Globalization and Future Beauty Deprivation: A Reflection on Paris

Paris is amazing, and if I didn't know that it would evoke groans from my blog followers, I would call it my favourite place we've been so far. It's pretty much as great as everyone who has ever been there says it is. I'm sad to leave, because I really loved everything about it; learning more about the history of the France, reading in beautiful gardens, book shopping, the hunt for a leather jacket, eating breakfast at cute bakeries, stained glass, and seeing famous buildings and paintings in real life. Everything in Paris is so beautiful, and so old. The oldest building in Calgary is what, 110 years old? I've been seeing buildings that have foundations in 600 A.D.!!! So crazy to think about. Some quick highlights of the week are as follows:
Sainte-Chapelle: Ohmygoodness, probably one of the most beautiful things ever. There is just a huge dome of stained glass that tells the entire bible from Genesis to Revelation in small, stained glass images! Not only is it insanely pretty, but it is mindblowing to think of all of the time and effort put in to create such an amazing piece of art.
 The Eiffel Tower lights: On our last night we got a baguette, some fancy cheese and some wine and metroed down to the Eiffel Tower to finish our week the way we started it.
The Mona Lisa: I originally didn't think it would be that cool, I mean, I'd seen it a million times before, but there was something really amazing about seeing the most famous painting in the world in the flesh. The Louvre itself is an impressive building architecturally too.
Chateau Versailles: Versailles was unreal. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be, and the history behind it is so interesting to me. The gardens are huge, and gorgeous and so over the top, it's definitely like something a kid growing up on Disney movies would imagine a palace garden to look like. The Hall of Mirrors left me speechless, it is definitely storybook material. Everything is so detailed and beautiful, it really reinforces the idea that architects back then were truly artisans. So beautiful (I seel like I'm running out of adjectives) I also liked learning about Marie-Antoinette some more, she truly is a really complicated figure, and it would be interesting to learn more about her beyond the Kirsten Dunst movie.
Jardin Luxembourg: On one of our afternoons, we spent some time in the Jardin Luxembourg and wrote and read and basked in the warm September weather. It's so crazy to me that plants can be art too, as all of the trees were lined symetrically, and the fountainss and flowers were all precisely places to be the most pleasing to the eye. I need to find myself a good park close to home.


There are so many beautiful things in Paris, and I probably haven't listed even a fraction of the beautiful things I saw this week. Everything in Paris is a work of art, from the buildings, to the plants, to the food, to the way locals dressed their toddlers. So much beauty in such a big city. I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to be so beauty deprived when I get home. These days I wake up, and can guarantee that today I'll see an old building, a stylish local, a canal, some street art, and hear bells from a church steeple. How blessed is this girl? Too blessed for my own good, I think. Going home to cold, grey, blustery winter in Calgary doesn't sound too appealing when I think about it right now. I guess I'm coming home right in time for Christmas, so the beauty can be stretched a little longer!


Another thought from Paris that I wanted to share with you takes me back to the ol' grade 10 social class where I made Office references, goofed off, and yes, learnt a little bit about 'globalization'. Globalization is a fancy term that Merriam-Webster defines as: to make worldwide in scope or application. Unfortunately, Paris is not immune to globalization. It is no longer a city of independantly owned shops, bakeries, or even national brand names, but now houses large food and clothing chains that just don't measure up to the class that Paris is known for. For a little bit of history: In 1860, Louis Vuitton agreed that Paris needed to keep things classy, and started a comittee to make sure that the Avenue des Champs-Élysées remained an area of sophitication and luxury, and tried to prevent some shops from moving in. There have been many battles as to which shops and restaurants could set up there, and I was a little sad to see that a lot of those battles were lost, as there is now an H&M and a Disney store on the avenue. I was also discouraged to see greasy, golden arches parked out front of The Louvre and Chateau Versailles, we're all becoming slaves to the man! It's sad to me that Paris isn't the place of class it once was, but like Robert Frost and the Outsiders say "Nothing gold can stay."


To wrap this up, let me just remind you: I LOVE PARIS! Here is an anonymous quote that I feel like the Parisians have Post-It noted onto their mirrors:
I think everything in life is art.
What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea or your coffee. How you decorate your home or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel.


Life is art.         


