Yup, it’s been awhile since I’ve written. Since I got back from England, I’ve mostly been battling lack of sleep, ADHD gone horribly wrong,piles of work on my desk, a moderate case of the blues, and various snowstorms. I’m very glad the week is over. It was fairly rough, and I’m looking forward to catching up fun things like finally unpacking, doing laundry, and sleep, and cleaning my room. What a romantic life I lead, I know. I would like to go snowboarding, but alas, I have no one to go with and all my gear is far away and across an ocean. I suppose I will have to content myself with the fact that my entire office is taking a half day on Monday to go sledding. I work in a wonderful and magical place its true! On the subject of work, I would also like to mention the addition of 5 new faces to the intern workspace. Their names are Flotsam, Jetsam, Linguado, Biafra, and Siu Pang Yow (the last of which was my spelling interpretation of how the name sounds). They are fish of the gold and sucker (catfish?) variety, and they are amazing. They sit on my desk and I speak to them periodically throughout the day (much to the amusement and chagrin of my officemates, I should add). Everyone in the office comes in to check on them. I love my fishies. They have made this week better. But maybe I should start with a quick run-down of my trip to the UK.

Well, it all started when I cheerfully presented myself to the customs agent upon my arrival at Stansted. I smiled, said hello, and handed over my passport…. Over two hours later I was allowed to enter the country. Yes, apparently the customs agent, who was somehow offended by every sentence I uttered, regardless of how exceedingly polite I attempted to be, was convinced I had been living illegally all over Europe for the past year. She was mean. My bags were searched, I was cross-examined, and yelled at. It was frustrating and mostly confusing, as this wasn’t an expected bi-product of my entry at all. I wasn’t allowed to get on my computer and produce the information she said I lacked, despite the fact that I explained it was all there. In the end, I was apparently saved by a Walgreens receipt hidden in a corner of my bag, and I was allowed to pass, but my faith in the British people was shaken.

An hour later, my faith was restored when I was given free passage to Colchester by the bus driver. I arrived at my final destination without further incident, and was welcomed into the home of a friend from Brasil, where I spent a lovely week with his family. It was a learning experience, as I was taught how to make some delicious new foods, learned about the life cycle of stag beetles, and about the history of mathematics. It was a wonderful experience, and I am grateful that they took in a random drifter like me for the holidays. We also spent some time in London, meeting up with some new friends and some old friends, but mostly with Brazilians. I don’t know how it happens, but somehow i can’t go anywhere without running into, and making friends with, Brazilians. I don’t see this as a bad thing, although I wish that some of said Brazilians were those who I desperately miss, and who actually reside in Brazil. Sigh.

Anyway, I did New Year’s in London. It was fabulous. We went to a pub that a friend works at, and continued the drinking that we had been engaging in all day, this time with crazy hats (it was a hat party). Anyway, it was a great new year’s eve, less of a good new year’s day. I spent much of the next day convinced I was close to death, and quite unhappy. No more sugary drinks for me…

That was about it for London. We also saw Avenue Q (good but not as amazing as I hoped for), and Avatar (absolutely lived up to the hype for me). I was not super excited about going back to Geneva, but I was ready to et back to my running partner. I am not good at self-motivation as anyone who knows me probably knows.

Anyway, my first week back has equalled stressful and long, as stated earlier, for all the reasons stated above.It is now the weekend, and I’m feeling much more rested and positive about the world. My plans over the next few weeks is to figure out how to make this city fun, and to find a social life. I’m sort of over this soul-stealing apathy that has descended over me here due to lack of these things. Too bad most things that are a. Fun and b. involving a social life, are quite expensive and beyond my means. I have another theatre audition next week, and I think I have a good chance of getting a part, as the director was actually told about me by name by the director I auditioned for before (yay!). So that might help with both A. and B. I’ll let you know what happens when it does!

PS- A surprise night on one of my last days in England reminded me that I’m meant to be a writer, a playwright, and an actor. Why the hell do I think that I should do otherwise?