moveable feast

I travelled to Paris via eurostar for my birthday weekend to meet up with friends from the States. I debated whether or not to go as the pressure of the semester was beginning to build, but hey, I only turn the big 2-5 once in my life and what better way to celebrate than with some great friends in a wonderful city. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and it proved to be far too short of a trip. Since I had done all the big tourist sites last time I visited, this time I preferred to sit back, relax and sip on my café crème.

The beauty of this city is unbelievable. I wonder if cities like London or Berlin hadn’t been bombed out if they would have looked the same…but I doubt it. I spent most of the time strolling around, shopping the fabulous seasonal sales, and taking pleasure in French gastronomy. The French know how to eat my friends, indeed. A quick three hour trip brought me back to the reality of London. No more fantasy land, and yes, I am now officially a quarter of a century old.

juice

one thing i love is unfiltered, cloudy apple juice (or cider will do). it's somewhat hard to find, and i do miss the days of autumn when my parents would take us apple-picking at wauconda orchards and we'd stop by the country store to pickup some freshly mulled cider.

this morning at borough market, after i stuffed my face with a delicious chorizo-roasted red pepper-arugula sandwiche, i began to hunt around for something to quench my thirst. maneuvering through the overflowing pathways of picture-snapping tourists, baby strollers (there were way too many) and package-laden women, i found a stand with just apples and juices. in a rush, i grabbed a small bottle of cox & bramley apple juice and went on my way.

later, when i twisted off the top and took a sip, i regretted not buying a bigger bottle. this stuff was amazing. it tasted like a whole bushel of just-picked apples off the tree. kinda cloudy with bits of apple in it, this juice is definitely the best juice EVER. you can find out more about chegworth valley juices here

back in action

Happy New Year! I'm back to work in L-town after a wonderful three week vacation in Chicago and Atlanta. My stomach and I thoroughly enjoyed the break, I don't know if I've ever eaten so much in my life.

Thanks to all of my friends and family for the great visit.

Now it's back where I left off. Unfortunately I am spending this weekend in the library, working on a paper due this week. Why do they assign work over the break? I would much rather get it all in beforehand, but then again, if I really wanted it that way, I could have exercised my self-motivation more effectively and got it done earlier. Oh well. Hopefully once this is done, I will have some more exciting adventures about which to write.

brrrr-lin

Last Thursday, I managed to pull myself together and get to the airport on-time to make my flight to the continent.

Ah, Berlin. I love thee, I despise thee. The time I spent here almost three and a half years ago was much of an emotional rollercoaster: my german was far from fluent; it was hard to meet people; the city was vast and unknown...but by the end, I felt like I had made real progress on all levels and enjoyed the day-to-days in this amazing city. Coming back, I was looking forward to seeing what's changed, meandering through the streets and visiting with friends.

My first view of the Reichstag with its spiral glass dome still takes my breathe away. It's a phenomenal building, both physically and metaphorically. And the Brandenburger Gate renovation was completed; the city's old entrance gates seemed unworldly in this pic in contrast to the darkening sky. My old friend Christian and I visited the newly-opened Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a memorial right in the center of Berlin taking up almost a football-field's worth of space with these massively stone slabs of varying height, which you can inbetween.

Though I did not indulge in a late-night doener kebab, I surely drank my share of German beer. And managed to have a S-and U-bahn adventure that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Before I always got stranded on my journey home inbetween night trains, at least this time I was accompanied by three amusing guys who kept me laughing while my legs were going numb from the cold.

I hadn't visited Berlin in December before; I was surprised to see the streets lit up with decorations and Christmas Markets on literally every other corner. Plus a massive carnival right on Unter den Linden! Who knew carnies existed outside of summer? Too soon I was back in London, trading the spacious U-Bahn for the cramped Tube. My long weekend was filled with good friends, memories, beers, laughs and my first snow of the year. Now it's time to pack again and make my way back to the States!

ps - props to my friend Chad, who's duking it out with the German gov't on his visa. Keep on truckin ;)

party time

This is my friend Nirin. He's quite a jokster. Amongst other scams, at the beginning of term he tried to convince to me that he was a firefighter, when really he's just a plain old surgeon.
I decided to give him a little tug to show him who's boss.