Goodnight from back home in Ghent. 


Stay Golden!


xo         

Paris, mes amis!

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

Ernest Hemingway

Paris today was a combination of all things I love; lights, pretty buildings, art, changing leaves, coffee, shopping, literature, and feeling like I’m smart.

We arrived in our apartment yesterday afternoon and it is like something from a movie. It has a stone feature wall, wooden beams on the ceiling, antique furniture, chandeliers, pretty paintings, and windows that open to flower boxes and a cute street of white, detailed apartment buildings! So cute and so perfect!

After getting settled we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We wandered around in the park near it, and took pictures, but we found the best view of the tower from the Musee d’Hommes across the street. From the tower, we were able to see the sunset, which was breathtaking. It wasn’t until I saw the city from the tower that I realized how huge and gorgeous this city is. Once we made our way back down to the base of the tower, dusk had fallen and the lights were turned on which was gorgeous. I was super excited to see the tower, but the little 6-year-old in me was also excited to be standing where Mary-Kate and Ashley filmed ‘Passport to Paris’. (I’m such a dork) It was seriously so pretty though, everything here is a work of art. We don’t put the same effort into beauty back home that the French put into this city. There is a way of creating, seeing, and being that is the most graceful and beautiful way of doing so and the Europeans have that figured out for sure.

Today we explored the city and the area near our apartment and saw so many amazing bridges, city hall, Notre Dame, the Seine and so many fun shops and restaurants. The two highlights of my day though were Le Pont de l'Archevêché and Shakespeare and Company.

During our wanderings, we came across a bridge called Le Pont de l'Archevêché with a chain-link fence covered in padlocks. Upon closer examination, we saw that they were locks of love. Each of the locks was different, some were painted, so had ribbons and some were engraved, but they all expressed peoples love for each other or the city. From simple things like ‘D+A’, to messages about people honeymooning in France, to my favourite lock which reads ‘je t’aime maintenant’ they were beautiful and creative and a lot of fun to read.

Unlike Le Pont de l'Archevêché, Shakespeare and Company had been a visit I’d been planning for a long time. In the 1920’s it was an active bookstore that was also a place where so many notable authors would gather for a place of refuge, to write, to think and to discuss. People such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and William S. Burroughs lived there for a time, to write, read, and come together. This tradition still carries on today, writers can still ask to spend time in this almost holy place of literature. The only conditions for their stay are that they have to help at the store, work on their own piece of writing, and read a minimum of one book a day. What an amazing experience it would be to work on a book in the same place that so many revered writers spent their free time, gah! Definitely something to dream of. I thought it only fitting to purchase my own copy of ‘A Moveable Feast’ from the store. (I was also able to snag a copy of Oliver Twist in French and a book called ‘Un Jeune Homme En Colère for 20p a pop on the side of the road, so my little reading heart is content!)

I am loving being able to use my second language, and the locals are quite impressed with the fact that the tourist kids can parlez-vous. I also feel super intelligent when I am able to point out important places from the French Revolution and explain it to my family. Serment du Jeu du Paume? Yeah, I can tell you all about it and where it’s located and show you a picture of me next to it! My Social-20 teacher M. Moquin would be impressed with me.

All in all, J’ADORE PARIS! I can’t wait to spend the next week here!

Bonne nuit! <3

 The Tower Lights

LoveLocks

i love you now.

 I LOVE!

They Call Us the Fat Americans

They are very civilized here in Europe. Not only are they civilized, but they are slender and healthy. In Canada it’s not uncommon to see a couple people at the mall or in the street that are secretly being filmed from the neck down by Global Television for a special on obesity rates in the country.

The other day we did a not so classy, North American style thing that probably made the sharp dressed Europeans watching us from the bar spit-take their Belgian Beers and proceed mumble things about hating tourists.

