Winter School 2011

Whew. Last week was our Winter School/Reunion, and most of my classmates who spent their first semester in Uppsala came to visit. Everyone gave a 30 minute lecture on an evolutionary topic of choice, and we spent the rest of the time just hanging out. It was completely exhausting! They have been on vacation since Dec 22 and so were bored and ready to do tons of stuff, whereas we've been in class and have all sort of hit a wall with classes, and in particular the class we're taking right now, so we were all tired... But we had a good time, kept up with those spring chickens, and are all now sick again :) Class bug round 3.This time people are losing voices. Squeaky!

Anyway. I gave a lecture on how diseases and their distributions may change with climate change. Really interesting stuff, and I may (fingers crossed!) have an awesome research project on a related research project in Montpellier!

A French classmate stayed with me for the week. She had a lot of trouble understanding my English, and told me I spoke very quickly (which I know and was trying not to do). We eventually started speaking French, and at one point in the conversation she looked at me and said "Oh, I get it. You just always talk fast, no matter what language." Hehe oops. But she also said my French was very good, giving me hope for myself in France! I really want to become fluent.

I also went ice skating again! It's been years, but it came back quickly, and I didn't fall once! Whoa. I was skating nice and fast, but you know, not really feeling up to pirouettes. My triple axle was lovely though.

We also finally climbed the church tower, and in a rare sunny moment to boot! I had been meaning to do so since August, and am glad we got a chance before leaving town. Now I need to check out the recently-reopened modern art museum, which is quite random for a town in a conservative area to have, but I hear it's very good!

I have to move out of my dorm this weekend, and will be crashing at a friend's place until I leave next Friday (to spend a night in Amsterdam and then catch a Saturday morning train to France). French visa? Check. Ticket to France? Check. Mentally in France? Check. Actually in France? Umm. Packed for France? .........