So last night twas the Winter Ball:
1 little black dress
1.5 hours getting ready
2 bottles of champagne (compliments of my new, bestest gay friend who kissed me on the lips, go figure)
5 hours straight-up dancing
3 advils and 1 bottle of water before bed

with pre- and post- parties the night ended up being quite a long affair. Enjoyed myself immensely, maybe just a little too much. What a great way to end the term!

ps: someone must have made friends with monica, because she made a cameo at the party!

last day o' class

Michaelmas Term is officially over at LSE. I don't why they call it Michaelmas, autumn term woulda done just fine by me. I'm in the library, spending what seems like (and honestly probably is) my 100th hour on my first essay. I keep on telling myself because this is the first one, it is the hardest. Well I hope so! I won't have this time expenditure next semester when I have to write four more essays - jeez! My back is cramped from carrying around my school and computer bags. I'm making funny contortions at my desk, I hope know one is looking.

On a higher note, I will be returning to the states in a week from Monday after a long-awaited trip to Berlin. Haven't been back there since I studied abroad before and am looking forward to seeing old friends. Unfortunately, it will be terribly cold. And the weather will probably get worst in Chicago. My skin becoming more white by the moment - when will we meet again dear sun? I am looking forward to some well deserved rest and relaxation. And a white Christmas with a REAL Christmas tree (yearly debate at our house)! Right, Pops?

These past few weeks have been rather hectic, particularly with my earlier-than-I-have-ever-woken-up-before start time at work. This week was our holiday party at Cafe de Paris, this large nightclub in Piccadilly Circus. I promised myself to take it easy since I had a long week ahead of me...but when do I ever listen to myself??? Nevertheless, it was a super fun time and I got to meet loads of people on my floor who I had never spoken with before.

Anyways, I have to stop my procrastination (this) and get on with my essay. Happy Holidays!

i guess it's the holiday season?

The only reason I have to believe it's the holidays is when I walk to work in the AM and pass under the suspended decorations on Oxford Street, which almost seem lit up since it's still not completely light outside at that time in the morning. Maybe one night I'll brace the shopping mob and see the scene at night. In the meantime, I've been plugging away at essays, end of term presentations and work. I took a breather this afternoon and attend an advent carol service at my res hall. Quite nice, the room was candle-lit and there was a robust choir; "Silent Night, Holy Night" gets me every time! The brief sermon felt kind of like a lecture though...the speaker wanted us to keep 4 images in our heads throughout the advent season: (1) pregnant woman (expectation) (2) paths (to enlightenment) (3) baby learning to walk (innocence and learning) and (4) CHE GUEVARA..hmmm don't really know where this one fits in, I think the speaker may be a leftist revolutionary. Go figure. Afterwards we got to enjoy mulled wine and mince pies, classic British fare.

I do admit, I am rather tired of dorm-living. Living out of one-room with a sink for washing up, dishes and the occasional laundry just does not seem sanitary to me. Running down the hall whenever I have the go to the loo plus meeting strangers on the way to the shower while I don my bathrobe just is not comforting. Not to mention the dining hall food. Oy. This is not the place for a foodie. At first, I found it decent, tolerable. Now I would prefer to boil some bland pasta with pesto in my room than be exposed to whatever mystery meat stew they offer downstairs. But of course there are some benefits. I can walk down to the bar at any time of day and have a conversation with a new acquaintance or old friend. And there are tons, I mean tons, of activities here. Like I've mentioned before, I could forgo the whole school thing and just keep busy doing clubs here! This Saturday is the Winter Ball, o la la. But I am very much looking forward to returning to the comforts of home and the company of my friends and family. Until then, I'll be absorbed in schoolwork, drinking gallons of coffee and glued to my laptop.

it's a small world after all

Did I ever mention that there are two guys living in my residence hall from Emory? Both were a year behind me, in the same major and all three of us had the same professor write our recommendations. Of course I did not know either of them in my undergraduate years and only met them here in the getting-to-know-you-game. Coincidence?