Oh I'm Halfway There..Whoa!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, this here correspondent, as of tomorrow, will officially be over halfway through my program as a teaching assistant.

That's right Harry Potter fans. Be jealous. It's ok.

 I realize it has been several weeks since my last post, and as I promised last time to update you following my Christmas excursions, I will start there. The first week was spent in and around London, staying with various members of my brother-in-law's family. Highlights included spending time with Dave and Gabe, my sister, touring London at light speed, and enjoying my first English cream tea. This is basically a heart attack on a plate; the recipe calls for one scone, topped with jam, and clotted cream, which sounds just about as unhealthy as it is. And of course, that means it is delicious. Aside from the wonderful English delicacies I tried, perhaps the best part of the week was spent dominating the family board games. I never failed to impress with my knowledge of useless trivia, finally finding one real-world application for a history degree.

After one whirlwind week in London, I took a bus to Brussels to spend four days with Ophir, a friend I had worked with at camp three summers ago. It was the first time we had seen each other since that summer, and I cannot think of a better way to spend New Year's than ringing in 2012 with an old friend from 2009. Highlights included meeting some of his other Israeli friends and family, touring Brussels, and taking a trip to Dinant, a town in the south of Belgium. Dinant is the home of the inventor of the saxophone, Monsieur Adolph Sax. Go figure. It is also the home of probably the world's smallest casino, but as it was the first casino I have ever been to, I will remember it fondly. My earnings on the night are not important for this conversation. Perhaps if they had been in the black, as opposed to the red, I would brag to you.

Me and Adolph...Sax that is

Now that I am back home, and faced with the reality that my seven month adventure as a teaching assistant in France is slowly drawing to its close, also known as my buffer between college and the real world, I have dedicated January to being a work month. I have extra hours at school, because apparently I was spared from working my full allotment over the past few months, and I am trying to continue writing as much as possible. On top of this, I have begun the somewhat dreaded but also exciting process of searching for jobs and life after France. Not much to report yet on this topic, but hopefully by the time February vacation rolls around I will have a better idea of my plans for my return home.

Brussels' most famous tourist attraction. Seriously.

My hair is rather long these days. I have avoided cutting it since October, when I managed to get a passing, albeit short, haircut. My goal is to wait just one more week, and then hopefully I won't have to cut it again until I can stop by my favorite Mr. Haircut, in good ole' Athens, Georgia. So perhaps next week you'll hear about haircut round two. If not, it is safe to assume I lost the battle, and I would prefer not to speak of it again. So with that, I leave you to await my return in the near future.

A plus mes amis
Tommy