2009 will forever be known as the year that I became an expatriate. I so easily forget that the majority of this year (from January until the end of August) was spent outside of the country. I rode a bike to the market every other day and went to classes in historic buildings such as the VOC former headquarters of the world's first multinational corporation (the Dutch East India Trade Company). Among other things, I made a new city my home, turned 21, and completed my second to last semester at Hopkins. I can't believe I only have one semester left. Everything in my life seems pretty up-in-the air. I have no idea what I'll be doing next year, but I don't really care. Things will work themselves...at least that's what I keep telling myself.
After I finally finished my papers on December 23rd, I was able to relax for a short period of time before heading to my neighbors to make our annual gingerbread house and gum drop trees. Pictures of the final product areforthcoming. Christmas Eve and day were both relaxing and fun. It was just my parents and my brother and sister, so it was low-key. We spent Christmas Eve watching Inglorious Bastards; everyone except for my Dad had seen it in theaters, but we willingly watched it again. It was especially nice since I have the habit of falling asleep during every movie that starts after 8 pm. I didn't miss a thing. On Christmas, my family saw Avatar in 3D which was pretty awesome. Not what I expected, but nice. I would definitely recommend it. Any story that has a big speech like Independence Day, the Patriot, or Braveheart gets me every time.
Since then, I've been in and out with little time to spare, but it's so nice to be home. As much as I love my apartment, I love being in my house which is always cozy and warm with the fire on. Despite my homebody mood, I spent a couple of days in Newport, Rhode Island and went up to Boston for a short time. It's nice to be back in New England, but boy its been cold. In Newport, my family had to forgo the Cliff Walk, for fear of freezing.
Luckily the weather will be a good excuse to spend the rest of my break reading favorite books and watching new movies. Most ofall, it won't give me an excuse to avoid job applications. Forced to stay inside, I'm going to write a bunch of cover letters and essays so that I can apply to many positions while I have some free time. I might schedule a few informational meetings and hopefully go back to school with a clearer sense of what I will be doing. My next few days will be exciting as I plan on taking the train to NYC to visit quite a few friends. When I get back, it's down to business with applications galore. So I'll leave you with this short update for now. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a lovely holiday break.
Jackie, believe it or not, I watched a DVD of "Inglourious Basterds" with my dad and my brother on the evening of Christmas Day! (My mom was working the night shift at the hospital that evening, so we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve in my family.) I haven't watched "Avatar" yet, though; I guess I should soon, since everyone I know who's seen it has raved about it!
Posted by: JHU_Kate | January 08, 2010 at 08:02 AM