It's really over

(Day 12 of the month of themed blogging is a whatever you feel like day)

Sunday morning I went down to Williamsburg to attend the Classics graduation ceremony. I wasn't going to participate, just watch and catch up with friends and professors. My mom and brother happened to be bringing my grandmother a TV so I got to see them and we went to lunch at Firehouse Subs, which is pretty good. Not long after it was time to drive onto campus to go to the ceremony at the Campus Center.

I got the program and noticed I was on the list of degree recipients! I should have written a paragraph and walked across the stage like everybody else.... oh well. I sat in front of Callie and got to talk a little bit of Doctor Who with her. Got to see people like Lauren, Maggie, Natasha, Lena, and Meg, and some other people I sort of know. What was mind boggling was there were classics majors there I didn't know! Out of 19 graduating students, there were at least 2 I'd never seen before. Crazy! Talking to profs was cool too.

After that I was just going to go home but was able to get up with Zach and went and hung out with him while he packed. Trevor was there for a bit too. Eventually I headed home after saying bye to my grandmother, and got gas at Wawa and dinner at Taco Bell.

But what this whole thing really drove home was the fact that college is really over. Sure, it's been over since mid-December for me, but the people in my year were still in school that whole time and I could visit and it was like a semester away, sort of; at least that's how it felt. But now that they've all graduated it really feels like I'm done. And I miss it. Mostly, the people. And the abundance of free time, and the proximity and availability of friends and all that. I didn't feel like I missed Williamsburg per se, or being in classes, but just the whole experience of being in college. It's a chapter of my life that has ended, and that's weird. Sure, high school ended but then there was just more school. Now, most likely, school is over. Even if I go to grad school one day it'll be different.

I'm a little bit sad. I'm a bit in mourning, you could say. I will miss my college friends - will any of us keep in touch? These are really good friends, great people, many of whom I've known for 4 years of my life or longer. Isn't it strange that suddenly, many of us will drift apart and possibly never see each other again? It seemed bad enough for the people I'd bonded with in one semester in New Zealand were gone from my life, but now I have to face up to that with even closer friends... but I've kept in touch with some people from New Zealand, so I'm confident that I can keep in touch with some people from college.

The other night I had a dream about riding and realized I miss that part of my life, too. I want horses to be part of me again. I think it was part of this feeling like I'm letting things go, and I just don't want to. If I try hard enough, I probably don't have to. I'm planning on riding in Costa Rica at least once. And I'll Skype with at least one person this summer. That's my goal.

Total Win for Iceland

So McDonald's is closing all its locations in Iceland (all three of them). Iceland, as you may know, is very small. It's very small and also very far from everything else. Therefore it was costing them too much to import ingredients to the Iceland stores. And now Iceland is McDonald's free! Just another reason to go there: escape the ubiquitous fast-food mega-chain. The owners are replacing the locations with restaurants with similar but local products. Good for them, I say!

Totally unrelated, there was a petting zoo in the Sunken Gardens today! I petted a goat, miniature horse, miniature donkey, alpaca, lamb, rabbit, duck, and chicken! SO adorable. In addition I watched A Beautiful Mind (review to come later) and decided on my costume for tomorrow. I am going as a fangbanger, a la True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse novels. I've looked up ways to make realistic looking vampire bites with makeup and I found a tank top that says "bite me." Yay!

Last day as a meat eater (for a month)

Well, today has been rather uneventful. I had a cheese sandwich for lunch (typical). I got some Croakies for my sunglasses and ordered my textbooks online. I went with my mom to Wendy's (since Johnno's was closed for some reason) and got a burger. Because I know I'll miss burgers... wish I could have gone to Ray's Hell Burger before this... but oh well. I think I will get cravings, not unlike my Outback Steakhouse cheese fry cravings I got in New Zealand. But I lived without those for 5 months, so I think I can bear the meat cravings for only one month. And besides, maybe I won't miss meat as much as I imagine. Maybe it'll be completely fine. I have been mainly living off of macaroni and cheese recently, anyway. But if I start craving beef jerky, I'll know I'm in trouble (I hate the stuff)...

I will blog about what I eat, and also what I'm up to, since after all I'm flying out to LA on Tuesday. My Jeopardy tickets have been confirmed. Trebek, here we come!

The Food Triathlon

A little while back, The Flat Hat ran a Variety section on 'The Best of Williamsburg,' in terms of restaurants. As a Flat Hat photographer, I snatched up this assignment ASAP. I ended up getting 3 restaurants to photograph: Nawab, Tequila Rose, and the Trellis.

