Seriously! I can always justify blogging instead of doing schoolwork because I know people at home are checking up on me, plus it will be a great way to relive my trip when I get home ( in 3 days, eek!)
I realized that I was so excited to write about Barcelona last night that I totally disregarded the rest of last week! An entire week of Newcastle craziness unrecorded? Shameful.
I spent all of Tuesday morning and afternoon (since it was the only day without pouring rain this week) wandering around Newcastle taking photos of all my favorite places and finishing up my holiday shopping. The city center is always bustling with holiday cheer and merriment recently, and everything is all decorated and lit up for Christmas. It's almost pleasant enough for me to forget the wind and cold - for a second anyway. Then I got a surprising email from the rugby team saying that the Lancaster game was actually still on, and that I got drafted to the 1st team again. So with that stressful piece of information in mind, i realized i had better get to studying biochem since Wednesday afternoon was shot. I took a nice, long 5 hour study break to have dinner with my rugby family. We all met up with my rugby grandmum, Kelli, at her house for my goodbye dinner. My rugby mum, Kelly, my rugby aunt, Lizzie, and rugby cousin, Lizzy were all there, and Cat and Mimi joined us for a team dinner since Kelli shares a house with Mimi and cat lives right down the block. All my favorite rugby team members in one place eating, gossiping, and chilling out (what else do girls do?). Leaving the team behind is going to be just as hard as leaving my flatmates since I spend just as much time with them. I went back to my flat late and studied biochem for a bit with Matt ... well, more like taught myself the basics of biology with his help so i could figure out what i was supposed to learn this semester. I've missed half the biochem lectures between rugby games and course schedule overlaps, so I needed some major late-night cramming.
Wednesday I wake up thinking I have a rugby game until just before I'm about to head to the pitch, only to get an email saying Lancaster isn't coming up at all. Bummer. But hey, at least I was called up to the squad initially. Plus, i actually needed all Wednesday afternoon to learn a semester's worth of biochem. And for only the 2nd time this semester I was able to make it to my Wednesday archeology lecture - shocking. As for the rest of Wednesday ... oh right, more studying 24 lectures of biochem I didn't know.
Thursday was full of nerdiness, basically. The biochem exam went surprisingly well, and I pulled off a great grade considering I just learned biology overnight. Then I still had to make though an archeology lecture, seminar, and a sociology lecutre. Just when I thought my brain was on overload, there's more. I then spent a record 5 hours in the library for the rest of the night and didn't get back to my flat until 10pm. I never go to the library. Ever. I hate libraries. But I realized that I actually had to get all the sources and semester's worth of readings that I would need to write my 4,000 word sociology final exam essay and archaeology final paper upon my return to the USA (thank goodness they aren't due until January!). So I basically rounded up all my sources and books for the papers and spent my life (and a small fortune) at the photocopier. Still cheaper than buying the books, though, and I can transport all my work back home. I'm sure the librarians thought I was nuts, but do I really care? When am I ever going to see these people again?
Friday - Monday: BARCELONA. Which still tops the list of best places I've visited here.
Today has been a crazy study session for that lovely Biochem final tomorrow. I've come down with end-of-semester-itis and I seriously can't take anymore. So I'm quitting for a while to spend the evening with my flatmates and the rest of my block for our Christmas dinner and Secret Santa exchange, then it's out in Newcastle for Roast Duck'd - the huge end of year bar crawl. I'm really bummed that I can't go crazy with everyone else, but I'll at least go out for a few hours. The biochem exam isn't until 2pm tomorrow, as long as I get a few hours of sleep and can review again in the morning I'll be fine. I'm only here once, and I'm just going to make the most of it.
As of 4pm tomorrow (ironically 24 hours from now), my academic career at Newcastle University is over. Which means throwing a huge packing party tomorrow night to have one last night of fun with my flatmates and divide up all the stuff I'm leaving here that I don't have room to bring back. Before the flat party begins, I'm going out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant near the river front, Marco Polo, for the rugby team holiday dinner. I can't believe it will be the last time I see them. I'm still in denial. Most of my flatmates and friends leave for home on Thursday, which should make Thursday night a slightly less stressful packing time. Though I already have plans to go out to eat at Nando's with Natalie, Graham, and Fran late on Thursday. I just won't sleep at all Thursday night since I have to leave at 4am to get to the airport for the Friday morning 6am flight home.
Less than 3 days left. I really don't like that. Now I'm off to cook whatever mystery food I have left in my fridge since I'm running low on time and money now. Little more biochem, some secret santa action, fun on the bar crawl, then up early in the morning to study again. Coffee is my best friend at this point.
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