We were wandering downtown, constantly in search of a good cup of coffee and a bakery and stumbled upon a cute little bakery with Speculoos flavoured cheesecake (If you don’t know what Speculoos is, please look it up. It is the reason I am returning to Canada 300 pounds heavier.) We hadn’t eaten in a long time, and we panicked. We were taken prisoner to the promise of coffee and got lost in the sweet smelling haze of freshly baked goods as we eyed the sample tray in front of the till. There were no seats left for five in the bakery so in our distressed state we ordered a full Speculoos cheesecake, three espressos and five forks to go. We made for the statue of naked babies surrounding someone who we’ve never heard of and sat at the base of it, drool running off of our chins as we stared at the Belgian miracle that lay before us. We looked like a pack of lions that had just taken down a baby zebra and were deciding which part of the body to eat first. (Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but you need to know how un-classy this looked) After the initial bites we stopped to look around at all of the civilized human beings drinking their lattes under patio umbrellas, discussing politics and wearing pantyhose. We were a North American nightmare, and I’m sure people were judging us like they’ve never judged people before. There were hobos sitting on either side of us, we really didn’t look good. The next few bites were taken sheepishly as I looked at my small espresso trying not to wish it was at least a grande size.

I have been Americanized, and all I want to be now is European. Portion control, bikes everywhere, and taking the time to sit and enjoy each other’s company while drinking a cup of coffee rather than always having to drink it ‘to go’. That’s the way things should be done. Life's to short to drink out of paper cups, sometimes you've gotta take the time to take a seat and put your mouth on some ceramic for once.

Even noticing the way people greet each other here, everything is so formal and classy looking; a kiss on each cheek, just to say “Hey, I recognize your presence here, it’s good to see you”. Even the punk teenagers I would hang out with if I lived here do it. Just lovely.

So today, as we went to visit the Ghent Music Festival (again, classy and cultured. We heard opera, brass bands, and accordions. So sophisticated. ) we decided to do things up right. We stopped at the bar by the canal, enjoyed some music, and had coffee delivered to us on silver trays with a complimentary cookie. We regained our dignity and did Canada proud (or America, or Great Britain, or whatever nationality they thought we were. The locals here get confused and can’t really tell the difference).

So here’s my message to you, dear friends. If you are travelling, or staying at home, do your best to keep it clean, keep it civilized and do your homeland proud!

Stay classy, Canada! ;)

Dichlorodphenyltrichloroethane

Did you know that is what DDT stands for? Weird.

I spent all of yesterday working on Bio in order to meet a deadline before leaving on Monday, and it was not super fun. It’s all of the stuff about the different cycles, photosynthesis and the food chain. Stuff we’ve seen since grade 5 that they keep bringing back as some cruel form of torture. The only thing that brought me some joy is the ridiculous things they write in the text books to try and help you relate to what you’re learning. This was my favourite little intro I read yesterday:

‘Imagine you are outside and this thought suddenly occurs to you: “What if all the nitrogen in the biosphere were used up?”’

Ha! I laughed out loud at that one!

The one thing I am thankful for is that I have a GREAT Bio teacher. I send her on average four e-mails a day… Which makes me feel bad because I never like the kid who is always running back and forth to the teacher’s desk; JUST FIGURE IT OUT! But, in the world of online school I am definitely that kid.

My ‘Sent’ folder in my e-mail looks like this:

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: Assignment Booklet

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject:  (SR)s and Tutorials

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: One last thing!

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: Just kidding! This is the last thing!

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: I’m incredibly sorry.

Next Day:

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: Time for your daily e-mail!

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: Guess who?

To: Ms. W                                                                            Subject: You’re a gracious soul

Ms. W, you are a lifesaver and a very patient lady to this spazzy, bio-hating homeschooler.

As a special little treat to you, on this education themed blog update, here are the top 10 songs that are soothing my hard-working soul as I do homework:

1.       I Can’t Make You Love Me/Nick of Time- Bon Iver

2.       Dance, Dance, Dance- Lykke Li

3.       July 25^th 2007- Allison Weiss

4.       The Party Song- Del Barber

5.       I’m Gonna Love You Too- Jenny O.

6.       There Are Very Tiny Beasts In the Ground- We Are The City

7.       We Get On- Kate Nash

8.       Let’s Dance to Joy Division- The Wombats

9.       The Light Is You- Said the Whale

10.   Helena Beat- Foster the People

Thanks for reading!

Xo

Ps. Maybe I should organize my workspace a little better…

Lacking OR A Constant State of Excitement OR This Was the Best Summer of My Life OR Why I Can’t Sleep at Night

I confess to you, I’ve been lacking blog inspiration.

