Best intentions, paved roads, blah blah blah.

[nomoreuturns]

Ciao a tutti! Come siete? Bene, spero!

Aaaand now that I'm done exercising my meagre Italian, here's a list of updates! From my life! That I've been living! In the US! \o/

• I'm settling in to university life here at UIUC. I'm only doing four classes, equating to 12 credit hours: Law & Communications, Government & Politics of Western Europe, and Media Ethics for the Bachelor of Journalism, and Contemporary Italian Written & Oral for the Diploma of Languages - Italian. I have a tonne of readings - my Law & Communication course reader is three inches thick - but I'm keeping up, for the most part...I've been keeping up with my ADD meds (mostly), which has been a huge help. I'm a little concerned with how I'm going in my Italian course because the professor speaks Italian 95% of the time and I'm only really understanding three or four words out of every 10 to 15, but when I spoke to him he seemed to think that was fine, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.*
  * I know people say that immersive learning is the best way to go, but I don't think it works for me. At all. I need a Rosetta Stone!


• I turned 24! \o/ I had a birthday thing back in Australia - cupcakes! and presents! - but I decided to do something here, too. Mum sent me a couple of things (Malteasers! Silver Needle tea! A hamper with TokyoMilk goodies!), and I baked cupcakes to share with my floor. I'm on the birthday committee, so the cupcakes were also test run, since I'll be baking cupcakes for the monthly birthday celebrations we'll be having this semester.


• I'm slowly getting involved in groups/clubs things outside of classes here at the university. Quad Day was the Saturday just before semester started, so I went around and put my email down for a few mailing lists. My university back home doesn't really have groups or clubs to get involved in, at least not on this scale, so it's a little bizarre but I'm running with it. I went to the Student Equine Emergency and Rehabilitation Society (SEERS) meeting yesterday with another girl from my floor.


• I'm going to Cincinnati this weekend on a free trip through Intersections (the Living Learning Community that I live in). We're going to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Cincinnati Museum Center, which is sure to be interesting. I read about the Underground Railroad years ago, so it'll be great to learn about it in more detail.


• I'm trying to get back into the habit of actually doing some physical exercise beyond walking to and from class (or to and from the bus stop...). There are two gyms/rec centres on campus: CRCE, which is a five minute stroll from my dorm, and ARC, which is a 15 minute jog away (or 10 minute bus ride, if I'm feeling particularly lazy) that I'm planning to go to at least twice a week. I'm also looking into taking martial arts while I'm here, to keep up my krav skills. There are a couple of martial arts dojos in Champaign-Urbana; there's one near me (with the dubious interesting name of Dragonz Lair Mixed Martial Arts Club...^.o) that offers Muay Thai and Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, which are two of the martial arts that krav borrows pretty heavily from. The rec centres are open seven days a week; Muay Thai classes are Monday/Wednesday/Friday and BJJ is Tuesday/Thursday. I'm thinking about doing at least three days at the gym and two days of a martial art per week. *sigh* A girl can dream, right?


• I've got a Netflix account and a Hulu account, so I've been getting up-to-date on various TV shows that I've either fallen behind with (e.g. White Collar), seen a couple of episodes of once upon a time (e.g. Teen Wolf), or been meaning to check out at some point (e.g. Grimm). It's fun! I've been particularly invested in Teen Wolf, which I find myself alternately giggling at or going "awww..." over. *facepalm* Do not...have time...for new fandom...*
  * I'm totally blaming this development on the Teen Choice Awards video with Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Hoechlin that did the rounds a little while back...how so adorable???


• I've been feeling OK lately. I've met some really nice people here, and the atmosphere is pretty chill. Life is good right now.

So, to future happenings! I am seriously considering (read: this close -> /--/ to buying tickets etc.) coming up to Chicago on September 21 for a couple of days, to catch up with the people I couldn't catch up with in August, and also to see Empires, because it has been years since I have done either of those things and I really miss...it. All. I don't know, that sentence got away from me a bit. Point is: I miss Chicago peeps and Chicago music! I'll probably arrive late afternoon on Friday, then depart late afternoon Sunday; I need to check which travel option is a) the most flexible times-wise, b) the quickest, and c) the most cost effective. If anyone is willing to let me crash on their couch, that would be fantastic! I'll provide the TimTams (dark chocolate mint, anyone?)!

Got to go to the gym, now, or I never will...have a wonderful night, y'all!

♥