Great, I thought, this is perfect! Nawab has good appetizers, Tequila Rose has yummy mains, and the Trellis has mind-blowingly amazing desserts! I can go to each one all in a row and have a long, drawn out, extended meal!



Well, that was the plan anyway. So on a lovely Saturday, Jeff and I hopped in the car and drove the short distance to Nawab, an Indian restaurant. Before getting a seat, I asked the manager if I could take photos, for the newspaper. He was happy for me to, so I snapped some shots of the buffet.


Lunch buffet

We sat down and got waters and an appetizer, the chaat papri, which came with raita, and regular naan.


Chaat papri


Raita

But that wasn't all that was brought to us. The manager himself brought us samples of mango lassi and garlic naan, on the house. It was amazing!


Mango lassi (the remains)


Naan and garlic naan

Now, if you know me, you know that Indian is currently my favourite type of food, having recently surpassed Mexican. So this huge amount of free Indian food was astonishing, and wonderful! I've liked Nawab the 3 or 4 previous times I've been, and this time increased my opinion even more! If you're in Williamsburg, this is the place to go for Indian food, a relatively cheap lunch buffet, or just a delicious meal in general. I had never had mango lassi before - but now I highly recommend it! And that's saying something, since I don't really like mango at all.

Needless to say, the unexpectedly large quantities at Nawab completely filled us up, and we decided to put off Tequila Rose and The Trellis for another day.

---

Sunday came, and the weather was bad - lots of rain. Luckily, I had decided to take my outdoor photos the day before since it had been so nice. Jeff and I headed to Tequila Rose, for dinner this time.



It wasn't at all crowded; and there was no fanfare this time - no free stuff, I'm afraid, just delicious tacos and enchiladas.


The ubiquitous chips and salsa


Beef enchilada with beans


Beef taco

Tequila Rose is fairly far out of the way - a decent trek down 143/Second St. - and isn't my top choice for Mexican in Williamsburg. However, Flat Hat thinks it has the best margarita in town (I wouldn't really know...). I must admit that its bar certainly has character.



If you're looking for Mexican in Williamsburg, Tequila Rose is not your best option. La Tolteca (which has 2 locations: Richmond Road, near the outlets, and Second Street) and South of the Border (Second Street) are both closer to campus than Tequila Rose and better. La Tolteca is your standard Mexican style restaurant, while South of the Border has a bit of a different fare, and is a pretty new discovery of mine. Some of the dishes are not something I'd encountered in Mexican restaurants before - and that's saying a lot! I'd say South of the Border is definitely the tastiest. A lot of college students favour Casa Maya, for convenience most likely, but personally I don't think it's very good at all. I would rather go to Taco Bell (and yes, I actually like Taco Bell) which is next door, practically.

---

Back to our story - Tequila Rose filled us up too! So we went to the Trellis after a light lunch on Monday to just get dessert, which was, after all, the original plan for the Trellis.



The Trellis is an upscale restaurant right in Merchant's Square, Duke of Gloucester Street, at the edge of Colonial Williamsburg. Despite its proximity to campus, it's not well frequented by students - it's a tourist place, and for good reason. That reason is that it's quite expensive, which you can guess just by the decor, which mostly consists of horrendously overpriced local art on the walls, all of which is for sale.



There's one thing, though, that keeps me coming back to The Trellis at least once a year - their famous dessert offering, known as Death by Chocolate. It's their signature item. Instead of explaining it, I'm just going to show you a picture, and let you drool.



Do you think you can resist that? I can't. Jeff and I shared it and could barely finish it. It's unbelievably rich and decadent. Not something to be had on a regular basis, or risk packing on a lot a pounds.

All in all, I think our food triathlon was a success. It didn't go as planned, but I think in the end, it was better that way. Delicious!

