Week in The Netherlands

Back in Wales

I am back in Cardiff after almost a month's leave. Although there was hesitation coming back, now that I am back in my room studying away...it feels okay again. Christmas at home was fantastic. We had a lovely time and it seems that the three weeks i spent at home flew by. New Year's Eve was spent on the couch with my parents; very uneventful...but as it was my last night home I didnt want to go far. I flew back into London on the 2nd and from there Mike picked me up and we went straight to the ferry. We had made plans to spend the week touring the Netherlands and staying in Rotterdam with my uncle. The week in Holland was fabulous too. Every day we were out and about and by the end of it, we were thoroughly exhausted. I'm glad Mike got to see holland, meet some of my family, and just get a taste for what its like over there. Being there made me miss home though and coming back to Cardiff was difficult. It seemed that I didnt have the same excitement that I had when I came over in September for the first time. This term will be filled with more work, less play, and less travel...which I'm trying hard NOT to happen. Next week I am free for a week and trying to make lots of day trips. Also this summer is going to be very busy and hopefully if everything goes as planned Mike and I will be moving back to Vancouver. That in its self is a hassle. As hard as I try, i still seem to accumulate a lot of junk and i know that not everything will fit into my suitcases. But that is a future head ache. Enough said of the future, I am now in the midst of my exams. I've already had two under my belt and one more on Friday. I am trying hard to keep focused for this last one... Mike and I are celebrating our one year anniversary this week, which is also exciting and pretty scary at the same time. I had once said that we're not a real couple until we take a trip together. Well last week when we were boarding the ferry, Mike reminded me of this fact! Yikes! But we'll have a nice weekend together and then in two weeks time we'll celebrate his 22nd birthday.
I do realize that I am still very much a foreigner in Wales. Last night i was walking home and listening to music at the same time. When crossing the street, it is still intuition for me to look left first. I realized this and turned around to look right. But little moments like that makes me realize that as hard as I try to fit in here, it really will take much more time. Two minutes up the street I was stopped by a car asking for directions. I apologized and said I couldn't help them find the street they were searching. After living here for four months now, it seems that I am still not fully familiar with the city. My bike route back and forth to Uni is the span of my familiarity. I will try to do better this term, though, and span my horizons. Instead of taking so many trips back and forth to Birmingham, I will try to encourage Mike (and me) to meet up in different towns to explore those too. Next week I'd like to take the train further west into Wales, as I've not seen (any) of the country really. So, my new year's resolution is to continue travelling and exploring the area I live in. I also find it strange because last year I was never scared to go explore by myself,but it seems that this year I've created the excuse of needing somebody to travel with. That, for now, is out the window and hopefully i'll have some exciting trips in the near future. :)

Hopefully everybody is well and had a safe ringing in of the new year!

(As usual, the photos are totally out of order but I will try to explain chronologically:
Photos start at Mike's engineering ball in Birmingham which took place on December 3rd, then mike, his mum, and i went to the national museum of wales and a pub which are the photos of MIke wearing a tweed jacket, the monday December 11th we went to my business ball, and the rest of the photos are back home in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. )