FYI

I am still alive! (Promise!)

I know I have some wonderful parents / grandparents / relatives who follow this blog devoutly & probably get very worried when I disappear off the face of the planet. So to all others of you who subscribe...I know you're not fearing for my health, but you get an update, too!

Zurich is FANTASTIC, as were Basel and Neuschwanstein (our weekend daytrips), and Kilchberg (the town outside the city, where I'm actually staying) is absolutely adorable. I have some amazing pictures, but, being me, I forgot the cord to upload them to my computer. So you'll get those after spring break :)

I've been having such a wonderful time getting to hang out with Aubrey....we've had a lot of travel-time either driving (that was an adventure, tell you what) or riding in trains, so it's been an awesome time to reminisce bout high school, catch up on that first year of college....and laugh REALLY hard because we get lost. Everywhere. Stories to come, promise!!

Plus, it's been amazing to have the softest bed in the whole wide world, with home-cooked food (sidenote: everything is so incredibly fresh and delicious here. it's insane! the apple juice tastes like they just stuck an apple in the box), and a couch where we can just VEG after a long day of sight-seeing in the rain :)

AND I GET TO SEE MY MOMMY IN 2 DAYS (and counting!!)

happy monday!

Alright kids, it's that time again! First, some pictures (just to prove I'm still taking them), then let's hit the highlights! :)

The steeple at St. Salvador's Chapel (or, as we like to call it, "Sallie's").

I believe this is down the end of North Street? It makes me happy.

Most of the group out on a Friday night, hanging out at the Toastie Bar between pubs :)

Anyway...Updates? Since I went to the ArtSoc (art society) life drawing class on Thursday, I've been drawing anything and everything in sight. I think I'd momentarily forgotten that art is pretty much essential to me...but I'm back in my right mind, and it's all good!

Rugby! Scotland v. England & Ireland v. Wales were on Saturday, so I learned that Scottish fans are far more boisterous than English fans are, and that nobody cares about poor Wales.

Sunday morning, I was invited to go sailing, and as I'm on a kick of being up for most kinds of random adventures, I said yes--But sadly, dangerously high winds meant we had to we raincheck, so I will regale you with tales of Scottish sailing after spring break :)

And that, friends, is my life right now. My mom is coming in 11 days (and 2 hours), and clearly I cannot wait. I'm leaving for Zurich earlyearly Friday morning, which will be an adventure of epic proportions, mostly because it's me and I think everything is an epic adventure.....Perhaps not everything deserves the title, but it sure makes mundane things like breakfast and cleaning my room more pleasant. :)

everybody's gonna love today!

Or, 13 Reasons Why Today Rocks (in no particular order)
In case you haven't caught on yet, I love lists...So here's another one for your viewing pleasure!
[side-note: I nearly spelled "here" as "heere" which would be the Middle English equivalent. Nerd.]

1) It's 45 degrees F and sunny!
2) Letters!!
3) I finally know people in my Chaucer class! (So I wasn't scared to speak up in discussion!)
4) Sweet & Sour chicken for lunch. Yum, at least by hall standards :)
5) Uni Hall night out in Dundee tonight!
6) "Rauf Coilyear" is freaking hilarious.
7) Coffeecoffeecoffee
8) The song "St. Andrews" by Bedouin Soundclash
9) I'm actually motivated to do work (not motivated enough to do it right now, apparently)
10) Clean laundry!
11) Things are clicking--academically, socially, spiritually, logistically...grammatically :P
12) Twilight. Terrible, but in an addicting sort of way.
13) Mommy in 2.5 weeks!

"beer shoes" and bonfires

Since I only have about 860 words left in my essay (heh), I figured I would take a break to update...So selfless, I know.

Friday night = the bop, as always (I can never resist the chance to bust a move)! This one was particularly WONDERFUL, because most of C-floor actually made it there (we usually lose quite a few people between standing in the kitchen saying "let's go to the bop!" and actually arriving at the Union). Lots of cheesy music (there was a "Grease" medley, which we sang dramatically at the top of our lungs), and all kinds of silly dancing (I learned what seems to be the British equivalent of the cha cha slide!). Only downside: this dude comes up behind me and spills a drop of beer on my feet, causing me to turn around...I look at him in confusion, and he proceeds to pour AN ENTIRE PINT OF BEER into my shoes (hence, beer shoes). Me: "Really?" Him: "Errr, sorry. [wanders away]" Quite annoying, but it did elicit quite a few chuckles ;P

