"I want kisses and dresses, A late night message that cradles, halos me to sleep." ~leona naess

If you've never heard Leona Naess before, go listen to her. If you're a Counting Crows fan you probably know who she is (she sings with them a lot). I love that song.

So I'm back at Richmond. It's weird, but good. For the past month or so I've been substitute teaching. For awhile (about 3 weeks) I was in for a woman on maternity leave, so I had the same classes every day. I had to plan the lessons and everything. I got used to it; I felt like the kids were "my" students. I felt like a real teacher. And now I'm back to being a student. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have the urge to stand at the front of the room and ask questions and encourage kids, but instead I'm stuck in a desk among a sea of other students (and usually it's a right-handed desk, which I hate because I'm a leftie).

My housing situation miraculously improved, so now I'm living in a single in Pacific House. It's a corner room with two huge windows, and it is approximately the same size as the double I had last year. I love it. There are only 5 girls on my floor, and the rest of the building is guys. I've met all the girls and a few of the guys and everyone's really nice. The only downside is that it's really far away from everything; it's a 15 minute walk to D-hall. But I'm not complaining; it's much better than sharing a converted lounge with 5 other girls, which is what I was supposed to be doing.

I had 3 classes today, and I like them all, though I think I'll have a lot of work to do this semester. Only 2 semesters of classes left, though. I can manage.

"Suspended clear in the sky are the words that we sing in our dreams." ~oasis

I know I haven't updated since I got home; I've been incredibly busy. There's no way I can cover everything that's happened in the past month, but I guess I'll give an overview!

I saw U2 at Madison Square Garden two nights in a row (11/21 and 11/22), once from a seat and once from the floor. On the floor I was in the front row directly on the rail. It was perfect. I have some AMAZING pictures that I may post later. I was thisclose to Bono. So yeah, I can't even describe what a great experience those concerts were. And they played some of my absolute favorite songs ever, so I was thrilled. I got to stay with my friend who lives in the city, and it was great to see her. And I made a new friend, too, which is always good.

Thanksgiving was also great. I love Thanksgiving. Every year my big family squeezes about 50 people into a New York City apartment, which is so much fun. I got to catch up with all my cousins and I stuffed myself with wonderful, homemade food that I missed so much while in NZ.


I've been substitute teaching basically every day since I've been home. I mostly stick to my old high school. I've reconnected with my old teachers, which is interesting and fun. It's so strange to be "on their side" now. I sit in the faculty room during lunch and listen to them talk, which is fascinating to me, because you don't really know much about your teacher's lives while you're their student. I see a completely different side of them now.

What else...I'm sure there's more, but I'm distracted right now. Kim and I are going to see Pride and Prejudice soon. I'm sooo glad she's here, because I don't know what I would do without her. All my other friends are at schools far away!

Oh, another thing! I got my housing assignment for next semester. I'm living in a converted North Court lounge with 5 other girls. None of whom I know. Should be interesting.

"Can't sing but I've got soul..." ~u2

I thought this last week would be nice and relaxing, but I've actually been running around a lot. I've had to do all these little errands like closing my bank account and my library account, dropping off clothes at the salvation army, mailing a box of stuff home, dropping off keys...don't even get me started on packing. It is physically impossible to fit five months of your life into one suitcase and a backpack. Impossible.

Despite all my running around, the past few weeks have been really, really great. I've been incredibly happy. The weather is beautiful and I spend a lot of time walking around outside. This morning Nicole and I had brunch at this really great restaurant. I got chocolate pancakes wrapped in fruit salad and cream, and I think it was the best meal I've had since I've been here.

I got my ear pierced (the cartiledge), and it really hurts. More than my other 4 holes did. I'm afraid it'll hurt for awhile.

I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. I've spent five months of my life here, and it's so strange to think that I may never come back. I'm really, really going to miss it.

There are things I'm looking forward to at home, the main thing being U2. I got a GA ticket for 11/22!!! I know most of you have no idea how amazing that is, but they've been going for thousands of dollars on eBay and I scored one for $75. On what will hopefully be the best night of the tour, the last show at Madison Square Garden. I'm also going the night before. So seeing U2 twice in two days will be pretty exciting, especially from the floor on the second night. I can't wait.

“Please don’t put your life in the hands of a rock ‘n roll band who’ll throw it all away.” ~oasis

See? I warned you. Another quote from the same song. I love that quote. But now I’ve moved on to the album Don’t Believe the Truth (that’s their newest one). It’s not bad; probably their best since Morning Glory. There are a few really good songs on it.

I just took my history exam, so now I only have one final exam left! It’s for my education class and it’s on Monday and it’ll be hard but I really don’t care anymore.

Perrine left, so now it’s just me and the boys in the flat. It’s weird without her.

“Slip inside the eye of your mind, don’t you know you might find a better place to play? You said that you’d never been, but all the things that you’ve seen will slowly fade away.” ~oasis

I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that I’m leaving so soon. In less than a week I’ll be finished with finals, and in less than two weeks I leave Dunedin. I’m trying to really appreciate the time that I have left here, because I know I’ll miss it when I get home. I know this is really strange, but I was thinking about being at home and missing certain things here. I’m already anticipating what I know I’ll feel once I leave. I was sunbathing on the deck today and I felt this overwhelming sense of melancholy simply knowing that in a few weeks I’ll be back in winter. So I’m trying to soak in everything before I go. I can’t adequately explain what my mind is going through, but it’s strange knowing that I’ve spent so much time here and I’ll be completely removed from it so soon.

Tomorrow’s Perrine’s last day here, and then for the next week it’ll just be me and the boys. I’ll miss her.

I’ve been listening to (What’s the story) Morning Glory? lately. I think it’s because I’m in a nostalgic mood (the fact that it’s nostalgia for a place I haven’t left yet is irrelevant), and this album throws me back into the mid ‘90s. I go through musical phases (of different lengths) where I’ll listen to one band, one album, or even sometimes one song nonstop. So you may be getting Oasis quotes as openers for the next few entries, depending on how long this phase lasts. Maybe even from the same song. I can't stop listening to it, it's addicting.