some ideas/thoughts

Lately I've been thinking about the future... maybe what I want to do and such. I still have no career ideas; kind of hoping I'll fall into something. I would like to look more into journalism. I've been meeting a bunch of people who have done some cool things that I sort of want to replicate. I met a Dutch guy working at the Canyoning company in Queenstown who was traveling NZ with his girlfriend, moving from town to town and working in each place for a month or 2. That sounds really kind of cool for a just-out-of-college thing. It would allow you to travel, but not have to go into major debt, and fund traveling without really settling down. I'm definitely not interesting in 'settling down' right away. That is not a comment about my relationship at all; I'd love to travel and work with Jeff, just like that Dutch couple. It seems like it could happen since he wants to travel too, and has no idea what he wants to do. I am aware that it is not a given that our relationship will work out, but I really want it to. I am feeling not as dependent on him, like if, God forbid, it didn't work out, I could maybe eventually be okay. I personally see this as a good thing. It does not mean I love him less, or don't want to be with him for the rest of my life - I absolutely do. But I think this study abroad experience has fostered a new-found independence in me. I felt independent before but I sure as hell always wanted, or even needed a boyfriend. I think I may have been more codependent in the past than I ever admitted to myself. However, I think things will work out for the best, really I do. I hope that means Jeff and I will stay together.

Anyway, I've had this fantasy of living and working in London for a while. I don't know why. Maybe it was the cool Brits I met. And I have been there, and I really liked it. I mean, I want to do something like it somewhere, and London sounds pretty rocking. Or maybe Edinburgh. Or Dublin. I dunno. I guess I'll just see what happens!

but how do I make a difference?

The more I stay in school, the more screwed up I realize the world is. But the level of things wrong with the world is so massive that it is hard to wrap your mind around. Just to name a few problems: poverty, social inequality, structural violence, AIDS, pollution, the reliance on oil, and the US government (ok, that last one is kind of unfair: there are problems with plenty of governments, but I pick on the US because I live there and it is quite powerful). Looking at everything, you feel totally helpless and useless in the face of it. After all, I'm only one person. I can't single-handedly change the world. But it is quite apparent that doing nothing is not the answer. There are certainly ways in which individuals can make a difference. However, it is clear that you must pick your causes carefully. You can't, after all, help everything. Time and financial resources are limited. But how can you choose a cause? What should you give priority to? Not only that, but how should you choose to help? Unfortunately, any action intended to help may produce unintended consequences. No solution is guaranteed to not actually make things worse. So what do you do, as you attempt to be a decent, moral human being? What is your obligation?

For instance, say I chose to give a portion of my (nonexistent) income to a charity (this is just theoretical). Let's say I gave to an organization that gives food aid to a starving nation. It is certain my input, however meager, will matter in someone's life. However, what about the consequences of food aid? It can put local farmers out of business, encouraging them to stop farming. Then, more food aid is required. This is not a good solution - we can only give so much. It can make the people who receive it economically worse off than they were before. One thing that can happen is that people with more power and who don't need it get the food and then sell it to the people who can't afford it in the first place. Clearly, this is quite problematic.

That's just the problems with one thing - but again, how do I rank what's most important? What is most pertinent to me, or what will help the most amount of people?

Should I become a vegetarian, helping to stop animal cruelty and reduce the harm I do to the environment? Should I give to a charity (I am least inclined to do something like this)? Should I sponsor a child in Africa? Should I help raise money for cancer research? Should I volunteer at the animal shelter? Should I become a teacher, helping to educate people and encourage them to make a difference as well?

The more I learn about the problems with the world, the harder it is to feel like a decent human being who is doing all she can to help. I am not entirely satisfied with my current contribution to society. Of course, I can write it off as "I'm a student, I can help later." Sure, I have done a lot of volunteering throughout the course of my 20 years. But is it enough? How hard should I be on myself? All these questions are on my mind at the moment.

My first motorcycle lesson

I decided to finally take my mom up on her offer for motorcycle lessons today. I was using the little Honda Rebel. I started by learning all the controls, how to turn it on, a few other essentials. I then put in first gear without giving it any throttle and let out the clutch a bit until I could walk slowly with it. I gradually let it go a bit faster but continued to keep my feet down. It was unexpectedly really fun and I thought, I wanna go fast. Ha, that shouldn't be a surprise, since the same thing happens to me when I get on a jet ski... in a car... etc. On a horse, too. Anyway, I liked it and I want to learn more.

An eerie scream in the night...

I was at Jeff's house last night, and just falling into sleep, when a noise put up the hackles on the back of my neck (well, I would have hackles if I was a cat or dog, anyway you get the point). It was like a fairly long scream, like that of a child, ending in what sounded like a cross between laughing and crying. My eyes snapped open wide at that. The screams continued a few more times, but were moving further away. My mind thought 'probably a fox' but that didn't stop my heart from hammering and my hand from shaking as I switched on the light. I slept with the bathroom light on the rest of the night... Today I did a quick search on Youtube for "red fox noises", and sure enough, I found a video that's fairly similar to the noise I heard. Wikipedia says red foxes' vocal range are very large, so it's quite likely it could've made such a bizarre noise. The point is, red foxes are creepy at night, but cute in the day.



