Miss Me?

Well hello little Bloggians reading blogs out in Blogville.

Trust me, I am aware that I've done a terrible job of keeping up with this site throughout the Summer. My best excuse is that I've been out of the country, but that was only for three weeks. I have, however, moved to a new province, lived out of a suitcase for several months, turned 25, started University... (again)....

Just to recap, because I should have done it a long time ago, Europe was amazing. Lots of people have asked me what my favourite place was and typically I'm all over the "which do you like better, would you rather" questions. But I honestly cannot choose one place. Every country, every city has its own unique flavour and appeal.

Crap, though. Europe is expensive! I have learned to despise the euro and especially the pound. I felt guilty every time I wanted to eat. Gouging at its best. Being in Europe made me really appreciate Asia. Upon returning to North America from Asia I could not help but comment on how expensive everything here is. Upon returning to North America from Europe I could not help but comment on how cheap everything here is. I remember staying at a couple luxurious hotels in Thailand that were dirt cheap. I also recall the little rabbit hole we had to stay in (for about $110) in London because it's Europe's most expensive city.

Other than the prices, and rude people (particularly at the Louvre) it was awesome. (But Asia still kicks Europe's butt).

So here's what we covered: London --> Paris --> Luzern, Switzerland (and some other train stations in Switzerland) --> Salzburg, Austria --> Venice, Italy --> Pisa, Italy --> Rome, Italy --> Athens, Greece --> Santorini, Greece

Sunset at Fira

Highlights: We did lots of stuff in each of these places but here were a few of my faves:

Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Swiss Chocolatier,

Castle Bridge, Swiss mountains, Austrian mountains, Castle in Salzburg,

Murano glass-making demonstration, getting lost in Venice, silly pictures at the Leaning

Tower of Pisa, Rome by night bus tour, The Vatican (St. Peter's Basilica), relaxation at our

resort pool in Greece, trips to Fira and Perissa, eating by the ocean, renting a quad to travel around Santorini, browsing through all the little shops.

Okay, now that the Europe stuff that has been looming over my head is out of the way.....

I've officially begun my graduate program. Already I can tell that this program is going to be a lot heavier than my last one. Which, of course, is to be expected. Graduate programs are supposed to be kicked up a notch. I just hope it isn't kicked up too many notches. In any case I am now a full-time student who is hoping to get some substituting on the side. It's a weird feeling being back at school. At only 25 I feel quite old next to the fresh-out-of-high-schoolers with their nice little backpacks and pencil cases. It's like youth camp all over again, in a way. Instead of walking around the complex they head to the UC to check out the hot college potentials. Thankfully, I'm doing a couple distance courses and the ones I'm not doing distance are at night. I will have to do some research at the library... but that's another story...

I am sure nobody cares to read about the current status of my life (unless of course you are reading this right now - which means you're probably completely interested), but it's just been so long since I've written that I felt like I needed to provide a bit of an update. I do have a few topics of interest (and by that I mean topics of interest to me) that I plan to write about in the near future. Now that I'm back into some sort of routine I should be updating more regularly. When I am a free spirit, as I was for most of the Summer, it becomes difficult for me to find time. It's backwards, really, as I should have less time for things like this now that I have papers and presentations and videos to work on. But that's how I roll.

Until next time!