It’s easy enough to sit down and type out the things I’ve done over the past few days, such as taking a train to the seaside, hating bio online, visiting a torture museum, and having my uncle come and visit (that was actually a blast, love you Uncle Stevie!), and eating mussels for the first time (they are slimy and weird) but in terms of the creative style I’m going for, that’s just not gonna cut it. Part of my dissatisfaction with my writing comes from blog envy. I’ve been laughing at 1000 Awesome Things, and Stuff White People Like and even becoming jealous of essays written about the prairies in my English textbook. I mean, I know I’m no Margaret Laurence, but I would like to come close to or even have the inspiration to compare the light in the sky to “the scrawled signature of God”.

Anyways…

At this point I can only really give you a factual recount of what we’ve been up to. I’m really excited for South Africa, because I feel like I’ll have some more depth in those entries as the culture shock will be even greater.

That is not to say that there aren’t things about European culture that are shocking… The most recent shock to my system was noticing their affection for one another… if that’s the right word. A couple on the beach on Saturday resembled frogs trying to make tadpoles, and unnecessary PDA is all over the place. Gross.

They also make you pay to use a public washroom here. Not cool. “FREE TO PEE, people!” That’s what I say!

I currently hate online school. Actually, I’m mostly just hating bio. English is great, I could read and write all day whether a teacher told me to or not! But bio is no fun… I’m not really compelled by the food chain or natural selection. My teachers are great though, my bio teacher uses LOL a lot when she e-mails me which is pretty cute and funny. The thing I struggle with the most about online school is the fact that the internet is at my disposal to use freely while I should probably be working. You try concentrating while knowing that a video of a baby monkey riding backwards on a pig is one quick YouTube search away!!! As is season 7 of Gilmore Girls! And Bonnie Raitt music videos! There is just a lot going on in the ol’ World Wide Web, and my poor, easily distracted brain just can’t handle it! Ha!

Needless to say, I’m excited to be done this week of working on school and beyond excited for Paris next week! There’s so much about that city that excites me! The city of love, memories of watching Madeline as a child, the fact that the lyrics to ‘Our Last Summer’ by ABBA will apply while I’m there, getting to use my second language, the shopping, the architecture! So exciting!

After a week in Paris, I’m going to have two days to buckle down and do some serious schooling before a Mediterranean Cruise with my Grandma Di. If you know us, you know that this will be a non-stop riot. If you don’t know us, here’s all you need to know: We’re blonde, we’re fun, we’re pretty and we’re single. ;) We are also hopeless with directions so pray to every god you know that the boat won’t leave without us while we’re exploring in a foreign country. There will be some mighty fine stories to be told I’m sure, and I’m considering keeping a video diary for your viewing pleasure so get excited for that! I can’t even begin to explain how awesome it will be, but I’m very very very excited!

I’m finding myself in a constant state of excitement. Almost a month of this trip has passed and I’ve done so much, but there’s still so much left to do! There are so many more things to see, and do, and learn, and write and draw, and capture on film, and that excites me beyond words. This is a wild adventure and I need to take the time to realize how fortunate I am to get to see and fall in love with all of these parts of the world!  

It’s weird to think that a quarter of the trip is almost over. Fall had reached Belgium and leaves are falling which is such a pretty sight to see. Autumn has always been my favourite season; I love back to school, and jumping in leaves, and getting to wear sweaters and boots. But this summer has given fall a run for its money:

