Wahoo! Im back. I've actually been back since January 2nd, working and taking Plato's
Republic 3 times a week for 3 hours each. I always thought that philosophy was uninteresting and pointless but I'm actually learning a lot in this class! The professor is super funny and half of my notes are random funny quotes (havent decided yet if thats constructive or not).
I've never really read or studied any philosophy and it was always one of those far-reaching, abstract, conceptual fields that I'm just not really interested in--but now that I'm reading it more deeply and being exposed to it, its not as hard as I imagined! Its actually fairly easy to digest once you get past the style, which is very Greek and very un-embellished. I am having issues writing my essays in this class, though, since we are encouraged to write in the Greek style and it is quite possibly the exact opposite of how I typically write.
But, aside from that, I'm enjoying it. Well, aside also from the 3 hours a class. All in all though, I'm so glad I decided to get it out of the way--I can handle one month of intensity if I get to spend more time during the semester on my art. Luckily after this I only have 2 more gen-eds to finish up...one I'm taking next semester and one I hope to finish the following January.
Work is going well! I'm so happy to be working all of the private parties. I love interacting with people and anticipating what they want, and seeing how the richer side of New York lives. For example, look at this cake for a 1 year old's birthday party:
That's always interesting. January is full of parties, so basically instead of demonstrating the toys, for the most part I've been working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 2 parties a day. That's also awesome because it ends up being more hours and I'm saving all of my money for study abroad this summer! Its also more interaction with my fellow employees, which has turned out to be a BLAST. The other day in between parties, we put on Disney and show tunes and I belted and acted out "Find Your Grail" from Spamalot for them. They enjoyed that. :D
I'm also super happy because my best friend (the one who visited for my birthday) has finally moved back to the city! We're hanging out all the time, and I'm glad to have him back. He's my new hot yoga partner, since I've been trying (New Year's Resolution) to go to hot yoga 3 or 4 times a week. (: There's a great (and cheap!) Yoga to the People on 38th and 6th that I've been going to pretty consistently. We tend to have a lot of fun together:
My number one NYR, though, I have been SO good about. I decided to stop biting my nails and I've actually stuck with it for...um...thirteen days! That is possibly my record since I was around five years old, so its a big deal.
My final NYR led to me making the leap (which is actually more of a step for me) to becoming vegetarian. It's been good so far. I just dont know what to do with the chicken noodle soup and tuna fish in my apartment. Its actually not hard at all for me, I rarely ate meat before, but I just felt like it was time to make a big girl decision and stop being wishy-washy about it. My new best friends are peanut butter and baked potatoes. I've been obsessed lately...
 |
| I could never... |
Anyway, I'm happy to be back in the city. My week in Virginia was nice--I got snowed in with my family on Christmas which was nice, and went for a trek in the woods with my black lab, Oscar.
I love and miss them and my Busch Gardens friends, but I think the week was a perfect vacation. I really feel like my home is now in New York...and I love that feeling of coming home. (:
PS--if you are planning on visiting or moving in the near future: IT. IS. FREEZING. Plan accordingly...your face will feel like its falling off if you dont have a fur hood. Enjoy January!