Also, perhaps I shouldn't be so paranoid about noises in the night? They're usually animals or just the regular noises of houses (which I still jump at occasionally when they're particularly loud or weird).

Jumping in the James

Yesterday some friends from my hall (Devin, Ted, Erica, and Huang) and I went to Jamestown Beach on the spur of the moment. Everyone was finished with exams, and we were ready to have some summer fun. We left five or ten minutes after we decided to go - no one had time to change or anything, it was very impromptu, which I often like. It was beautiful out: hot, sunny, free. We piled in Devin's Jeep and drove over. It had a digital readout: Distance To Empty. It read 19. So we had 19 miles worth of gas left - not much. Devin kept a nervous eye on the readout as it quickly flew down to 13, 10, 7... but at times it would jump back up. Jamestown Beach is not far, but the car kept recalculating how much gas it really had left. It was like we were in Speed... only we were trying to maximize fuel economy instead of go above 50 or whatever. We got to the beach: 3 miles to empty. Maybe we were going to have to walk home, but by god we were at the beach now and we were going to enjoy it. The beach was crowded with mostly college students, celebrating the relaxing summer status of us all. Most people had bathing suits, of course. Not us. We set down our towels, and Erica immediately jumped in the river: fully clothed, in fact, in a dress! Devin stripped down to his stylishly striped boxer-briefs and did a flip into the water. Huang laid out on a towel, and Ted and I skipped some stones and waded a bit. The water felt amazingly warm. I wanted to jump in but my cellphone was in my pocket... and I was wearing clothes... and I have a bit of a thing about going in water that's not the pool.

But it was beckoning so strongly that I put the stuff in my pockets on a towel, took off my glasses, and walked in. It felt as good as I expected. I played around with Devin and Erica in the water until Ted alerted me to the fact that a large group of people down the beach were calling my name. I was pretty blind at this point, so I walked toward them not knowing who they were. It turned out to be Carla, David, Cassondra, Matt, Audrey, Pete, and some other people I didn't know. They gave me half a bread end with some cheese spread. I was really glad to have seen Carla before I left. After a brief conversation, Devin told me he needed to take Ted back and that I could decide whether to go then or later. I was starving so I chose to go. I was completely soaked and nasty, but luckily I had brought a towel. Devin was not sure we'd make it back without running out of gas. As he drove up to the Spanish house, the DTE was 0. He wasn't sure whether he'd get to a gas station or not, and we wished him luck and departed. I took a shower and went to dinner, eating with Tim, Mike Vance, and Frances. It had been over an hour since I'd gotten back from the beach and Devin still wasn't back with Erica - we were afraid he hadn't made it to a gas station. But it turned out he had, and everything was good. Later we went to Cold Stone Creamery and watched some movies. It was an awesome last night with some amazing people. I'm going to miss them when I'm in New Zealand, and also this summer.

my love affair with kayaking

Well, I decided to take the Kayaking class through the Kinesiology department this semester. It was a White Water Kayaking class. It met once a week for two hours and was worth 1 credit. It might have costed sixty extra bucks or so. We started off in the Adair pool learning how to do Eskimo rescue, some turning techniques, and braces. At first, I would panic as soon as I got underwater, and couldn't master the Eskimo rescue. I went in for extra help and still wasn't getting it. We started going out on Lake Matoaka in late February, and started to learn how to go straight. It's not as easy as you think in kayaks made for white water. They are incredibly responsive, which is great for rapids, but not so great for the lake. I felt good about being out on the water, I mean, I've had quite a bit of kayaking experience. In late March we had one class in the pool to do Eskimo rolls. I went through a lot of the Eskimo rolling progression but then asked Randy (my instructor) to help me with Eskimo rescues instead. I knew I needed to get them down. And it finally clicked for me that day, and I felt really good about it. Last Friday, April 11, was the white water trip I went on. I was really scared the day before, but on that day I was mostly excited and just a bit nervous. It was a beautiful day: sunny, warm, a bit of a breeze. The water was cold but it felt refreshing. We were running the Appomattox River in Petersburg, VA. It has a canal that follows it for awhile, and we paddled up the canal until just below the old mill (where it stops). We took our kayaks over to the river side, and did some scouting. Randy showed us the best way to get through the first Class I rapids, and then we were to stop in a big eddy. I was nervous but after running those rapids I was just feeling good about it. After stopping we practiced ferrying across the river, and eddy turns and peel outs. We then went onto the first Class II rapid, called Z. My back end hit the rocks but that was okay... no harm done. We kept going along until the next Class II, called Picnic. On Picnic Randy said 'head left towards that flat rock, then cut right and stay in the middle and there's a surprise at the end.' When I went down, I got in the right place and found the surprise! Huge standing waves at the end! And it was a fast rapid. Lots of fun! We stopped at the island and sat on the rocks that made up the rapid and ate lunch. Then we kept going. There was one other cool Class II rapid called Snake Drop. It was basically just a steep drop, and the island where you stop is often covered in sunning snakes. It wasn't that day. Both Picnic and Snake Drop drenched me in water. It was so much fun. We had to carry our boats a quarter mile across an island at the end, but it was all good. Today there was an extra, optional rolling session. I went, and successfully did several Eskimo rolls! Sweet! Several people have commented on how graceful and natural I seem in a kayak. I attribute it to my riding experience. And I love it.