I got to spend a full month at Camp Harmattan and learn and laugh with kids. I loved my co-workers like best friends. I got a new bike that I named Wilson. I tie-dyed with my best friend. I had a surprise going away party. I travelled to Kentucky for NYC, made new friends, loved old ones, and learned about myself. I learned how to drink black coffee. I stayed up a full 28 hours with three of my favourite people. I played ukulele. I didn’t wear shoes. I helped baptize a child. I said goodbye to friends. I slapped someone in the face with a piece of ham. I went on rides at Calaway Park solely so my junior high campers wouldn’t think I was lame. I went on Ocean Motion 6 times. I was slapped in the face with a piece of ham. I watched Mary-Kate and Ashley movies. I watched Lord of the Rings movies. I became closer to people who used to just be classmates. I did cartwheels. I rode bikes. I rafted down rivers. I said horrible things. I drove in and out of Olds multiple times. I shopped. I painted the toenails of 10 little girls while listening to Taylor Swift. I ate ice-cream. I attended the birthday parties of a 75-year-old and a 3-year-old. I saw one of my favourite bands in concert. I was proud to have my brother and sister as campers for a week. I wore dresses. I made “Camp Appropriate” music playlists. I went on coffee dates. I got new scars. I got a flip-flop tan. I camped. I enjoyed twinkly lights in my back yard. I journaled. I played grounders. I played baseball. I played foursquare. I played wall ball. I hot tubbed. I had sleepovers. I watched Criminal Minds. I learned how to clean a grill. I wore a crab hat. I woke up before staff devotions to do yoga. I made a mug. I used a head-lamp to the very best of its ability. I read post-secret.  I learned to be patient. I went on a picnic. I wrote people notes. I taught myself how to draw. I took pictures. I posed for pictures. I was inspired by junior high girls. I attended camp fires. I hung out in Kensington. I ate Tubby Dogs.  I listened to Foster the People. I saw Harry Potter 7 on opening night. I got bangs. I ate DinoSours. I slept in tents. I mailed post cards. I attended barbeques. I roasted marshmallows. I saw shooting stars. I received mix CDs. I loved. I loved. I loved. And… I travelled to New York, Ghent, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Buxton and Oostende. I had the best summer of my life.

When I’m trying to sleep all of these writing ideas, exciting futures and happy memories run through my head. But hey, there could be worse things keeping me awake.

Miss you all!

With love from Ghent,

The Seaside

Do you want to go to the seaside? 

I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go

But I fell in love with the seaside

On the seaside

In the seaside

On Saturday we took the train to the beach and it was lovely! Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

Exploring Some More!

We’re home in Ghent, and I am now a proud homeschooler! England was the most amazing thing, and I am so excited to go back as soon as I can. I wrote my last post from Buxton which is a quaint little town-ish place with a gorgeous park, and great architecture! We spent the night with some old family friends and Adam, Lauren and I had fun playing football (soccer) with our little friends Leon and Anna. They have accents which is the greatest thing. Our three hour trip back to catch our train in London was not as bad as I thought it would be, and dad does a great job of driving on the crazy roads over here! On our way to Buxton, we had a little bit of an issue when we had to make an emergency pull-over on the busy streets of London so that Adam could puke on someone’s driveway. It was comical. Sometimes I feel like we’re in an episode of Modern Family.

As much as I loved the UK I’m happy to be back in Ghent. It seems like every day we spend here in is a day of discovering new things. I have learnt the lesson that I can’t leave my house without my camera, because there are so many lovely things to see. We get wonderfully lost, and see so many beautiful things that I’m afraid I’ll never see again. That’s why from now on my camera is a piece of my body. Today we rented bikes which made me happier than anything! My little red bike and I are gonna have some good times and see some great things. Riding bikes gives me a feeling of independence that I’ve been lacking a bit, cause I could steer that thing who knows where and go on an adventure of my own if I ever mustered up the courage to do it.

Today was an exploring day in Ghent again, and we saw so many things I hope I can find again, ’cause everything here is just a work of holy art! We’d be completely lost and turn a corner and out of now where there would be a castle! Or a new canal! Or a waterfront cobblestone street with pink flowers in boxes! Or an abandoned alley with banners and multi-colored flags hanging between the buildings! I just love it here and wish Calgary would put a little more effort into being attractive! Riding bikes in the city seems quite easy for the locals here, but the spazzy Schwartz family proved to make biking much more complicated than it needs to be. But hey, we can’t really be the ones to blame, ‘cause all the street signs are written in Flemish. There were only a few near death experiences, and I know we’ll get the hang of things soon. We made a stop at the greatest bakery ever, but I have had come to terms with the sad fact that they don’t really do coffee here. I developed a dark need for coffee this summer, and once drank 4 cups of black coffee in one day thanks to Camp Harmattan and their steaming hot coffee on tap, and the outside influence of Gilmore Girls. So I guess it’s a good thing. Ha!

Online classes are way better than I thought they would be, and having reliable internet is a luxury I am grateful to have in our apartment now. Skype me up, friends!

Back to School from Buxton

I am typing from a patio in Buxton basking in the first sunny sky we’ve seen in the UK! Hooray!

