The major highlight of yesterday was that campus saw the first proper fall of snow of the year - Sam was particularly excited as snow is a rarity in Australia. So, before anyone had the chance to get out and write/draw obscene things in the snow, I trekked out to get photos.
Once I had photographed nature, I spent a lazy morning watching TV and then after brunchI finished off my exam notes for Friday. Later that afternoon I finally had chance to speak with family now that Tom is home from uni. After dinner, we went over to KC to have hot drinks and get warm out of the freezing weather that had turned to sleet.
Brunch this morning followed by some time spent at the piano and then over to the library to do several hours of revision for one part of the exam next Friday. Satisfied that I deserved the rest of the afternoon off, I went back to Worcester and discovered that I could get 'Have I Got News For You' on online, so I watched several episodes of the new season.
At 5:30pm I walked over to Sean's for my home cooked dinner as my prize for bringing in the most profit at the Relay bake sale with Shannon. Some of the others were a little late, so Sean, Nick - who won for creativity, and I sat down to spaghetti, chicken parm, salad (prepared by myself), and some bread. Full marks for the food, which was great. We chatted and relaxed, joined later by Shannon, Lenka, Sam and Marcela.
The rest of the evening was spent playing 'Cards Against Humanity' and then using Shannon as a Snapchat showcase. A little more revision is earmarked for tomorrow, but as I already know what the question I want for the exam, and I half two and a half hours to do three historical IDs and one essay, I'm not over-working too much this weekend (touch wood).
So, I know I have a couple of days to catch up on, but as I said, with things winding down there isn't loads to say. Thursday was the final class of the year and with nothing to do until the exam on the last day, I decided to give myself the day off to unwind after a non-stop couple of weeks. In the evening we went over to KC to drink to the end of classes and jumping the final hurdle before the holiday.
Yesterday, was spent lazing around in the library where Shannon works for a while, and then I went over to Sean's, where he, Marcela and I spent the afternoon under a blanket and watching 'Mickey's Christmas Tales' and then 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'.
Once the film was finished, I went back over to Worcester to get ready to go to David and Deirdre's (my host family's) house for dinner with some of the others. As ever the food was superb and their hospitality was excellent. Naturally Fern, their part wolf part husky was a huge hit with everyone. Before we knew it, we'd been their five hours and it was approaching pumpkin hour, so we headed back to campus.
Whilst the other went out, Sean, Marcela and I resumed our positions under the blanket and watched 'Tomb Raider', not a very Christmasy film I'll grant you, but I'd never seen it before and it was British, so I was happy.
Yesterday was the last day for Striner's classes this semester. We finished off the day with 'It's A Wonderful Life' to put everyone in the Christmas spirit in the lead up to finals week and a much needed holiday (after the one last week).
With everyone else still meeting essay deadlines I've had a fair bit of spare time to do book stuff, but after today's class with Miller, in which we'll find out about our final on the final day of term, it will be revision all the way for the last big push. I foresee this last week and a bit being quite quiet with all eyes on upcoming examinations. Now, I'm deciding whether to put the blog on hold over Christmas and then re-start it in the Spring semester, or if it would be worth continuing with it over the month that I'm at home.
There was a mash of small jobs that needed doing this morning. Leaving Hodson from breakfast, I went down to the pianos first thing to preemptively unwind. Then, I posted a letter back home to Sara, handed in my DS-something-or-other form to get a signature for me leaving the country over Christmas, and did my post-Thanksgiving laundry. After class, I had a relaxed lunch with no plans for the afternoon.
Later, I made another trip to the pianos and then headed to Hynson Lounge for the farewell to the international students that will be leaving us next week. All in all, the food laid out was a welcome way to stock up before dinner on good cheese, crab dip and fruit.
Later in the day I started having internet issues in Worcester. I soon found out that I couldn't get online because I had neglected to change my password. Unfortunately, I could not then get on the internet to make a new password because I didn't have a functioning password to then alter - that's some smart thinking from the folks at OIT. Luckily, Kellyanne was on hand so I could access the college website via her account to alter my details. I then had the problem that I needed a new password that was easy enough to remember, but also needed to contain a capital letter, be at least eight characters long, have a number in there somewhere, and some kind of punctuation. But, after a while I had a password that makes the Enigma look like child's play and then I headed to dinner.
Back to classes as usual today, but with one being a discussion class and the other two watching films it wasn't a very strenuous day. After handing the last paper of the term, I went over to Walgreen's with Sam and Lenka to get some shampoo and shower gel as I realised that I also left that at Sean's, but he can keep them. (Don't say I never get you anything, Bean.)
This evening I stopped by KC and then me and Shannon went over to Hodson to begin selling cupcakes and brownies door to door for Relay. I can say that altogether everyone made over $400, with me and Shannon bringing in the most as a team with over $110! Our prize is that Sean will now be cooking us a dinner with Nick, who got the prize for most creative baking.
Well, the break is over in the blink of an eye. Today's breakfast was a Granata Sunday special, with all the eggs and meat you could ask for. This following yesterday's bagels with assorted toppings. We packed up and lazed around before heading over to the surprise party of a family friend around midday. - Evidently I didn't pack well enough as I've just found that I've left behind my headphones.
Although I was a total stranger to nearly everyone in at the party, it was a good way to grab some food before heading straight home and I had a chance to say goodbye to the whole Granata household. I can't thank Sean's parents, his grandparents, Erin and himself enough for having me and Eoin over for such a family orientated holiday. All the food was superb, as was the company. Thanks again to Sean for making a depressingly long journey back to campus. I look forward to the Granata's potentially coming to England in the summer so I can repay their generosity. Now, I will have the first chocolate from my advent calender.
