i'm headed back to school in 9 days. well, not to school, but back to boston b/c i can't move in until the 29th. i didn't want to go back this early, but i ended up buying my ticket for the 19th so i could have a do nothing, week long, vacation before classes start up. i hope it's fun! i'm going to miss home and i feel like i haven't spent enough time with my parents. like i'm abandoning them :(. i never like leaving them for so long, but when i'm up at school, i somehow forget that i'm away from them. it's kinda odd. i remember when i left home for freshman year, i cried like a baby.

i didn't really get much accomplished this summer (except for finally making it to france). can i get things done in the next week?? lol, unlikely, but i'll see what i can do.

senior year and life are creeping up so quickly!

well, here we are. it's mid-summer before my senior year of college. it's incredible that i'm already here. let's just talk a little bit about my summer though and not get into school things yet. my first 6 weeks consisted of studying (taking summer classes) in the french alps. tufts has a european campus in talloires, france and i've been wanting to go for the past 2 years. finally i saw an opportunity, and i did it! it was a great experience and i'm glad that i got the chance to do it. i met a lot of people that i wouldn't have otherwise met, and i got to see a little bit of europe. and, i'm in love with france. i always liked the idea of europe and paris and romance, but those 6 weeks only accentuated the feeling. i didn't do much traveling, but i was able to see paris, some of geneva, and the french alps, of course. i got to live with a lovely french woman and learned a lot about the culture there from her. she had the most adorable grandchildren (probably because they were so cute speaking french)! basically, i LOVED it there.


this is just a gorgeous view of the (2nd?) cleanest lake in all of europe, which was in the town where i lived. this is from the beach near school.


i took so many photos of this popular landmark


just very french

so, i turned 21 about 5 days ago and i'm using it as a reason to become more independent and more assertive. if i am to be considered an adult now, then i guess it only makes sense to act like one. there's no point in taking my time, being cautious, and seeing where i end up. that'll do me little good. i just have to take charge.

i didn't do much on wednesday (the bday) mainly because i didn't get a lot of sleep the night before and i was extra lazy. i stayed in bed, which i enjoyed because i love my bed - it's like a huge puffy square, so soft and comfortable. i skyped avec ma soeur and ate dinner with my parents. and then lauren took me out on friday to go to a bar&lounge in chinatown. it turns out that there was something special going on that night and 2 of the 3 floors were reserved for people of "the lifestyle", that is to say, the gay and lesbian crowd. we were still excited to go in b/c it would probably be fun, but there were seriously only 10 people in the entire building. :( very sad. so we left and had dinner at a random chinese restaurant!

tonight, i went to jaleo, a tapas restaurant downtown with a few people and i got a free bailey's, which was quite delicious because it didn't taste like alcohol. the food was great and it was nice to get out of the house again.

unfortunately, my winter break is over in a day and i have to go back to school. but that's fine b/c i get to see curt again and just spend time in my apartment getting this together before classes start on the 16th. this semester won't be nearly as hectic as last semester was. during the fall i had an internship working at the children's school on campus in the kindergarten classroom and it was so much fun. i learned so much and got to spend time with the cutest, smartest 4 and 5-year-olds around. this semester i'll only be volunteering there once a week and i think i'll miss those little kiddies a lot. i'll also be doing research in one of the psychology labs for one of the grad students. i spent time doing research last semester too and i got a lot of exposure to how research actually works in real time, which gave me a little insight into what i might want to do in the next few years. speaking of the future, i'm considering taking a couple years after graduation to work and make some money and gaining more experience before going on to grad school. i just feel like i won't be prepared enough to hop right into learning more without facing real situations in the field (psychology&child development). maybe i'll figure out what i really want to do with my degrees. it's so hard to make up my mind and make the right decision. i think i'm not thinking logically enough in that i won't find my dream job right away. i need to move around different positions and get my feet wet.

i always end up making life decisions during winter break. last winter i decided not to be pre-med and double major in cd and psych, and now i'm deciding that i should work a little after graduation. what'll i decide next winter? le sighhh..life sure does creep up on you.


this is my birthday dinner. my parents took my to grace's on the sunday before my bday and we had such yummy food! pad thai and sushi for me and a virgin margarita because i wasn't exactly 21 yet. :]

so, once again, it's been a while. i just wanted to update and mention that i had the most excellent weekend (friday&saturday) because i got to hang out in dc with curt, ama, and paras. all in all, everything worked out so nicely and i hope we get to do it again sometime down the road. maybe i'll even get to go to ny/nj next time!

so, let me just say that this past weekend was quite enjoyable :).