The rest of our time in London was great! We went on the Eye, a boat on the Thames and shopped a lot. The amount of consumerism taking place on this trip is borderline sinful. The streets of London are so much fun with all the shopping, pubs and restaurants are so fun to just walk by, and I’m already excited to go back some day!

My favourite part of our last couple of days in London was taking a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We got to sit in on a rehearsal of a new play being put on there, called God of SoHo. I was anticipating some painfully awkward moments with my parents and younger siblings when upon entering the theatre, we saw a disclaimer warning viewers about “nudity, sexual scenes, filthy content and strong language”. No joke, it said “filthy content”.  It turned out to be pretty cool, and we got to see the live band and hear a little bit of dialogue. It made me miss the drama and acting I used to do, and I’m a little bit inspired to give it another shot, so kudos to the Globe for that.

We arrived in Manchester on Tuesday night and were able to adequately support all kinds of child labour at Primark and shop around at various other stores in the city center area for the better part of Wednesday. It’s quite shameful. Wednesday night was the long awaited Arcade Fire concert featuring Noah and the Whale!!! I dragged dad along for the ride, which he wasn’t originally excited about at first, but after some encouragement from his colleagues at the UofGhent, he decided to come which was totally fun. He wasn’t even a part of the old crowd! There was a whole old generation of Brits who grew up listening to similar sounds like Simply Red and the Thompson Twins, and there were loads of bald people, so dad felt young and hip. I can honestly say that Arcade Fire was the best concert I have ever been to, because embarrassingly, it was my first concert that wasn’t a part of a festival, conference or targeted towards 12 year olds (Hillary Duff and JBiebs… don’t judge me.) It was fun and my buddy Cai will be happy to know I found him a t-shirt. ;)

My friends went back to school today which to be honest makes me a little homesick to think about. I’m only two weeks into these four months and there are so many people I’m missing already! And as much as I love the ol’ fam jam I’m lacking some teenage interaction. I’m also worried I’m gonna develop cabin fever and pull a Jack Nicholson in The Shining and kill them. So maybe pray that that doesn’t happen. Haha I’m actually kind of missing the first day of school, cause I have the feeling that the first day of online school won’t be nearly as fun. As much as there is a lot to dread about going back to school, I tend to enjoy it for these few reasons:

1.       School Supplies:  Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.- Joe Fox (You’ve Got Mail) Europe in the fall makes me feel kind of the same way. And as nerdy as this is gonna sound, I like a new, full, healthy looking pencil case. The kind Lizzie McGuire always had in the classroom scenes with sparkly pencils and a full set of gel pens. My best friend Beth is a big believer in colour coated notes and there is nothing she likes better than a full Roygbiv of markers to take her notes with. And at the start of a school year, I’m all for that! I think the reason I like the idea of fresh binders and bountiful pencil cases is because usually by early November my collection of school supplies usually don’t look so hot. I lose all of the lead for my mechanical pencils, I’ve leant out all of my pens until I only have a red one, and my desk buddy in English has etched the word POOP in all caps into my binder. That’s why those first weeks with new school supplies is just so darn good.

2.       Clothes: We’ve spent the summer shopping and dangit, we’re gonna look good on the first day of school. From grade two until just last year, my friend and I have called each other first day back eve to describe to one another our first day of school outfits. It’s an important thing man, ‘cause the entire outcome of this new school year rests on your butt and how awesome it looks in your new skinny jeans. 

3.       First Day Back Classes: First day of school classes are a joke, as nothing even remotely productive is accomplished. Every teacher does something different, but you can count on some pretty chill class plans such as going around the room and saying your name and the best thing you did this summer, reviewing expectations and deadlines or listening to the teacher talk about themselves. All in all, you don’t do anything, and it’s a blast.

4.       The Reunion: Summers sometimes take a hit on social lives, with family vacations, summer jobs, and other preoccupations; it’s tough to keep up with some friends. That’s why it’s great when you get to see people you haven’t seen for a solid two months and remember why you liked them in the first place.

So, there’s just a little update from a mildly homesick, online schooled dork who wishes she had a pencil case brimming with highlighters and a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils. Hope everyone’s first day was awesome despite my absence ;) Until next time!