The Thanksgiving Holiday always is a great opportunity to express gratitude, no matter which country you are from. So, I want to take the opportunity to say thanks to all my family and friends who have helped make this an unforgettable year of my life!
Winter is coming. I can tell by how cold it’s been getting lately. So, it’s about time for me to get everything ready for the coldest season of the year. Today, that meant taking my down coat to the dry cleaner. Maybe, where you are from, down coats are not very common for the average person. But here, I assure, they come in very handy once the cold strikes. That day hasn’t quite come yet, but it will certainly come soon. And when it comes, I’ll be prepared …
I don’t believe in deja vus, really, and I doubt their overall usefulness, but let me tell you what happened to date … exactly a year ago: I had arranged to go out on an autumn photo shoot with my friends. I’d prepared my camera, recharged my batteries, and done everything necessary to be ready for an afternoon with my friends and my camera. But, lo, as soon as we wanted to start to shoot, my camera’s batteries quit their job, never to work again. And so, I ended up being a by-stander in our so well planned-out autumn photo shoot. Now, listen to this: Exactly one year later, namely today (though I only realized afterward), I’d arranged with one my friends to go on another autumn photo tour. But guess what happened, as soon as I got out my camera to start snapping away? You’re right! Something happened that seemed quite familiar to me – like a bad kind of deja vu! The batteries refused to work yet again, and all I got was …
Don’t give up: Even the weakest light can hold back the darkness! ~ anonymous ~
To go to the flower market, we set out today. Because, along with me, almost all of my foreign friends had decided that they needed to get new plants for their apartments. (Remember, we just had a big move into the new foreign faculty residence, and most of my friends were among those privileged enough to move into the new building.) So, we organized several vans and off we went … to turn our vans into literal jungles. And to realize that it’s Christmas. Or almost Christmas. Christmas season. For the big mall where we went first to have our lunch gave it away all too clearly. And since the Christmas season is my favorite time of the year, and because nowhere else you can see any signs of Christmas (which is usually generally the case around here), seeing all those fancy Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling and some other actually really pretty decorations was a welcome sight to me, and once again I thought what a happy thing it is that Christmas is …
Having spent a good part of my youth in a room with windows that had a great panorama view of the surroundings and allowed the sunlight to stream in from sunrise to sunset, I always knew how important it was for me to have a home with a lot of windows. Something that most people in my home country (and certainly I in the past) take for granted – namely the luxury of having an apartment with windows – was something that I had to give up when moving recently, and it was one of the main reasons why I probably wouldn’t have moved had I had a choice in the matter. Now, I have to learn to not only live with a lot of noise and a bad smell, but also to live with a living room that has no access to daylight, which at the very thought of it seems depressing to me. I guess, this is another one of those life lessons for me (to which there never seems to be an …
Guess what happened here the other day! Suddenly there were a bunch of workers busying around the old entrance (the one we used before the new lobby was ready), and before we knew it they’d set up a big fat screen right at the wall to our residence building. First, I didn’t think much of it, but on second thoughts something dawned on me: Wait! That screen sits right on the same wall which is also the wall of my living room. And sure enough, only hours later I knew exactly what that meant: A steady stream of noise began to invade even the quietest corner of my home. And that’s also when I realized that that was in fact a really bad thing. Who wants to have constant music and noise from clips you can’t even see, but which repeat every half hour or so to pervade their home and deprave them of any peace and quiet? Not only that, but the noise from that screen outside is so loud that I can’t even hear much …
Remember I told you about the bake sale the other day? Well, what was really sweet (aside from all the sweet treats I got) was the fact that afterward, I got to put my hands on a couple of really pretty autumn leaves. Fake, of course – they were only used for decoration – but now I get to take pictures of them, and I get to keep some of them till next fall, so I can decorate my home and give it a touch of autumn. I know that might not seem very special to you, if you live in those parts of the world where people generally keep their homes nicely decorated according to the seasons. It is a really big deal here, however, because here there is not much available for decoration that looks homey, and cozy, and natural. Have I told you yet? I like fall. And I like when leaves fall … into my hands (even when they’re fake)!
Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ anonymous ~
Bake sales are a fine thing. Especially in November; especially when the holiday season is drawing near. So, of course, we were all waiting excitedly for the bake this semester’s first bake sale. And today was the day. Armed with a big container, I joined the line of those waiting, and then we had the joy of indulging ourselves in cupcakes and cookies, in pies, and brownies, and fudges, and everything else a sweets-loving gal like me could desire. Yes, bake sales really are a fine thing. Because you finally get eat things that normally are hard to come by here.
