Two weeks left

Two weeks left til I fly back home to Alabama for the holidays. That is nuts. We're looking at flights on Tuesday, the 13th of December. Since I'll be using the buddy pass, I'm gonna have a better shot at getting to go stand-by if it's not too close to Christmas. With any luck I'll get bumped up to first class again ;) Oh I can't wait to see my family and get doted on the entire first week I'm back. Famjam chrimas party is that Saturday (or Sunday?) and those are always a delight.

Yesterday I talked with Ineke about my flight plans and my future job plans. Since there's still no guarantee that Robbert is getting this job he's been looking into, we both decided it'd probably be best for me to go with this family in Hannover, Germany that I've been in contact with. My main job will be to help the eldest son, Kilian (who is 8 or 9), to learn English. I'm feeling pretty positive about it all. They have offered to drive to Rotterdam to pick me up in Germany, so that I won't have to tote ALL my stuff (including the pc I bought here) to the States and back again. Very kind of them.

It's still weird knowing I'm not going to be living in the Netherlands much longer. Haha. Csilla, Asta, and I all thought we were definitely gonna be here for a whole year and all three of us are moving-- well, Asta's already moved back to Iceland.

That was strange, too. All last week I was in such a funk, a depression with all the symptoms I was so familiar with my sophomore year at Auburn. I was really afraid I'd be stuck like that permanently. I'm so glad that was just a temporary phase. But the timing was awkward in regards to my farewell to Asta. I felt so hollow and blasé for her last few days here. I was faking a smile all Tuesday and Wednesday and when we were at my house to give her back something I had borrowed, I came back outside with it and we had our farewell goodbye and she was crying and I felt no emotions. Yea... definitely glad I no longer feel like a robot.

Regardless, this is the Asta I will remember: the one eating ice cream in front of 9gag.

I think it's somewhere between the 2:23 and 2:42 minute mark of The Unknown Guest that makes me realize just how much I love Cynic. Eight days til the show with Chimp Spanner (yes ma'am!) and Hypno5e  (whoever they are). I have a feeling-- a good feeling-- that there's gonna be next to no one at the show. There was barely any crowd at Rotterdam Deathfest and that was an all day affair on a Saturday. Next week's show is on a Wednesday and... for some reason Cynic's not all that popular here. But ohhhhh! I can't wait. :) The new album was initially a bit of a disappointment-- they've lot almost any sense of "metal" and have gone in an almost-entirely progressive-space-rock direction. But whatever. Paul Masvidal will forever be my hero. <3

And I like this picture of Csilla:

Csilla, writing a letter to my mother in BED, which is open as a cafe during the day. 

Anddd at long last...

Just as expected, homesickness hits the week of Thanksgiving. Le sigh. This is perhaps partially due to a combination of my back being messed up the past week, me getting sick recently (tho it could be allergies?), and the inherent depression that comes a few days after a really fun show. Asta's going back to Iceland on Thursday, Csilla's moving somewhere soon, since she got the boot last week. :C

But that show really was pretty spectacular. Nothing's gonna beat the Cynic show, of course, but Fleshgod was quite theatrical, and the Canadian band Archspire was a very nice surprise. :) Alanson and Maarten made the trip here and met up with me and their friend Amira who lives in town. Since it was an afternoon-into-the-night show we started drinking around 4:30 and the party didn't stop until 9:00 the next morning. Apparently. Some hours are completely missing though I do definitely recall dancing in Amira's living room listening to Ace of Bass. Yep.

So to get me out of the funk, I went out and bought Skyrim. Because if there's anything that can cure homesickness, it's a completely immersive 9.5/10 role-playing game. Huzzah! And it's wayy more entertaining than Oblivion, for some reason. Go figure.

Weekend Activity: Minimal

There is definitely something to be said for do-nothing weekends. The girls were pre-disposed all weekend and frankly, I didn't much feel like leaving the house. (I knew this would happen as soon as I got internet for my desktop.) Yep, just spent practically the whole weekend reading (still on the 3rd installment of Song of Ice and fire series), playing Portal 2 with Dad, replaying Braid (stuck on the last door to World 4-- stupid "Fickle Companion" key), and watching the Big Bang Theory and Breaking Bad. I love getting into movies (and in this case, TV shows) where I know next to nothing about them and they turn out being amazing. Such is the case with Breaking Bad. Have heard a lot of people saying how awesome it is, but I had no clue what it was about. And now I'm officially addicted and am on the 5th episode of the 2nd season. Yeehaw.

So yea that's been fun. Oh well-- last weekend was rowdy enough to make up for this past one. In Amsterdam, Asta and I ended up at this improv comedy show where you supposedly get free shots any time one of the things you shout out to the actors gets used in the skit. Well, we were both quite vocal, and even tho many of my various suggestions ("Spaghetti", "Hogwarts', "'I haven't pooped in a week'", and something else I forgot) were used, no free shots were given that day. Figures.

Despite my extended staycation inside the house this weekend, I think I'm getting sick. Not cool-- my superfun metal week starts tomorrow and I need my energy . :C Been chugging green tea all day and just ate a mandarin orange. I need to invest in some vitamins.

The end.

B'awwwwww!

On the bike ride home from field hockey, Caroline was in front of me and points at the sky and yells, "Look! A star!"

"Haha yea, do you not see stars often?"

"No. Never."

It was cute and kinda sad at the same time. :3



In other news, my time in Rotterdam may be cut short due to Robbert still being in-between jobs. If he doesn't find one by January, they're gonna have to let me go. :/ I was really sad when I found out, naturally, but I bounce back quickly. I'm going ahead and putting feelers out for another family, just in case. And if worse comes to worst, I get to continue my European adventure somewhere else. :)