in the progress of moving

[nathalia]

I'm leaving for New Haven next Monday.

Last week I moved out of my apartment. Matze's parents came by on Sunday and helped with the last things, helped paint the main room and his mom helped to clean the apartment because neither of us is the best cleaner out there and it looked really nice in the end although very empty. I went back really quickly the next day but didn't go up and look at it again. We had to pick up an endtable that hadn't fit in the car the day before. I stayed with Matze's parents for a day because it was Matze's mom's birthday on Monday. I got her a really nice and expensive shower gel and body lotion that I knew she loved because she'd been such a great help with the apartment and then I left for Weil der Stadt where my parents live on Tuesday morning.

I've been here ever since but not really preparing yet. Yes, I did some small stuff like buy a year's worth of contact lenses since they sell without prescription here and are a lot cheaper than in the US and I applied for a prepaid credit card because my uncle got one for my cousin when he went abroad and my mom and I agreed that that would be a good idea but other than that, I haven't been doing much. I have three more university assignments I need to finish but I haven't been in the mood to really get started. One is the proposal for my MA thesis. I need to read up on satire before I can write that and I haven't been feeling like it. Then there's a small area studies paper that should take me a day to write. I was going to write it today but the instructions weren't very clear, so I'll have to wait till the instructor gets back to me. And the last thing I need to write is the paper for the Brazilian literature class I've been postponing for about seven months now. (German instructors can be very lenient when it comes to deadlines). But I really want to get that written before classes start in Yale on August 27.

My mom decided to wash ALL my clothes. Everything I own. Not just the stuff I'm taking, so I've been very limited in clothing I have available. I think I have 4-5 more t-shirts but after that I'm running out, so it feels a lot like being on vacation or something. I'm used to washing my own clothes, so this is so weird. Not that I'm complaining at all, I just think maybe she should have left me some clothes to wear?

I've more or less picked my classes but I get to shop around for the first two weeks, so I don't have to decide for a bit longer which is great. Konstanz works like that as well and I love it that way.

I haven't been writing. I've been thinking about writing but I need to take the next step, open a Word document and actually write something I can post. Or otherwise open April's Camp NaNo file and edit parts of that so I can post them.

Comments

[tabaqui]

It's so odd to see a place you've lived all empty, isn't it? Mirror of the day you moved in. Sad, sometimes, but always hopeful.

Sounds like a nice break before you go. Someone else doing laundry! Always nice. :)

Thinking about writing, myself. I actually *have* been, but the last few days have been busy and i just keep thinking about it and then not actually doing it.
I'm off today and tomorrow, though, so hopefully i can make my brain settled down and dooooo eeeet. Heh.

Have a nice 'interval'! :)

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

Have you gotten any writing done? I've been putting writing last for a while now. I can crank out 1-2k of academic writing a day if I need to in relatively short time but actually writing fiction has been too much of an effort.

The break has been nice although I feel like I'm not preparing for my trip enough. I haven't been doing much, just some reading, hanging out with family and playing Sims 3 (time that should have been spent on more productive things), so it doesn't feel like I'm leaving yet. Aside from the fact that I have no apartment and am living pretty much out of cardboard boxes XD

[tabaqui]

I did! Not enough, but...some. Heh.

When something like that is looming, it's hard to actually get motivated sometimes. I usually end up putting stuff off to the last minute. Ah, well.

I love your icon. I just finished an all-season re-watch of Buffy last night. :) (Not, i hasten to add, all the seasons last night....)

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I've finally packed (ten hours before leaving for the airport) and only because I got into a fight with my mom. She's a last minute packer and got upset at me for wanting to pack so early...

I started a Buffy rewatch but somehow stopped around season 4 because I was too busy but I mean to rewatch the entire series at some point.

[tabaqui]

Yay! Have a good trip - hope the flight wasn't bad!

I stopped and started with Buffy, and i'll admit to skipping some eps, especially the Warren-heavy ones (ew). But, yeah - it was fun.

[shayna611.livejournal.com]

You'll have to let us know how it's going when you get there! What classes are you planning on taking?

And yes, you should get writing! (you know in all the spare time you have while repeatedly moving and getting settled in a different country and school and all) Not that I've been much good about making myself write either.

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

The two literature classes I'm pretty set on are Theorizing Racial Formations and Fictions of Imaginary and Imminent Futures. The two-sentence descriptions that were put online for those last week sound awesome (although I'd love a term schedule or something). I also want to take one class about racial and economic inequality and the African American Studies people are pretty prolific in that area, offering a total of three classes that sound very similar.

I'm going to try and write soon! I have ideas and I think I've given up the decision to ever post anything in chronological order. That just gives me headaches and keeps me from writing for some reason. I'm hoping the prompt of the week provides some inspiration, even if whatever comes out is just some silly snippet.

[shayna611.livejournal.com]

Those lit classes both sound really interesting!

I have the same problem with sticking to chronology. I'm glad people at RaTs don't mind reading stuff all over the place. I hope you get something from the prompt too!

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I have half a prompt written but probably won't get around to posting it before I leave tomorrow morning.

[niee87.livejournal.com]

Good luck with all the finishing stuff! And have fun once you're over here. I'm fairly close to Yale/know people who are, so contact me if anything comes up that you need and I can see what I can do :)

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I will definitely get in touch if I need something (and I might even if I don't). Thank you so much for the offer.
I've forced myself to sit down and write first drafts of the two shorter projects, so I am on the way to finishing something but I'm probably going to finish everything last minute. That's a really bad habit of mine.

[promisesesimorp.livejournal.com]

It's an exciting time for you! Are you familiar with the area Yale is in or will you have to do some exploring?

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I've never been anywhere near New Haven. The closest I've been is New York (both state and city) but it's been almost ten years since I went, so I'm super excited. I live in Germany and the opportunities to go to the US are somewhat limited. I've been wanting to spend a year in the US since I started studying and have been preparing for Yale (the application process took ages) for over a year now, so I can't wait to get there!

[promisesesimorp.livejournal.com]

That's neat! I've only been to New Haven once (I live in NYC). There's some good pizza around New Haven!

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

So I've heard! Did you like New Haven? I've been getting a variety of reactions from people about New Haven but opinions veer towards not liking it all that much.

[promisesesimorp.livejournal.com]

I've always had fun when I went though my visits were usually limited to dive bars.

[roisin-farrell.livejournal.com]

How exciting! Hope you have a safe trip and keep us updated on your life there.

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

It is and I will! I'll be there this time tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it so much :D