Return

Greetings from Gothenburg! I am currently safe and sound in Sweden after a long and arduous journey, but things have taken a turn for the better since last post. After leaving the library around 10 PM, I hung out in Amsterdam Centraal for a few hours, and made the best/worst decision of my life: I went to Starbucks. It was a great decision because I caught them when they were brewing a new batch, so since I had to wait two minutes (I can't believe some people actually complain about this. As a former barista, let me make it clear that coffee does not make itself instantly and magically. Would you rather us give you stale coffee? Ugh.), the coffee was on the house and it was delicious and the first American-style coffee I've had since August and it warmed both my hands and my soul. It was an awful decision because I find myself once again craving giant coffees. Anyways, it was a mild night in Amsterdam and the people watching was hysterical, which made the wait for the 12:30 AM bus to Düsseldorf kind of nice. The bus was warm and the driver was playing adult contemporary love song radio, which everyone knows is the ideal music to which to fall asleep. We got in around 3 AM, and to my delight, the main terminal in the Weeze airport had padded chairs without armrests, which provided a lovely bed for a few blissful hours of sleep. The flight went smoothly and I had some mini stroopwafels for breakfast. Sweden was cold and overcast and wet and icy, but I was still happy to be there. I came back to a warm, clean apartment, showered (oh my god, what a glorious shower), made what's-in-my-kitchen-that-isn't-expired-like-the-milk-I-left-in-there-for-over-a-month pasta, and passed out for three hours. I was expecting to want/need a day or two to pull myself to together and sleep, but I ended up meeting friends for dinner, which was great. After some quiche with Katrijn, I headed to Joy's goodbye dinner (well, by the time I got there, dessert leftovers, which were still so tasty); It was so good to finally see everyone after a month, and I realized just how much I missed the friends that I had made in Gothenburg. It's a little weird right now, since people are leaving while new students are arriving, and it's going to be difficult to balance saying goodbye with saying hello. Last night, for example, a girl that had just moved in to the Helmuts 13-2 hallway joined for dinner, which was nice that she had people to meet and talk to her first night, and it was great to already meet new people, but it was a little awkward for us to be filling each other in on our winter break stories and adventures and hugging and saying goodbye while trying to include her in the conversation. Anyways, I came back pretty early, since everyone had exams the next day (don't they know they're abroad???), and uploaded pictures and Skyped with Mom and tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

The next few days is going to be an attempt to complete too many errands, but I'm already awake and have started laundry, so that's a good sign. The best thing about being back in Gothenburg? Settling into the morning routine again. Current status: eating muesli, drinking blueberry tea, and jamming to some John Legend (and soon to be John Mayer, in a few songs). Also, yoga tonight! Get excited! And limber!