we smiled so bright, the sun went down :)

Firstly, ignore the adjective-adverb confusion in the title. It's an appropriate song lyric, if grammatically incorrect :P

Secondly! I realized yesterday that it simply does not matter at all what I'm doing here--I am just so happy! St. Andrews just fits, in that same way that William & Mary felt like it did in those first few weeks of being ridiculous freshmen in Monroe. It's freakin' amazing!

In other news, my life is full of serendipity. For instance...My friend Kate asked us at lunch yesterday whether anyone would like to come to a free half-hour student recital in the music hall. Apparently they happen every Friday afternoon--and they offer free coffee/tea & biscuits! I didn't have any lectures (yay Friday!) so I went and heard this incredible saxophone group! It occurred to me that I never do things like that back home...Not that it's out of my comfort-zone (let's face it, I'm an arts-nerd); it's just something I never think take time to do. On the way back, my friends had to go to lectures, so I stopped in a coffee shop & read some Chaucer till it was time to head back for dinner. Pretty much a perfect afternoon.

Wait, there's more!

On Thursday night, I was walking with a friend, and we decided that we should take a detour to see the castle at night (parents/parental figures, please don't freak out, it was like 7 pm). The iron gate was unlocked, so we just opened it, and climbed up into this little alcove overlooking the North Sea (the window was barred and netted, much to my relief). It was definitely one of those moments that I wish I could have just put in a bottle and sent home to everyone--there I was, sitting in nearly 1000 year old castle ruins, listening to the waves crashing on the stone walls, looking up at the [miraculously!] clear night sky. There are very few things that make my heart happier :D

And then we started to freeze, because the temperature had dropped with the sun, so we promptly continued back on our way :)

Speaking of the weather, all you Williamsburg-dwellers will be happy to know that the 'Burg is not the only place with complete weather-ADD. In the span of a week, it has been rainy & cold, sunny & warm, freezing & clear, and now they're predicting snow this weekend--What gives?

Okay....my enormous reading list is glaring at me. I should probably go appease it :)