On Christmas, friendship, and home

On the 23rd of December, after a somewhat harrowing journey from Florence I arrived home to the States (my flight from Florence was cancelled due to technical problems and while things worked out, for a brief while there was the distinct possibility that I was going to be stranded in Florence for the holidays).

The usual Christmas season madness is still underway - dinner on the 24th, dinner on the 25th, and today, dinner for 17 people. Goose, prime rib...it's the season to eat and eat and eat, and then eat some more.

I'm not someone who is very attached to Christmas gifts. It was something of a relief that this year my parents didn't overload me with largely useless things that I didn't want. Best gift from my parents: a printout of a picture of a Wii. Once they're on the shelves, I get to buy myself a Wii, and that's all I wanted for Christmas. Simple. And since I'm 26 and not 12, I'm not at all upset that I have to wait a bit longer to get one.

The best present I received for Christmas this year, however, came from my friends in New York. They got together and decided to pay for my ticket to New York so I can spend New Year's with them. That's real friendship. It's better than a gift of equivalent monetary value - because it means that they really want to see me. It's nice to feel like people actually like my company. My New Year's plans before this were to sit in my apartment in Ann Arbor with my cat, watching Fawlty Towers and drinking champagne. I think this will most likely be considerably more fun.

So all in all, it's nice to be back in the States - to see my parents, and to get to see my friends. Italy was nice and all, but the States is home as long as I've got my parents and good friends here.

Time's almost up

My time in Italy is almost up. On the 23rd of December I go back to the States to spend Christmas with my family.

I have to say, I'm really sad to have to go. I've made so many friends here and had a chance to hang out with people from all over Europe. I'm not going to miss Italy really. It's a nice country, but nothing special. I'm going to miss EUI. Not the classes, but the people. I've only been here for a few months, but I feel like I fit right in. This is somewhat rare for me. I don't normally fit in most places. Here, on the other hand, everyone's just a little bit weird, so it's been really easy making friends.

And of course, I'm going to miss Bar Fiasco, the greatest student bar/hangout imaginable.

I can't believe the semester is almost over. Come on, Michigan, let me stay just one semester longer...