CHRISTMAS BREAK

ahhhhhh, the joys of sleeping in my own bed, with my big fluffy comforter in my own tiny room. I was surprised to find it rather clean. Kirsten just must have cleaned it. How lovely it was just to veg out on the comfy leather couches and watch TV and movies for days on end. And of course, it was absolutely wonderful to see my friends again. They didn't seem too surprised when I didn't have an accent. Joy kept insisting I did, but I think she likes to imagine things...hahaha. jk. I was pretty lucky to meet up with a lot of my college at a pub night to celebrate the end of exams (jan 20). It was like I never left. Ok I lied. The people were the same and wonderful, but friend circles have changed, co-ed residence has made Loretto even more quiet as the boys do not seem to come to Loretto anymore, lots of people have moved off campus so it was a mini reunion for old friends. Of course being in Canada, there was no smoking which was fabulous and peope drank a lot of lager and mixed drinks! Of course, I ordered a Rickard's Red and people were like "ohhhh, big ale drinker now." The pub culture is just so different from England, it was weird, it was like I wasn't really "home." I've really come to like the pub scene in Leeds. It's so relaxed and no music in most. The bars back home are louder and less intimate, but it's big city (3 mill. I think) so everywhere is always busy and active. We didn't head out until after 10:30pm, which is quite later than in England who serve alcohol until 11pm. I think there's much more conversation in bars in Canada than drinking, by far. And wayyyy much more pre-drinking. Everyone's already drunk before getting the the pub. haha. oh the cultural differences. Seeing as I'm studying "cultural anthropology" it seems fitting I think in this way. That's why I like to travel and wish to travel so much, because I want to experience different places and ways of life and all the quirks when learning about each place. :)

Rosalia (aka. Feefs) and Lara

"duhhhh, what? What's the number one rule Cramer!?" hahaha
the Schaefers!!!! :D Christmas dinner at Oma's as usual. Very nice indeed! :P YUM YUM!
me, Joy, Sarah

This is after a bunch of us watched Pride and Prejudice in the theatres. Oh so sweet! Then we put on these cool vests because my house was cold and my dad always says put on a vest and some thermal socks if you're cold. haha. I say put on polar fleece, it's even warmer! It was lovely having my friends over and just chatting with them for hours. Mommy joined us as well, but I forget what we talked about..I'm sure it's not important now anything. THis was my last outing before really getting down to work on my essays. THe rest of the break was, shall we say gruelling. I had 3 essays to complete and in no mood to do so. UGH. I managed to finish two and stayed up until awful hours in the morning. Did not bode so well when I came back to England, because my body seemed to think 7am was 2am Canadian bed time and wouldn't let me sleep until then. I feel asleep for almost a week to the birds chirping.

me, Alice, Sarah

It was so nice to finally have my Uni friends and my highschool friends under one roof the night before my departure. From top clockwise: Roberto, me, Katherine, Justyna, John, Paul. It was a very low key night, we played Cranium. Sarah really got into the game and Rosalia kept shoving ours faces with sweets. mmmmmm, Christmas chocolate is the devil, but it's soooo good! Tis a shame something so good can be bad for you. Oh well, Christmas is only once a year and I've made it one of my new Years resolutions to swim at least once a week and walk to campus every day. So far this hasn't happened, but I'll try harder once I get into the swing of things with my new courses!