Some thoughts, a link.

First of all, head on over to dooce to get a nice, healthy dose of crazy. Heather Armstrong is a wonderfully amusing writer, and makes the most mundane occasions hilarious. Would that I had such talent.

Next of all, my roommate went home this weekend. Great, right? But last night I slept in Tal's room, because we had been telling ghost stories and I was a little creeped out. We ended up staying up til 5 in the morning talking. Sleepovers are good like that. We talked about lots of things, including ethics.

I got a voicemail from my grandmother after dinner yesterday that my package from Jeff had arrived. Apparently Japan is not kidding when it sends things. That was really fast - he sent it Monday, it got here Friday. I went over to pick it up and met her friends Chuck and Judy who were quite cool. They told me this horrific story: "A US woman on a boat off the Florida Keys has died after a stingray leapt up and struck her in the face." Officials called this a "bizarre incident", apparently. Really? Bizarre? No way! It's like that Dane Cook joke, only real. And therefore terrible.

A Saga of Woe and Triumph: Applying to Study Abroad

Just a little story for you.
Once upon a time, a girl dreamed she would go to New Zealand to study abroad in the fall. She studied and researched and thought and thought and finally decided that the University of Otago was her destination of choice. She had a few options now: go through a program or directly enroll? She thought that going through a program would be much less stressful, and make it easier to meet people. So she looked at the programs. The top two were through a company called AustraLearn and through Arcadia University. The AustraLearn program appeared to be a bit cheaper, so she picked that one. She applied ridiculously early - the deadline was in April but she applied in January! It took a while for AustraLearn to tell her they got her materials, but she thought that was probably okay. Finally on January 31, and e-mail arrived! They had gotten all her materials and would let her know if she got accepted in two weeks! This seemed like a long time, but she spent it being excited and later, getting impatient. Especially when more than two weeks passed. At exactly 3 weeks later, a new e-mail arrived. But this e-mail was confusing, and was accompanied by a voicemail message. It said that AustraLearn had not received any of her application materials! This was indeed upsetting and frustrating. The woman at the office said the previous e-mail had been a mistake. This was unbelievable! The girl called her mom. Her mom said she could not go through AustraLearn anymore. The girl cried, and then doubted that she wanted to go to New Zealand after all. But then she thought some more. Then she realized she really did still want to go. And she applied to the Arcadia program. Shortly afterwards, a woman from the Arcadia office called her just to see if she had questions! This was a pleasant change. The application was due March 15 - about two weeks away. But she got everything in before the end of February, and her professor understood and wrote her a new recommendation quickly. Now she is simply waiting to hear from Arcadia, and is feeling much better about going to New Zealand.

I don't wanna roommate!

Really, that's all this is about. I am really enjoying living alone and not looking forward to accommodating someone else's schedule and likes/dislikes. Ah well, the perils of college dormitories. I am going to savor these last alone days for all they're worth.



I want to whine and be like, please no roommate! Can't I have a single! Rarrrr.

