sammii

Ah, my fever finally broke and my appetite came back, so I think I'm finally on the mend!

Happy New Year, everyone, even though there's still ten hours here and fifteen hours in New York!

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*waves hello to Scandinavia 2008 from western...western...western Europe*

Half an hour left here!

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Double post (but it's a special occasion): Happy New Year from Europe!

Argh, what a dreary, miserable day today. Sunday and Monday, while it did rain, the sun came out at times. Not so today - cloudy and dreary all day. We started our orientation with a campus tour and introduction to the faculty of arts today, although the latter was geared more towards undergraduate students. As far as I can tell, I'm the only international student in my program, although I won't know for sure until Monday, of course, when classes start. Last night was really noisy outside my window, with a bunch of drunk guys singing Irish rebel songs. *rolls eyes* Great. Although it was also amusing.

Registered with the nurse today and I was quite amazed to discover that I get all my medical care completely free! Kind of sad when another country treats you better than your own, eh?

Had another girl move into the flat today - a PhD student from Germany. She seems really nice.

Ok, hopefully now I can actually write something and make sense now! I was so incredibly tired earlier I almost couldn't stand it! So I'm in Derry now, in my room. It's a nice room, quite large and comfortable with a good bit of storage space. The flight from [to] Belfast was long but uneventful. I sat beside a guy from Derry who seemed nice, but I was too tired to talk much and got a couple of hours of sleep on the plane. Customs was quite simple and stress-free, and the lady at the airport was able to devise a way for me to get to Derry that didn't involve waiting at the airport for two hours. It truly feels fantastic to be here. I almost cried as the bus entered Derry - it felt SO GOOD to be back.

I don't think there's anyone here in my apartment except one other girl - Rachel Flanagan, a master's student from Co. Mayo in the Republic. We talked for an hour or two tonight, watching guys play soccer out the kitchen window. Great fun!

Tomorrow I need to find out the schedule for this week, get a cell phone, set up a bank account, and run various and sundry errands to get myself moved in. Should be fun. (rolls eyes)

Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy.

So here I am, sitting here at Newark Airport, waiting to embark on what will likely become on of the greatest adventures of my life. It's about 5:20pm now, and my flight doesn't leave until 8:55pm, so I've still got a good, long time to wait. I can't wait to get on the plane, get my pillow and blanket, and get some rest for what will, undoubtedly, be a very busy day tomorrow.

Mom and I finished packing last night about 3:00am. We were able to get everything, including my bedding (except my comforter) into those two LL Bean bags that Ted got me for graduation. And I was even able to keep them underweight so that I didn't have to pay any fees.

It's a beautiful day in Newark today. Some puffy clouds, but it's clear and sunny anyway. Likely one of my last glimpses of the sun in a while if that weather forecast is right. We'll see!

This morning wasn't as difficult as I feared it might be. We got up early and were out of the house by about 8:45am. We stopped by Cracker Barrell in order for my mom to buy me one of those angels (which she will mail to me). Then we got breakfast at Arby's (Chicken Biscuits are good!) and headed on down to Louisville, where we met Laura and had some coffee at Starbucks before I went through security. Mom called me about 5 minutes after I got to the gate. It was hard to leave her, but it makes it a lot better that she has vonage now and we'll be able to talk as often as we like. Dad was better at hiding it, but I think he was equally emotional. Myself, I'll be very glad to get to Derry tomorrow and get some much needed rest!

PS: The flight from Louisville to Newark was good but bumpy! Lots of "little" turbulence.