Excuse me whilst I journey abroad

I have heard two notorious tales of it snowing in Boston. Number one; it allegedly snowed for a whole 10 minutes one crisp morning at around 7.45 - but I obviously wasn't up at that hour, because that would be - ludicrous. Number two - it wasn't so much a tale, as that I actually experienced it. After we saw the Christmas lights downtown, we came home to step off the tram to realize that yes, yes it was indeed, snowing, sort of, on our faces. That was nice. Christmasy and cold allegedly = picturesque and iconic. And it was. Snow is often a bothersome thing, but it still doesn't take away the beauty and MAJESTICNESS of it. Haters gonna hate.

Found a new use for my invented tupperwares - cookie jars.

I'm heading abroad this afternoon, so excuse me whilst I pull on my docs and shamefully pull on my saggy thermals under my denim (thanks to my 'least shit aunt' as she calls herself, who went shopping and bought them for me in Melbs, and coincidentally I've just read an email from her that said 'but anyway no one has died...or at least no one we give a flying fuck about'....go figure). We are road trippin up north to Canadia for Thanksgiving break, no time to waste. It's bound to be cold, there will be arguments about music choice on the 9 hour car trip, Annie insists she's spending the whole week at the pub (cause we are legal in Canada, yay), I predict wildlife, another horrible winter-sport-incident on my part, campfires in the woods, trickery, laughs, and if it's been anything like the last few weeks in Boston...actually, my entire semester for that matter - a lot of fun.

So Canada - be warned, we are coming. If 'yall don't hear from me again, I've probably been mauled by a bear or something.

When life hands you lemons...ask for salt and tequilla

T.H.I.G.S  I  D.I.S.L.I.K.E

1. Room inspections. We had another one the other day and I got in trouble for all the bottle caps I am collecting on the windowsill...I didn't even think about it! And now I think I'm in trouble. But at my hearing I have a plan - I'm going to say that I'm Australian bogan from the outback and that I was making a Lagerphone ok THAT'S WHAT WE DO DOWN UNDER so sue me.

A Lagerphone.

2. Carrying the garbage down every Sunday morning. There are always countless trips, cans that are not-quite-empty and the high probability that the proctor considers you an alcoholic.
3. Kids eat cantelope and peanut butter in class.
4. They don't know what 'cheeky' (a word I use disproportionally) means. Professor quote: "Cheeky. Word of the day - look it up"
5. The plastic shot glasses Liz buys to make jelly shots cost more than the actual vodka to make them.
6. Americans try to simplify things with technology but it always backfires and complicates the entire process.
7. It cost me an arm and a leg to buy some sardines to have on Texas toast.
8. I've started saying 'mall' instead of shoppo and 'purse' instead of bag. I'm finally willing to accept that maybe I've adopted a slight Americanised accent as well.

16 people or things they couldn't believe about america until they moved here

Every time I'm hanging out in America and I hear a loud bang, I immediately panic. I was in my apartment and there was a gunshot-like loud BANG in the hall and my thought process was;

1. Is the door locked
2. Get under the bed

It's frightening, shootings happen on a daily basis, most are just under reported/happen so frequently they don't get a news story unless it's fatal. It's crazy. Seriously, if you take interest in my personal safety in this country, check this out;

Boston Crime hot spots
 ...you can go back days and days and days...4 or 5 incidents every day...all around the city that I  know-isn't-safe-but-didn't-think-it-was-that-bad. Sadface.

Or this one; even worse;
Universal Crime Hub

Just for fun,you can check out Fenway, which is the area around where I explored on Thursday, in my last blog post - Copley Square, ect. The dates are less recent on this one.

Only a couple of weeks ago a student at a high school assaulted and murder his teacher - 20 minutes from where I live and study.
Denver death

And if all of that isn't bad enough, the Mass government makes all information on sex offenders available online for the community; they see it as their duty to inform the public about the past actions of sex predators. SO you can literally look up your area, even your street and view information about your neighbours.