so last night was the ultimate college night. we camped out. we went hardcore, sleeping on the soccer field with nothing but blankets and many many layers of clothing. it was so cold and so awesome. we lasted until morning and had to head back to our dorms around 7:20 because it was practically 32degrees out there. and, 5 hours after we got ourselves back inside, it started to snow! how perfect is that? you know what's next. IT WAS MAGICAL! :]

the word that sums up my september 2005 is "unexpected". i've officially completed one full month of college life and let me tell you, it's absurd! i'm not sure if it's what i imagined it to be or if it's better or worse. it just is. college. the transition from high school to college was definitely better than the transition from middle school to high school. while i do miss my high school friends, i know i'll see them in a few months and i still talk to them often, so no biggie. i've met a bunch of nice people here, a few stand out more than others though. the workload isn't too bad, but that's because i didn't choose any horribly tasking classes. my most confusing class is elementary french, it has taken over my life! it's kinda nice though. it's a pretty language :). i can't wait until i can actually speak it without stopping for 5 seconds in between words. one day!

i must say that the most thrilling and unexpected thing that has happened to me is playing the trombone again!! i thought spring concert was the last time i would ever play one. it was so anticlimactic though because the director of TSO (tufts symphony orchestra) just gave me a trombone and told me to play with the others. i didn't get to warm up or anything. i was pretty lame, but it's all good, i hadn't played in 5 months! make me music. TSO had an announcment up that they needed more trombone players so i answered and that's how it all started. now i get to go to rehearsals and perform in the concerts and maybe even go to costa rica! i always loved band. now i know it loves me back. hehe. :D

another unexpected thing.. is a guy. no details. :)

the weather is also unexpected. well, i did expect massachusetts be colder than maryland, i just didn't expect it to be so cold so early! it's alright because i get to wear my bangin sweaters, yayyy.

however, i did expect missing my family, and i do. EXTREMELY! everytime i get off the phone with them i get a tiny bit of the blues. le sigh. i get to see them in a couple weeks though on parent's weekend. i can't wait!!

a full month without an update. i'd like to say that so much has happened this past month, but honestly nothing has. though, i really cannot believe that summer has gone by so quickly. of course, i say that at the end of every summer but this year it just seemed to jump out at me. it didn't sneak up, because of it sneaked i would have had some kind of idea that it was coming. you know, i would have heard a creak or rustle. but, oh no, it jumped. i checked my calendar this week and ohmigoodness it's almost school time. i mean, i've been noticing all the back-to-school sales and things of that nature but it never really hit me until this week. it seemed like they were just starting early. nope. but oh wells, gotta suck it up and get on to it! this year is not going to be at all like the past four. it's going to be brand new and pretty amazing in all ways possible. i'm getting those nervous jolts every once in a while, but no full on butterflies in the stomach yet. next week is the everyone-is-moving-away week. almost everyone at least. mostly everyone. and then after that, it will really sink in. but until then, i'm just going to enjoy the rest of summer. yay for cooling out!

besides that, i was super excited when i got a text message from an old classmmate of mine. i ran into him on an SAT testing day and i gave him my cell number and 2 weeks ago he finally got to me. i love people from my middle school. those are years i long to relive. so easy and fun. i don't think i appreciated it all back then. and i used to dream about being 18 and going to college and being mature and sophisticated. that time is now but i still sometimes feel like i just left the 8th grade. so, i want to stay in contact with him because he brings back memories. so many, many memories. and remembering goodtimes just lifts me up! even when i hear songs that i used to listen to back then, i get so nostalgic and i start to recall so many people and conversations and moments. good, old-fashioned nostalgia! always so nice to me.

even now when i thumb through my senior year book and see pictures of certain days it all just comes back and it kinda saddens me that that part of my life is over. i'll miss the simple things like lunches in the courtyard, and walking down the hallway, sitting in the cafeteria (cafetorium) after school, and tennis practice.

oops, i didn't want to make this an ohnonewchapterofmylifeidontwannaforgetoldtimespost. seems to have drifted towards that though!

i'm sad i'm out of cappucinno mix. :(

alright, on the eve of the release of harry potter and the half-blood prince, i went to barnes and noble. within 10 minutes of the clock striking midnight, i had the book in my hand. it was a glorious feeling! i also got a pair of hp glasses, a wrist band with "july 16, 2005" on it, and a poster with bookjacket art from all 6 books on it. now, i told myself i would take my time and savor every page. well.. i savored every page but i definitely couldn't take my time after a while! it was so hard to just put it down for hours at a time. though, this book was worth the wait. it was amazing, i need to re-read it. i'm afraid of what will come in the next book. in fact, i'm afraid of the 7th installment coming at all because that will be the end of anything new coming from this magnificent series! and then i will suffer from post-potter-depression.

half-blood prince is so different than the other books. of course the obvious things of it being darker, the characters being more mature, the unexpected occuring. i won't say anything spoiler-ish. but once you read it, if you haven't already, you'll know what i mean.

i never want to leave the magical world of harry potter.