Saturday = Scotland v. Ireland rugby match! Watched it in The Vic on the comfy couches...And I've come to the conclusion that rugby is FAR superior to American football. Reasons why? 1) No commercials every three seconds. 2) The plays run for more than 2 consecutive minutes. 3) The game only lasts about an hour and a half (as opposed to an entire afternoon) 4) You don't have to have watched it your entire life to understand what's happening 5) exciting things happen more then twice a quarter 6) no skanky cheerleaders

So that was fun! Then we had a bonfire on the beach again....Lots of silly banter and a bit of dancing in the sea = a wonderfully relaxing evening :) Side-note: Did not realize that s'mores were such a distinctly American thing! It's funny how many things I think people "just know" (like, for instance, that one makes s'mores with marshmallows, graham crackers & chocolate...except they don't have graham crackers here, so we used chocolate chip cookies :)) Now my whole room smells of campfire...Mmm, delicious :P

And now, The Testament of Cresseid is feeling neglected, so I'd better go work--at least until the ceilidh in hall tonight!! :D

to quote my mother...

...I feel like I, too, am an "imbecile flinging [herself] around the universe."

Now you're all either a) protesting wildly: "No, Christy! You're so brilliant and organized!" Or (more likely) b) nodding fervently in agreement: "What did you do this time? [snickers]"

Two words: Spring break! After I outlined about 20 different routes from Edinburgh to Lyon (to visit , involving planes, trains, AND automobiles, I realized that I was spending WAY too much money and not taking the safest of routes (especially considering I'd only be there 3 days)...Then Aubrey (decidedly my Hero of the Moment) invited me to stay with her in Zurich! Much cheaper, and--oddy--much more direct, even though it's farther! (By "direct," I mean that I have to take a bus to the train to the airport to the other airport, of course). Which means that I will be in Switzerland in 2 week's time! :)

Secondly...Housing next year? Yeah. Still don't have any. Hope-hope-hoping that I don't have to live at home, because as awesome as my house is....It's kinda disconnected from campus, which is not really something that I want when I'm trying to come back from a semester abroad. Sooo, if praying is your style, please do that, 'cause I'm currently spinning my wheels :) Also, if you feel moved to mention my name to any nice female W&M students looking for a roomie for a place off-campus but within walking distance....I will be your biggest fan!

So, life is going a million miles an hour, I'm working on sorting it all out, and I think I'm kicking up all sorts of dust in the process...

But I don't mind a little mess ;)

cajun squirrel crisps: adventures in cooking

Last night's dinner consisted of...

-Crisps (translation: chips) whose flavour (I kid you not) were "Cajun Squirrel." They tasted like barbecue, only with a funny aftertaste. I suppose that's the "squirrel" component. Apparently Walker's crisps is running this promotion to see what their next flavour should be...I vote no on Cajun Squirrel :P

-Ghetto paninis made on a toastie maker with leftover hotdog buns and the ingredients we'd intended on using for pizza before we realized they were for garlic bread & not pizza at all.

-Pasta (okay, that bit was legit)

-"Exotic Juice Drink" from Tesco. Hey, it was cheap and it had a picture of a pomegranate on it.

-A giant 99p Cadbury chocolate egg.

....all eaten in the middle of the hallway, of course. This is apparently what happens when they close the dining halls on the weekends-- We're classy out here in St. Andrews ;)

pyromaniacs?

Exhibit A: The surprise birthday "party" / scavenger hunt ending in a bonfire on Castle Sands. Good times, fun people, a very old castle, and some delicious Tesco-Quality marshmallows.

Exhibit B: Tam's/my poorly-organized group expedition to the most excellent cave EVER (see below). We had a campfire and attempted to cook sausages on it. Not sure how successful we were (they were charred on the outside and a little smushy in the middle) but we washed it all down with ginger ale and s'mores made with digestives instead of graham crackers and didn't feel too sick :) Besides, it was totally worth to see the night sky from the mouth of this ancient cave (with ancient writing on the walls!).

(That's the opening of the cave in the daylight. Now imagine it opening up into this VAST space inside...And then imagine that at night. Awesome.)

Exhibit C: Pier procession for the new rector. We put on red academic gowns (think Harry Potter) and marched down pier with torches. [well, some people got torches. I was not so lucky :P] I go to the coolest school ever. Enough said.

Note the trail of torches. It was soooo much cooler in person (sorry!)

And, completely unrelated to the pyromaniac trend, on Wednesday I will have been here one month! Now that's crazy :)