City Data 
"Online database of registered sex offenders provides names, addresses, photos, and the type of crime for which the person was convicted."

Make of that what you will.
Torben swears to have found 5 registered offenders living on Huntington Ave. 

Oh and btw it's illegal to have 6 or more women living together under a permanent lease in Mass because it's considered a brothel.

So ahh, given the slightly depressive post about things that I've taken note of in the US, here is something to giggle at, although I'm not sure about the credibility of the sources...
Big government. Small brains. Dumb laws.

...and finally, photos of Pierre's French birthday party which was a frock up occasion, accompanied by wine and crepes....which our little Frenchman had so much trouble pronouncing, we all thought he kept saying 'crabs'. Enjoy. And I moustache you a question; do you enjoy my outfit? I bloody hope so as the magic marker didn't wear off for a couple of days. So on Sunday morning the proctor thought I was a cross dresser as well as an alcoholic.

Bah-stawhn

One of my two classes that I had on Thursday was cancelled. That was as good an excuse as I needed to take the day off school, sleep in, and then spend the day exploring more nooks and crannies of Bah-stawhn...realising the ever-present Bostonian accent along the way. I headed down to Copley Square, then down Newbury Street, through the Public Gardens and then FINALLY through Boston Commons, had a coffee, headed all the way to the North End, explored Little Italy by DAY...as just the other night we were in Little Italy again..but only for dinner, and it's dark then (no fun), and then I finally headed back to the Boston City Library for a look and then worked on my essay there for a bit for a change of scenery.

I love traveling by myself or having some time just me myself and I in a city far far away...it often leads to quiet reflection and assessment of the life you've left behind. It makes you think about the things you miss and should appreciate more, the things you don't miss and wonder why, and things that you should think about changing when you evidently return. I met some interesting characters on the way and realized that I love this city like I love my old lava lamp - the more time you spend watching and engaging with it...the more you realize how much it amazes you...and you never want to leave it...and then when you finally do leave it you miss it and all it's wonder so much...and wish you had never let it go. Then you'll find yourself in bed on sleepless nights missing it.

Annie had a super hectic day in court today (had to win a case blah blah) so we met around 5pm and did a cute little girly thing...we got our shellac nails done at a little boutique on Newbury street. We both kind of enjoy things like that, once in a while...sort of like a guilty pleasure. We had green tea and manicures, and it was a lovely way to top off the day...and then Thirsty Thursday at college happened - so we were up at the Penthouse. 

WARNING: DO NOT GO INTO TIM'S PENTHOUSE UNLESS YOU'VE HAD YOUR TENTANUS SHOT. IT IS UTTERLY FILTHY AND GHASTLY UNHYGIENIC UP THERE AND THE PROBABILITY OF YOU CONTRACTING HEPATITIS IS 87.89765678967%.

Tim simply replies with; "college life dude". I showed Annie and Bride this a long time ago now, and it's the best way to describe Tim...his prevalence of 'dude' and 'totally' is hilarious...and his voice and relaxed manner of being is exactly the same;

Crush - Finding Nemo

Also, BIG NEWS. One of my all-time favourite songs I played at a party the other day, and then people where telling me that the artists were actually a Bostonian band! Yeah! An American ska-core band formed in Bah-stawhn in 1983. Rock on. Take a listen and check out the photos of my glorious home;

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 
Bosstones Website

Copley Square

Copley

Public Gardens

After the Red Sox victory...this happened

I know Central Park is amazing...but...

Badass.

Love it.

Fall colours

Boston Commons

Commons

Commons

Theatre District

Italian province North End

Haunting Holocaust memorial

Little Italy

That's the Bostonian accent all right

You can get lost in the streets of Little Italy all afternoon

This is where me, Bridge, Annie, Liz, Pierre, Guillame, Torben and Nicolai had dinner last night coincidentally

European vibes

Love it