But anyway, I finished adorning my walls with Jeff (for now, more will probably be added later). Now I just need to create a creepy little shrine and start meditating over it or praying to it or something.

a break in reading

'If I could speak words of water,
You would drown when I said
"I love you."' - Spike Milligan

I talked to Jeff last night - it was excellent. I am disappointed in myself a bit because I let his talk of plans after college depress me a bit. However, for the rest of it, it was great. He is so thoughtful. I went through a bit of a time afterwards worried that maybe we were slowly falling apart... but then I realized it was just my stupid mind and that despite him not being quite as eloquent about his feelings as I feel he would be, he loves me just as much as I love him. I know that. Perhaps it comes across better when he is physically here. But I must remember that. I fully trust him and believe that our love and commitment will pull us through anything.

Anyway, I should get back to reading. I am very happy that I got to hear from Jeff. He took lots of pictures of horses just for me!

espero

esperar (v) - to wait; to hope

I wait and hope. Espero.

My heart longs for you to be here - it aches from your absence and especially because I haven't heard from you since on Thursday. I am not upset - I knew it would be this way, but it makes me long for you, for your presence, for at least your voice or even just your written word.

So, until we talk again, I wait and hope.

Just like these four months is basically waiting and hoping - there's a lot of living in between but I am waiting for you to return and hoping that we can make it work. I am very optimistic about that.

Yo espero.

first couple days

clubs, originally uploaded by marichica88.

So I'm back at W&M and all is okay. At first (as you may know from that poem) the missing Jeff was worse because everything, EVERYTHING, makes me think of him. Eating lunch with Rachel A, Marc, Zach, and Carolyn there were mushrooms. The mushrooms reminded me of him (so did MWF lunch in general...). I just put up the Japanese car poster he and Steve made... it's good stuff. I need to print out some photos to put all over my walls. I have just recently moved into the Spanish house, which I believe will be fun and helpful. I am glad actually that everything reminds me of Jeff, because it is almost like he is in everything I do. And I know it is the same way for him... he saw the poem and said that he was thinking of writing the same thing. So we are keeping each other in our hearts. And everything else! And we talk fairly frequently at the moment, and message each other every day at least. So we are very much in touch and it's nearly like we're still together... I was a bit lonely last night, so I was like woo juggling club! But then it turned out juggling club made me think "oh, but it's not the same without Jeff" and I got all emotional and broke down a bit... Then it was fun after I pulled myself together. However, after coming home from juggling club, I was a bit apart again. I think that will only go on for the first little bit... I am already feeling happier and more optimistic.

So anyway, I should really be reading for tomorrow.

dealing with it

Well, it's already been kind of hard with Jeff gone. I know though that I will adjust, but I went through a bit of a freaking-out and immaturely-overreacting thing. I've decided that what I need to do is just decide to be happy for Jeff that he's in Japan and be happy with any news he can bring me. I think that should do it.

I went to BVA yesterday for an alumni luncheon. There were only like 8 alumni there... pretty lame. 3 of us were from W&M! Anyway, it was fun to see the few teachers I know who are still there. Also I got to meet the new Latin teacher who seems cool. It felt weird being back... but good too.

I haven't been doing much that's exciting, today I've mostly read and played video games, though I got to talk to Jeff this morning on AIM for a bit. It's really overcast but I went out and took pictures in the yard. Here's an interesting one:




That's all I had to say really.

you are somewhere in the air

trails, originally uploaded by marichica88.

Like these trails I see all the time over here, you're up there making trails, over the Pacific most likely. I am thinking of you though. I have been all day. I hope your flight is going well. Everything reminds me of you. I want you to have a good time. As my mom said, this amount of time is just about the same as a summer vacation. So it's not that bad. I'm going to adjust, you're going to adjust. And you're going to make trails across the sky, until you come back to me.

a short prayer

amen, originally uploaded by marichica88.

Please let Jeff get to Japan safely.

Amen.

A Week of Jeff

Oh, and what a good week it was. I of course enjoy Jeff's company immensely, and also that of his friends. Some highlights: we went to the zoo with Tim, Alex, and Stan; went to Tim's New Year's Eve party; watched Juno with Alex and Vogel and Senya; ate delicious food; etc. Good times. I was really glad to see him before he left for Japan for four months. He will be flying out of Dulles in about 30 minutes. I will miss the hell out of him. Yet I'm really happy for him. He's going to have a great time. Yesterday when I got home I cried a lot, but I composed myself later and now I'm okay. Both my brother (who has long-distance relationship experience) and my mom (whose advice is always good) say it will take a couple weeks but once I get used to it, it'll be okay, and he'll be back before I know it. I am confident that our relationship will thrive even in such trying circumstances. Anyway, I'm gonna go be a lead singer for Rock Band. Hehe.