i know i'm a bitch, but they were charging 500kr. I can't afford that shit. tonight i will indulge in black forrest cake, or something similar and hopefully a tasty meal as well.
18 days and i'm back in the arms of the United States. wish my luck on all the shit i have to do before then.

'tis the season.

its cold. as we speak its 23 degrees outside. thats very cold. so today i am going over to stadium to pick up some nice warm gloves, then to the second hand store on secret business, and then to the train station to make our reservations for KIRUNA!! woot. today i'm putting a couple hundred dollars on my credit card. woot. so when i get back, my parents and i are going to have a swedish-esque version of christmas dinner for christmas eve. -if any of you are in austin, please join! the more the merrier.

classes are crazy. this time the quarter is only 6 weeks, and we've got essentially four books to read, 45 pages to write, and seminars. that aparently isn't so much for my classmates, but when you come from a design background...eeep! i will have offically surpassed the amount of writing i did in the past four years..now. i'm pretty sure i've already written more. but i got better grades on the undergraduate stuff. remember, its not the quantity, its the quality, right? luckily in the huge paper, i've 'only' have 5 pages to write, but i'm supposed to write on theory. first off, i think i lot of the theory we learn in bullshit. not that its wrong or invalid, but more that none of them are totally applicable in the real world. like peter said- people fuck it up. they are irrational. i agree. we need to look at case studies- see where theories were used, and then fucked the company. favorite quote from class ever: "then people come into the equation and add upfuckedness". there is not much better than a non-english speaker cursing.

thanksgiving is coming! stephen was having his on the 22nd, so we are having ours on the 29th. now stephen is having his on the 20th, and no one is having it ON thanksgiving. i think i need to do something, even if it is celebrate by myself with a cute mini-feast. our big one will be awesome. if all goes as planned there will be a play, and we will have a delectable menu. and my favorite PUMPKIN PIE!

i'm off to budapest on the 24th, and i can honestly say this is possibly the think i am most excited about. i can't wait to lay in the baths of szychenyi, eat a nice dinner that doesn't cost an extremity, go out for a night for real. buy some tasty beverages to bring back...and some whiskey for our apple cider! i am so excited. budapest is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. so we get back just in tme for our thanksgiving, and then..birthday time! the big 23. the other day i forgot how old i was turning, and was convinced that i was going to be 22. but i knew i was over 21. numbers are confusing. i shouldn't work in restaurants anymore, or else i will be serving 16 year olds liquor.

ok. now its time to read, i have procrastinated long enough.