merry christmas everyone!

we hqve reql chq,pqgne! huzzah!

also v odd keyboqrd so zill not tqx yr pqtience qny further: : :

louvre and notre dame

had a fabulous time at the louvre the other day, saw such brilliant sculpture. i went all through the italian renaissance and saw lovely marbles and then spent the afternoon in the egyptian section - actual mummies, very sad. lovely pink granite sphynix too. louvre was packed out. people got cranky at me for looking at the sculptures when they were trying to have their photos taken in front of them. still, managed to see amny beautilful things and have an ace time. i want to go back and check out the french sculpture section. it's enormous!

yesterday we did wandering (many pretty things to buy) and climbed the arc de triomphe after dark - amazing views. it's not nearly as cold here as in amsterdam. huzzah!

all the crhissy lights are up and there's people everywhere. my french is totally good. i asked for three stamps to australia today, and the woman understood and told me the price very slowly in french so i would undersatnd. except i suck at numbers so i still had to read it off the cash register. anyways. i am v. impressed with myself.

g+b off at gregorian chants. we have spent a lot of time in cathedrals, snorting frankensense.

love to all!

sculpture floats my boat

spent this afternoon wandering round a deserted sculpture garden in minus two - it was glorious. all the leaves were frozen, so i crunched as i walked over oak leaves to find sculptures hidden in the forest. saw some beautiful things, including a bunch of barbara hepworth's early work, two moores and a claus olsenburg. also lots of 1950s cubist sculptures, mostly in steel. very beautiful.

we went out to the de hoge veluwe national park, where grot was chasing van gogh. she and bbb had a lovely time looking through the museum while i explored the garden.

caught all sorts of pt to get out there, very adventurous of us, especially in the cold. we have lots of photos of all these things, but no way of getting them onto the computer, so i will have to do binge photo-posts again on my return.

poffergies and ollibolen hit the spot on the way back to the hotel.

amsterdam is cool

whee! i logged in! hahaaaaa! computer looses!

ahem. we're in amsterdam! wheee! it's very cold and very pretty. we have been to lots of galleries and museums (except almost everywhere seems to be undergoing renovations so is missing most of the collection - booo) and spending lots of time window shopping. there are bicycles everywhere! bicycles and bicycles! i want them all!

bbb and i spent a day riding round the city (along the canals) and out to nice parks, where all the puddles were frozen.

spent today window shopping. so many beautiful things to buy! got some nice bike toys and postcards. the streets are very beautiful - all tall crowded buildings and cobblestone streets. most people here speak dutch and english and are very friendly and helpful. having a lovely time.

will post again soonish now i've figured out how to login.

love!

four sleeps

the procrastination gods are making me pay. again.
lookit the pretty pictures!

i have marked about fifty essays (nearly there). i've got some euros, brand new asthma meds ($$$!) and tiny travel shampoo. i have a cv and a kind of, horrible, messed up proposal. three days to go! oh and i have to mark sixty exams after tomorrow as well.

winifred and i have been having study dates at the vancouver public library. the vpl is a beautiful deconstructed sort of building downtown. it's always packed out, but very quiet, and we've spent many productive hours there. plus going for long lunches with gossip and processing. which is also very productive, in its own way.

ziggy is celebrating hanakkah, and has had friends over each night to light more candles on the menorah. the other day they tried to remember some driedel songs and ended up singing a medley of raffi songs instead. "you brush your teeth, ch ch ch ch ch. . . "

the snow has all melted (except on the hill). now it is sunny and very cold. my lettuces coped fine, which is very exciting:

and this is the view from a friend's back veranda. it's typical east-van scenery.

right. back to how my background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated my decision to pursue a graduate degree at the university of *****.

from g+b

We are speaking french!
Bring all black clothes
We are in the middle of all sorbonne students
Room v musty and smokers in restaurants - asthma beaucoup
Food tres bien
Xxx g 

snow is fun

so beautiful! and so cold! it snowed all saturday, big fluffy flakes, and everybody wandered round in big coats, looking awestruck. except the cyclists, who looked cool in big coats, with helmets over their padded hoods and scarves up over their noses.
miriam and i had an exciting experience on the way to a brunch - she stopped at an intersection going uphill and the car got stuck! the wheels were spinning gently, and i was squeaking, but she was cool (cos a local girl), and then i got out and pushed the car out of the rut. i felt very tough and manly.

later i got to use the snow brush thingy to clear the car off:


two concerts on the weekend - one gospel choir (v. good fun, with singing along and hand clapping) and handel's messiah. on the way back from the first one miriam, her friend P and i stopped in stanley park and had a snow ball fight amongst all the great dark trees. then we made snow angels - it was perfect. and very very cold. oh yes.

now it's 12 degrees and raining. warm. balmy.

g+b are in paris by now, i think. eee!

huzzah!

happy b'day to grotty! you will run away from summer soon!

(yesterday in aus)

snow!

squee! so pretty! i woke up this morning and there were big fat flakes. it has stopped snowing right now, but the forecast was for flurries this morning and *serious* snow in the evening, so there's hope yet.

i am making faces cos it's so damn cold. can't smile in minus two!