Checking In

I think it's fairly obvious that I have been doing an awful job at keeping this blog updated, considering it's been nearly a year since I posted an entry. A lot has happened in that year, but most importantly, I've completed a number of goals. Here is a quick summary, along with a promise that I'll never wait this long between updates again. I've already failed my "update this blog regularly" goal, but I plan to update at least once a month from now on.

-2. Go to Europe/47. Study Abroad
In spring 2011, I spent a semester studying in London at the ICLC. Ut was definitely one of the best times of my life. In the five months I spent abroad, I visited seven countries and had countless new experiences. Some of them are included on my 101 Things list:

- 10. See the Sistine Chapel I went to Italy for spring break in March, and I spent 10 days in Rome, Florence, and Milan. Michelangelo is one of my favourite artists of all time, so I was excited to see works such as the Pieta and David in person. Most of all, I was looking forward to seeing the Sistine Chapel. I spent a day in the Vatican Museum, which ends in the chapel. It was even more incredible than I could have ever imagined.

- 27. Watch a sporting event in a pub
I didn't do this as much as I could have, but I did go to pubs, sports bars, and other locations several times to watch football games while I was in England and Ireland.

- 35. Walk across Abbey Road
Fun fact: It's harder than it looks to get the perfect imitation of the Beatles' famous album cover, especially when there are cars honking at you to hurry up. Luckily, when our program director took us to see the recording studio and the road outside us, he didn't mind waiting for us all to walk across four-by-four and have our pictures taken.

- 83. Visit ten museums
In addition to all of the museums I visited while travelling around Europe, I took an Art in London course. Every week we visited a different museum, including the Tate Britain and Tate Modern, the Saatchi Gallery, the V&A Museum, and others. We saw works by some of the most notable figures in modern art.

- 88. Get an internship
While I was in London, I interned at Peace News, a monthly tabloid-format newspaper focused on peace issues. I wrote stories about protests, anti-war activists, environmental topics, and other events and people. It was my first internship ever and it was a very good experience. I got to write, research, and interview, and it was exciting to see my name in print.

- 90. Go to Paris
My dad happened to have a business trip to Paris the second weekend I was in London, so I took the train there to visit him. It was my first trip while I was abroad, and we went to all of the important locations: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and so on. It was also my first weekend with a new camera, so I took a ton of pictures.

- 91. Have an apartment
Living in London was my first time living in a non-campus place that wasn't with my family. I lived with three other people in a flat in West Kensington. It had its issues, but it was also interesting to get a taste of city living, and it made me much more comfortable about living in an apartment or living alone in the future.

43. Meet three of my online friends in person
Ten days after I returned home from London, I flew to Seattle to visit one my friends. I've known Greta for about six years, so it was really exciting to meet her in person. While I was there, I also met Olivia, another online friend. Also, over spring break, I stayed with my friend Lavinia at her apartment in Rome.

57. Take a creative writing class
I took Introduction to Creative Writing in the fall of 2010. While there were some things I didn't enjoy about the class (it is frustrating to be asked to critique a story that the author couldn't even be bothered to spell-check), it was a great class! I liked being pushed to write poetry and stories beyond what I have attempted to do in the past, and it definitely inspired me to do more in the future.

Goals on which I've made progress since last update
16. Own all of Stephen King's Books: I will have to check on this list again and see how close I am.
22. Read 100 books I've never read before: I am currently at 82 new books, with an 83rd in progress.
23. Learn Italian: I should probably come up with some kind of benchmark for when I will consider myself to have completed this goal. I don't need to be fluent, but I want to be able to speak at least a little bit.
48. Watch 10 foreign-language films: I recently watched the Swedish film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. For all the hype it's getting, I wasn't particularly impressed.
58. Write at least three short stories: I just had an idea for a story last night, so I may be able to complete this goal soon.
62. Go to a fan convention Next month, I will be flying out to San Diego for Comic Con!
86. Read ten biographies (5/10): Since last updating, I've added autobiographies by Stephen Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and others to the list. I am currently reading Keith Richards' autobiography.