Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Oh, Columbia!

I went to Columbia this weekend to say my temporary goodbyes to everyone at USC! Some highlights, in no particular order:

* I got to sleep in my old apartment! The sofa - scary gashes in upholstery and all - was just as comfortable as I remembered.
* I saw Katie's glorious new apartment. She's back from Italy and all settled in!
* I visited my old friends at both the school and state parking ticket offices. Next time you see a new playground or roadwork project, you can thank my inability to properly park my car.
* Six words: Hashbrowns and coffee at Cafe Strudel.
* I was, as always, amazed by the five minutes it took Mr. Computer Tech Man to fix my computer at the USC iCare center. Also, as always, I saw they were showing some shametastic Rachel Bilson film and wondered who on Earth picks the random movies they show there (that same unlucky computer tonight almost died when Chester knocked diet Sprite off the counter onto my keyboard).
* I had coffee at the Colloquium with Becki "I'm all grown up and have a real job now" and the two of us marveled at the sights of actual students taking actual classes.

Besides that, I spent time with some really phenomenal students, and I will seriously miss USC next semester! To all my favorite Carolina students, in Columbia and abroad, I hope you all have a wonderful semester! Keep in touch and I'll see you in Fall 2009!

I now have the rest of break to get ready to leave and I am so behind schedule. This time next week I'll be on a flight somewhere over the Atlantic, and until then I'll be in Charleston, running a bunch of little errands, spending time with friends and family, and packing (by the way, does anyone know the baggage allowances for Ryan Air?).

Katie luxuriating in her exciting new apartment.


What are we going to do without the Colloquium next semester?


The lovely Sarah in the equally lovely Cafe Strudel.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Rainy Day Charleston - Two Weeks Left

Greetings Information Superhighway!

Hi, for those of you who know me, this is Kathleen. If you don't know me, I'm not sure why you are reading my blog, but my name is Kathleen and I am a junior at the University of South Carolina.

I am officially leaving for Europe in two weeks! I'll be spending two days with my lovely ex-roommate Beth before we take the train to meet Sarah in London. After that, in exactly three weeks, I will be moving into a 10-girl, 2-bathroom apartment in Madrid (wish me luck!).

I know that I'm really, really lucky and this is a great oppurtunity to learn, explore and have fun in one of the most exciting countries in the world! Hopefully I'll be pretty good about keeping up with this blog while I'm abroad, but you never know. I finally have a camera - it's tiny and pink and fits oh-so-snuggly in my bag! I have a Skype account (Skype name: kathleenikins) for anyone who wants to get in contact with me while I'm gone.

In the mean time, I'm hustling around town getting ready to go and spending as much time as possible with my family and friends. It's quite daunting trying to fit my entire life into two suitcases that meet airline weight requirements (Chester will not fit - I tried). In a few days I'm going to go say my epic goodbyes to Columbia. Thanks for taking the time to read this and check back for updates!

- Kathleen

P.S. If anyone thinks of a clever, snappy blog title, I will reward you with a packet of salted airline peanuts.